The Las Vegas Mounted Police unit held their annual obstacle competition on Saturday where brave souls put their horses up against all manner of fright at Horseman’s Park.   Despite the gathering clouds in the West that ultimately kept many people from attending at all, the morning was clear and all 14 competitors completed the course under mostly sunny skies.  I recognized many people from the SNHA obstacle challenge last week, and knew it would be another fun day to watch.  Officers Cindy Smith and Kelly Korb explained each station to the group and did a walk-through to demonstrate.  Eight obstacles were set up inside the Flamingo Arena, some definitely more heinous than others.

The first obstacle was the teeter ramp, similar in style to the one seen last week yet lacking the funky 60’s motif of colored fake fur.  Riders received full points if they started the ramp on the up side, so the horse first needed to use its weight to bring it down before stepping, and half points for approaching from the down side.  Desiree Rudloff’s Friesian decided after much circling and indecision that the best approach was simply to gather up and jump over the ramp (broadside).  Although he cleared it nicely, regrettably he did not earn extra points for originality.  Chelsea Webster negotiated the ramp with careful steps and patient encouragement.

The second station was the marble drop, where the rider would take a can of marbles and dump them into the top of a steel pipe through which they would bang noisily all the way down to dump into a metal bucket.  This was an excellent station, with nothing changing visibly near the horse yet suddenly there were loud popping noises all around which escalated.  This one rattled several horses understandably and the officer assigned to assist at this station spent much of his morning plucking wayward marbles out of the arena dirt. 

The third station was the “car wash” which contained six heavy bags hung in pairs that the horse needed to split while going through the hanging flaps.  Fourth on the list was the police cruiser station with a combination of threats.  First, as the horse arrived at a cone placed about ten feet from the front of the car, an evil officer inside would blast the car siren for 3 seconds.  All the horses reacted to this, from a startle to a full spook, demonstrating some excellent seat skills and nerves of steel from rider Veronica Warren.  Riders then had to pass between a set of burning flares on the ground and the police cruiser with its flashing lights. 

The fifth station consisted of a rolling sled with a chest-high pushbar that was to be moved by the horse from one cone to the next.   Some horses understood that the object would move once pushed, others couldn’t grasp it as well, and one I feared was going to try to go up and over, but all came through unscathed.  However the next station was really diabolical.  Between brightly colored rustling pom-poms and a gate covered with spangles, the horse would pass while a grinning man with a leaf-blower blew not only the rippling décor but the horse’s legs as well.  The blower's noise combined with all the visual commotion convinced some to take the long way around.

The final two obstacles were a shallow water trough, complete with killer rubber ducks, that needed to be traversed with all four feet touching the water at least once.  After surviving that, the last challenge was the giant Sky Guy who rippled and danced menacingly with his outstretched arms over the head of horse and rider as they passed.   They did leave this object on during the event instead of flipping the switch for every pass,  so most horses were familiar with it by the time they drew near. 

By the end of the first round, the winds were starting to pick up as the thunderstorms rolled in, and despite the hard gusts that were coming, many riders began their optional second pass through the course.  Sharon Fiato and her horse Chip won the overall competition and generous raffle prizes were awarded throughout the morning.   Big thanks goes out to all who attended and for the donations and sponsorships received for the LVMPD.  Keep in touch with the mounted officers of Metro and please continue to support them for all they do in our community through their Friends of Mounted Metro webpage HERE.  For all AVH pictures from this event, please visit the Other Event Pix gallery ->> Special Events.

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