|
CMO - Competitive Mounted Orienteering |
|
|
Welcome to the World of CMO. . . 355° from the “shellfish” - to the marker 78° from the big oak on the west side of a bend in the trail - to the marker “Is that the oak tree at that turn in the trail? What do you suppose the “shellfish” is? 355 degrees is almost straight north, so it will be to the left of it. I’ll bet we’ll know it when we see it - WAIT -THERE IT IS!!! Sound like a conversation you are likely to have while trail riding with friends? No? Try CMO ? it is the most delightfully frustrating, entertaining, marriage and friendship testing, horse training and conditioning sport you can’t imagine. A “treasure hunt on horseback”, “the thinking horse sport”, “trail riding with a purpose”, all describe and are easier to say than Competitive Mounted Orienteering, which began in the Illinois-Indiana area in the spring of 1992. Imported here from it’s home state of Minnesota, where enthusiasts had been practicing this map-and-compass sport on horseback since the mid-80’s, CMO has been gaining in popularity ever since. From our first three rides in 1992, to our present 2001 schedule of 20 rides in locations ranging from South Kettle Moraine in Palmyra, WI to Rock Cut State Park in Rockford, IL to Tippecanoe River and Potato Creek State parks in Indiana, CMO in Illinois and Indiana continues to grow and expand every year. The ride locations are limited only by the preference of a willing ride manager, and have included private lands as well as state, county and national parks and forest preserves. CMO is a national sport with active chapters in states from New Jersey to Washington. CMO is a timed event covering from 5 to 15 miles in which you find 5 - 10 markers using a map and a compass. A marker is a plain 9" white paper plate with numbers and letters on it. A “how-to” clinic and practice session precede each ride. You will be taught how to use your compass to find a marker on foot in the camp area before the ride begins. Riders compete in teams of 1-6 riders, and may go at any pace, finding markers in any order. Maps of the area are supplied by the ride manager to each team member as they start out. To find a marker, ride until you locate the landmarks described in the clues. Numbered circles on your map give the general location of each marker. The marker, usually attached to a tree or stump, will be found where the compass bearings from two different landmarks cross. Write the letters or phrase found on the marker plate onto your map to prove you were successful, and go on to the next one. Spend a few minutes after getting your map deciding your most efficient route to all the circles. Some of them will be easy to locate - if they encircle an easily recognized trail intersection, for example, and some may be tougher, enclosing parts of more than one trail. If the clue mentions a stream or culvert, and you have a choice of a high trail and a low one, you are more likely to find this “wet” landmark on the lower one. You can also choose your route so that if you ride one trail and don’t find the landmarks, you can come back on the other one to look for them, maybe after finding a different marker. Sometimes the clues themselves give you a hint. Big trees are more likely to be found along wooded trails, and bluebird houses will be along trails through open fields. You shouldn’t expect to find that oak tree, for example, along a straight section of trail or in an open area of fields and prairies. The markers are visible from horseback, and can be found by taking readings or “bearings” from recognizable landmarks (the oak tree or the “shellfish”) and riding the line they indicate to where the marker is waiting. One or more team members find the oak tree and look along a line that runs 78° (roughly NE) from the tree to the plate. The rest of the team finds the “shellfish” clue and ride a line from there that is almost straight north (355°). Where the two lines of travel intersect, the riders find the plate tacked to the back of a tree. They write FP (or Fiddle Player) on their map and scurry on to the next marker. The “shellfish” clue turned out to be a board with the word “FISH” spelled out in shotgun shells. Once landmarks are located, many teams like to have one rider at each landmark with a third teammate riding the line from one until he/she approaches the line from the second one. That rider can concentrate on looking for the plate (up, down, inside hollow stumps, etc) while his teammates tell him if he gets off their lines. Some teams start out along the line they’ve sighted and when they meet, begin searching the area for the marker. The lines of travel are found by dialing your compass to the bearing in the clue and sighting along the line it points to. What sounds complicated on paper is really quite easy in practice and there is always a marker set up in the campground area for riders to practice on before the ride starts. You will need a basic orienteering type compass - about $10 at a camping supply store, and a pencil to write your finds on your map. A good starter compass is the Silva 7. We find that liquid filled compasses are much easier to read while seated on our equine partners than “air damped compasses” - which jiggle too much. A helmet, besides providing obvious protection to your brain bucket, is a handy tree branch diverter. A plastic page protector that keeps rain (and sweaty hands) from rendering your map illegible, water and candy bars, a watch to keep track of how long you are out and an all-purpose pen knife/hoof knife are all things that come in handy on the trail. Many of us keep all this stuff tied to or in the pockets of a fishing vest to avoid dropping and losing valuable stuff (especially the candy bars). Your mount must be at least 3 years old and can be any type of horse, mule, pony, donkey, etc. Some rides also have trails wide enough to allow carts and a team can consist of any combination of riders on horseback or horse/cart/drivers. Proper riding equipment is whatever suits you and your horse. Markers are always visible from horseback, but you may dismount at any time. So where does the competitive part come in? Riders (and their horses) receive points for each marker they find and teams that find them all earn 10 points. There are between 5 and 10 markers in a CMO ride and usually most of the teams will find them all. Of these teams, the one with the shortest elapsed time earns 6 additional points, the next team in gets 5 additional points and so on. A team that finds all the markers in 3 hours will always beat a team that finds 9 markers in 2 hours. Teams start out at staggered intervals and they are timed from when the ride manager hands them the map, until they hand it back in at the end of their ride. Smart riders will study their maps for a minute or two at the start of the ride to decide what their most efficient route around the park will be. It is not a horse race, but the most successful riders usually average a good trot for most of the ride and keep a sharp lookout for landmarks to minimize time-consuming backtracking. Thinking is important, but so is lying. Although teams start out at staggered intervals, it is not only possible, but likely you may meet another team while working on a marker. Bluffing, pretending and outright lying are all acceptable means of keeping the other team off balance while you find the plate, gather your team, and leave the area. CMO is not an expensive sport. Entry fees are generally $8/rider. Due to insurance regulations, membership in the National organization is required for each rider. Individual annual memberships cost $20, family memberships are $30, and a one-day membership is $5. Annual membership bestows eligibility for year-end awards for you and your horse, as well as $1 million in liability insurance on all the horses you own during that year. You are covered for any accidental injury or damage your horse(s) may cause whether you are riding them in a CMO or not, when they are stabled, at home or elsewhere, or even if being ridden by someone else (as long as they are a member also). The Illinois/Indiana chapter is putting on a ride at Kettle Moraine South in Palmyra, Wisc on Sept 8th and 9th to help introduce the sport to people in the Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison area. Ride Managers of The Great Plate Race: Illinois Director: Indiana Director: |
