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HOBO 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, 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.
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