World Record Trail Riding Competition Celebrated
A total of 950 riders took part in the Largest Trail Riding Competition on Sunday 13th, organized by the American Competitive Trail Horse Association (ACTHA), the first ever Guinness World Records® breaking event. The event raised almost $70,000, and all proceeds from the event were donated to rescue charities across the United States.
On the day of the event riders gathered in 24 states to compete in local trail rides that were organized by ACTHA for the official Guinness World Records attempt, in which riders competed on six-mile trails comprised of safe, fun and natural trail obstacles, that were observed by professional judges. In addition to the riding participants, over 622 volunteers across the nation pitched in to make the days events possible. To qualify for the record, the guidelines stipulated that the competitive trail ride would have a minimum of 250 riders competing in at least 10 venues with a minimum of 25 riders per site. For this attempt, only trail rides sanctioned by ACTHA were counted. Each trail ride had several divisions with one overall winner for each competition. All proceeds from this national event were donated to horse rescue charities and programs across America.
"Every volunteer on this monumental effort will have a special place in our hearts and the hearts of the noble horse and equines everywhere," said Tom Scrima, General Manager of ACTHA, a three-year-old registry and sanctioning body for competitive trail horses and rides. "We asked ourselves, ‘How can we make a bigger impact?’ Our goal is to create enough jobs for the American horses and equines in the next 3 years so that the entire slaughter issue will be a non-issue."
The simultaneous record attempt culminated in a certificate presentation by an official Guinness World Records representative to Lisa Ericson, ACTHA’s local Nevada affiliate, on behalf of all of the volunteers, local ride mangers, ACTHA staff and sponsors that made this event possible. The presentation was held during Clinton Anderson’s Walkabout Tour at the renowned South Point Equestrian and Events Center in Las Vegas, NV.
Photograph courtesy Guinness World Records®
