About TREC

TREC originated in France, where it developed as a means of testing and improving the skills of trail ride leaders in the equestrian tourism industry.

It was introduced to the UK in the 1990s and remains a sport based on the skills required for hacking.

The 3-phase sport tests rider navigation and the horse’s ability to tackle different terrain and natural obstacles . There are five competitive levels in TREC, from the easy and encouraging Level 1, to the more demanding challenge of Level 4. Along with levels 2 and 3, there’s also a Level 2a thrown into the mix to offer a more testing navigation challenge without the added distance of the higher levels.

The first phase is orienteering on horseback (POR), where riders follow a route on a map at speeds predetermined by the organisers. It is not a case of fastest wins, at Level 2 you can expect to cover 20km in 2 to 3 hours with some trot and the occasional canter.

The section starts with a session in the Map Room where competitors copy the route onto their own map from a master map. They start the ride with 240 points and get penalised for every minute too fast or slow that they arrive at the designated checkpoints. Points can also be lost by missing good tickets or finding bad tickets. At the end of this phase, the competition with the score closest to 240 is in the lead.

At Levels 1 and 2 the navigation is fairly straight forward but from Level 2a upwards competitors can be asked to navigate with bearings or grid references. At the highest level it is not unheard of for all competitors to be on a minus score as the navigation is so difficult.

Next up is the MA or control of paces as we often call it in the UK. This phase calls for solid flat work foundations, as competitors must canter as slowly as possible along a narrow track of 150m before returning at the fastest possible walk.  The corridor will often be placed on undulating ground or on a curve to increase the degree of difficulty. 30 points are up for grabs for each pace and where it is in every horses capabilities to score top marks for the canter, it takes a very special horse to score highly for the walk.

Finally, an obstacle section (PTV) recreates natural hazards you might encounter out hacking — such as a gate, steps up, a river crossing or a jump. The great thing about TREC is that all obstacles are optional. As long as you tell the judge you are sitting this one out, you will only be penalised by scoring a zero for that one obstacle.

A the end of the competition, the rider with the highest combined score for all three phases is declared the winner. TREC competitions also hold pairs classes at all levels except Level 4 and for these sections, both pair’s scores will be added together to find the placings.