Austin, TX – 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 on Sunday June 13, 2010. A total of 984 riders participated in the record breaking achievement that successfully raised over $69,000 for horse rescue programs across the US.

On the day of the event, riders gathered in 24 states to compete in local trail rides that were organized by ACTHA for the official Guinness World Records attempt, in which riders competed on six-mile trails comprised of safe, fun and natural trail obstacles, that were observed by professional judges. In addition to the riding participants, over 622 volunteers across the country 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 3 years so that the entire slaughter issue will be a non-issue’”

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