The Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia (TRAV) recently held its annual horse show at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia.
While the first shows were held at the fairgrounds in Richmond, Virginia, 30 years ago the TRAV show moved to Lexington and has grown to a two-day event. This show is one of three shows that has been held at horse center consecutively for 30 years. The show draws participants from therapeutic riding centers throughout Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia.
The TRAV show includes equitation, dressage, trails and pole bending classes. There is a high-point award for each division and a prestigious show “therapy horse” award picked by the judges. This year an instructor’s division was added with one class for younger instructors and one for older instructors. Jenny Spain of Simple Changes won the younger division and Susan Hubbard of Riverwood won the older division.
As the show grows so do our exhibitors’ skills and additional classes challenging advanced riders are slated to be added in 2019.
TRAV was formed in 1986 as a non-profit organization “to foster equine-assisted activities by offering education and networking opportunities for operating centers and to raise public awareness of the benefits of these activities to individuals with disabilities.” TRAV maintains this mission by offering:
- Two educational workshops yearly that meet the continuing education requirement for the Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International
- Competition scholarships
- Instructor procurement scholarships
- A “fast-track” scholarship for attaining a PATH registered instructor designation in one year
- Annual horse show
Mark your calendars for October 19 – 20, 2019, for the 31st TRAV Horse Show.
Roanoke Equestrian 