The Tasmanian Horsemanship and Agility Riders Association Incorporated (THARA) is a small club, currently operating in the Central North of Tasmania. We are an incorporated not-for-profit association, run by a dedicated Board of Directors.

We are an inclusive club – we welcome all breeds and ages of horses (a stallion policy applies) and participants of all ages and abilities. We also cater for lead line riders, budding riders and aged riders as well as for green horses – young or old – that may benefit from being initially led over a Challenge course.

We’re not about bling – you don’t need expensive tack for our sport. Western as well as English gear is welcome; our focus is on safety.

We want people to have fun with their horses, and the horses to have fun as well, in a demonstration of partnership between human and horse. We want everyone to feel safe and supported in developing and showing your horsemanship skills.

Our sport is about good horsemanship when tackling a Challenge course, mostly ridden, but also in-hand or at liberty. This can be done at leisure and in small increments at our come and try days and training days, or – for those competitively inclined – at our Shows.

Essentially, it is about a calm and happy horse being obedient to forward cues. A Challenge course consists of obstacles such as bridges in many modifications (long, short, straight, curved, flat, raised, …), various arrangements of pool noodles (for example, as curtains, or as “shredders”), poles (as low jumps, or laneways), etc. In addition, the course requires the execution of manoeuvres such as accurate transitions, rollbacks, turns on the forehand or on the haunches, etc. Specific tasks may involve roping, archery, dragging, etc. The sky’s the limit!

We want to see an agile horse willingly working a course; what we don’t want to see is “hooning around” or forcing a frightened horse to do things it is physically or emotionally unfit to tackle.

In all of this, the Club considers the safety of riders and horses as paramount.