On June 13, 2010, The American Competitive Trail Horse Association (ACTHA) made horse riding history with the first ever Guinness World Records achievement for the Largest Trail Riding Competition. A total of 984 riders participated in the record-breaking achievement that successfully raised over $69,000 for horse rescue programs across the nation.
Riders gathered in 24 states to compete in local trail rides, organized by ACTHA for the official Guinness World Records attempt. The riders competed on six-mile trails comprised of safe, fun and natural trail obstacles, observed by professional judges. In addition to the riding participants, over 622 volunteers across the nation pitched in to make the days events possible.
“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 three years so that the entire slaughter issue will be a non-issue.’”
To qualify for the record, 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.
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, Nev.
