Welcome to NATRC Region 1
The Leadline has been resurrected! A big thank you and shoutout to the new editor, Jo Schliesman. Jo is a long time Region 1 member; you've probably seen her volunteering as a timer at many Region 1 rides. Stories and photos can be sent to her at R1leadline@gmail.com. The Leadline will be "e-published" three or four times a year and be emailed to members, with links to it here and on Facebook. There won't be any hard copies mailed out.
On to Other Important Stuff . . .
Our breaking news is great: an annual scholarship for junior riders, sponsored by Brian & Darlene Schlerf and BAS Roofing, is being offered in honor of Catherine de la Cruz. Catherine is, of course, the mother of two of our Region 1 Regulars, Angie and Maria, but that's far from her whole NATRC story. Catherine rode hunter-jumpers when she was a kid. But with marriage, motherhood, and hip and knee replacements, she had to give up riding for quite awhile as an adult - but, at age 71, she climbed back aboard a horse. And a few years later, she got her own horse: Lola. At 75, she and Lola competed in their first NATRC ride, which they finished, then won their next ride. When she finally decided to step back from riding, she's volunteered at our rides in a variety of roles, continuing to be an inspiration for all of us.
Back to the scholarship: details about applying for the scholarship are here.
After that news . . .
NATRC Region 1 consists of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, Alaska and part of Nevada. So, if you love trail riding, would like to meet more people who share your passion, and you live in Region 1, or are within commuting distance - come join us!
If you'd like to interact with NATRC riders (and prospective NATRC riders!), take a look at our Facebook page and join our CTR discussion group on Facebook. The conversations are wide-ranging and the participants run from trail riding newbies to old hands.
Our goals for our website are to keep our members informed about NATRC Region 1 activities, and to keep us all motivated to get out and ride. So, if you're looking for the next NATRC ride, go to the Ride Schedule page, where our 2025 rides are listed along with contact information to get signed up. If you want to get in touch with fellow trail riders even before you join us for a ride, take a look at the Region 1 CTR (Competitive Trail Riding) discussion group on Facebook. And if you're stuck at the office and trying to remember how you feel when you're riding, check out our Stories & Articles page, where we have links to
- Region 1 ride stories,
- "Reprints" of interesting articles,
- Tips for first time riders,
- Archives of Leadline, the Region 1 newsletter, and
- PDFs of NATRC documents that riders might want to refer to, such as the Rule Book, and
- a link to the Membership Form!
And if you've just discovered NATRC riding, and are wondering if it's the right thing for you, that same Stories & Articles page has a "New Riders" section to provide answers to some questions, links to information for first time riders, and first-ride stories on the web.
Come Ride with Us!
Region 1 News
Region 1 Mini-Convention
Our Region 1 Convention will be on March 15 in Loomis, CA. We'll start the day with speakers on equine bodywork (with a demo on a real, live horse!) and one on emergency preparedness. After the speakers, we'll have the awards presentaions. The convention will be held in the Penryn Pet Hospital Atrium area, from 9 AM to around 2 PM, with a break for lunch. Here's an entry form - fill it out and send it off!
Trail Planning Survey!
The Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority is in charge of planning trails for the Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve. New space is being added to the preserve and the Open Space Authority has developed a survey to find out how potential trail users - hikers, bikers, and horse people - would like the trails allocated. Here's a a link to the survey, which takes about 10 minutes to complete and includes a description of preserve. Please take a look and fill it out, just so they know that there are a lot of horse lovers around!
Blast from the Past!
Here's an article from the March, 1978 Leadline, with a little history of our organization - I liked it a lot - take a look!
Rememberance Page
It seems like too many of our most cherished riders have passed in the last couple of years. The Remembrance Page is a partial list of them, each with a short description, just to remind us of the examples they set, for horsemanship and community.
Need a (FREE!) Cookbook?
Carol Ormond recently found a Region 1 Cookbook, which she and Jamie Dieterich cleaned up and turned into a pdf. Take a look: it's got NATRC info, cooking tips, and actual recipes.
A Couple of Interesting Articles . . .
One of our old Leadlines has a breath-taking article from Nancy Kasovich about the two terrifying fires she survived; one in 1964 and 2017. She includes teeth-clenching descriptions of getting out safely, and tips for how to do it, if it happens to you. With summer coming on, it might be worth taking another look at.
And Linda Thomason has given us a list of barn-preparedness tips in her article Barn Fire Prevention. In addition to tips, she also included her sources, where you can go for more info. Thanks, Linda!
Check Out the Resources section of the NATRC National website
There are lots of interesting things on the national site: a set of past webinars on conditioning, judging . . . pretty much all aspects of our sport. A thing to know is that some of the resources are only accessible if you log in to the site - it's worth it, so go ahead and create an account. They're planning to have more webinars this year, and events such as virtual mileage challenges and virtual obstacle challenges that you can sign up for and participate in virtually. Watch for announcements on the Region 1 CTR (Competitive Trail Riding) discussion group.
See you on the trail!