Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] Mounted orienteering, USOF style rules

msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Mounted search and rescue

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Una Smith <una.smith@att.net>
  • To: Mounted search and rescue <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Mounted orienteering, USOF style rules
  • Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 20:14:54 -0700

Irv Lichtenstein wrote:
>There are few venues that will allow riding off marked trails except for
>real emergencies.

Yes, and if the participants are required to stay on trails
then there need to be a lot of trails so that there is enough
route choice. Or...a "real" trail-O has, near each mapped
control, several decoy controls. Competition scoring thus
measures the participant's precision in reading the map and
the terrain. "Elite" trail-Os might have no control at the
mapped location; the correct answer then is that there is
no control.

Trail-Os often are not timed at all, or if any part is timed
then it is the time at a "station" to decide which of the
controls is the correct one, ie is the one shown on the map.
So there is no built-in incentive to race.

I previously stated most USOF style mounted orienteering
courses are trail-O. Actually, most are closer to string-O,
which is the least challenging style of course, developed
for young children.

*The* webpage on trail-O: http://www.trailo.org/index.htm .

Bottom line: recruit an experienced orienteering course
designer to help with the design of any mounted orienteering
course. To find one, ask around among local orienteering
clubs to find out who designs the most interesting courses.

Una Smith
New Mexico




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page