Jenna Bam at the Thornville Trec
(Photo : Haydn Bam)

Vuma mill manager Haydn Bam reflects on the second TREC event,
entered by the Vuma team:

Saturday the 17^th October got off to a very grey and drizzly start. We loaded our horses and set off to the Trec event at Thornville.

The Vuma Team comprised four members this time, Ingrid Klug, Jenna Bam (13) Robyn Bam (8) and me.

We drove through bucketing rain, wondering if we should have rather stayed at home. Fortunately we arrived at Thornville to find low cloud with no rain. 

Children under 16 have to be accompanied by an adult and as Jenna and Robyn were entering their first event, we had to familiarize them with the procedure. 

We started with the controlled gait phase, a slow canter for 100m and then a fast walk for 100m within a corridor. Ingrid and Jenna did very well, but Robyn and I let the team down. Our horses veered out of the white lines forming the corridor, because they thought they saw ghosts in the bush on the edge. 

The next phase was the obstacle phase where you have to do 20 tasks over different obstacles. From riding through a maze, over plastic, under low branches, through a river, over a jump, through hanging plastic sheeting to opening and closing a gate while mounted. The Vuma team did relatively well in this phase, but did have some of the horses refuse. 

The next phase was orienteering; we set off with our maps and stop watches with the rain starting to drizzle. At certain points you have speed markers telling the speed you should be doing, and at the same time trying to follow the map and look for hidden beacons (unmanned check points). During this phase we had a compulsory lunch break at a scenic dam, which was very welcome. We were one of the only teams to get all our check points in the right order. We were very pleased that the Vuma team won this phase. 

Vuma was placed 3^rd overall at the end of the day and in the individual standings Ingrid won overall.

I would definitely recommend this sport to anyone with a horse, and wants to ride and have fun at the same time.