Mounted orienteering
Mounted orienteering is the practice of orienteering while riding a horse or other riding animal.
History
Mounted orienteering was an important function of cavalry units and today remains an important skill for mounted search and rescue.
Competitive sport
Mounted orienteering can be completed competitively, either as a discipline in its own right, or as part of a multi-discipline sport such as Trec. The rules between governing bodies vary widely, although all require horsemanship and the ability to read a map and use a compass.
There are significant differences between mounted orienteering rules and those set down for foot orienteering by the International Orienteering Federation. Differences concern the map, course, route choice, and control points. Both sports use available maps, usually but not necessarily topographic maps. These maps generally are not appropriate for teaching beginning competitors to use the more advanced skills of field navigation. Hence, the required navigational skills are kept simple.[1]
North America
American (NACMO) mounted orienteering competitions resemble
Europe
In Europe, there is little mounted orienteering as a stand-alone sport, although there are significant elements present in endurance riding and as a specific event in the multi-discipline sport of Trec.
References
- ^ "Welcome to Competitive Mounted Orienteering". NAMCO. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
External links