EFH Fall Pace

The day after the cow clinic was the The Essex Fox Hounds fall pace, which is always one of my favorites. Eryca was not available to do it this year, so I reached out to Tor and asked her if she'd like to come down. I told her she could have her pick of horses.

"Well, you know I love Booger best, but I'll take whoever."
"You can have her!" 

This was the first time I let someone other than me ride Booger at any kind of event. Tor was the first person other than me to ride Booger, and has done so on several occasions since. She was also the one to accompany me to Booger's first pace, so this felt fitting. The two of them get along really well. My biggest concern was that Tor was going to make her look easy and I was going to be left second guessing my ability as a rider. (I already know most of Booger's problems are, in fact, my problems.) 

Short version: it was an awesome day. I loved getting both mares out together.

Cattle Play Day with Lucy

 Every year, one of my goals is a vaguely scribbled "lesson/clinic/something new" with the horses. For the last several years, I've had a concept of "something with cows" in that category. This year, I finally made it happen!

There's a farm just across the river in Pennsylvania that does cow clinics and a team penning/sorting buckle series. I'm not sure exactly when Broken Arrow Ranch came into existence locally, but I've been aware of their presence for about a year and I've heard a lot of good things. 

When I saw an October Cattle Play Day come up on Facebook, I added it to my calendar. I was delighted to see that I had nothing else planned that day! 

Lucy worked cows in some capacity in Texas (plus we had cows at home for a while) so I knew she would be fine. I have zero background in working cows, but I love to try new things. 

New Friend Sarah and I chatted  about the cattle day. She competes in the buckle series at BAR and had lots of nice things to say. She told me the ranch owner, Diana, was our kind of people and that she was sure we'd hit it off right away. She also assured me that nobody would judge me for my tack or attire. In fact, one of her fox hunting friends, Linda, was bringing a horse who was scared of cows so I wouldn't be the only one in English tack. (It's funny, when I go to English events, people think I'm in western tack. When I go to western events, people think I'm in English tack. #enduranceproblems)

So even though I didn't know anybody who was going and was completely outside my usual realm, I headed over to check it out. Short version: I am hooked!

Something new ✓

Introducing: Harvest Hill Serenchipity

 Things were too peaceful around here so I decided to upset the apple cart and throw a foal into the mix. As one does.

Chip at three months old, the first time I met him.

Deer Path Photo Dump

 The day before I went to meet my new baby horse (sorry if you thought that would be the next post, I have a lot going on right now) Eryca and I got together for a ride. Because we haven't been riding together as much this year, I've been encouraging Eryca to pick her adventures. On this day, she chose Deer Path Park, which was a great idea. I hadn't been there since the NACMO ride in April so this was a nice change of scenery. 

We've been in a pretty serious drought so the trails were remarkably dry. I was also pleased to see that they've done some trail clearing. This was the best the trails have looked in recent memory. 

We had no goals for the day except to get out and enjoy the nice weather. We agreed we weren't feeling like riding all the way to the general store or doing any super rocky trails. Instead, we took a detour down the dirt road and headed to the preserve to canter around the fields. 

The only interesting thing that happened on the ride was that the buffalo were turned out in the back paddock along the road, which meant we could ride right up to them. After reviewing the map later, I realized that you can probably ride all the way around them! Of course, I thought this was very cool. Lilly, on the other hand, was not into it. She rarely spooks at anything, but she was on red alert about the giant alien cows. We hung out until her adrenaline came down, but decided not to push it that day. 

We wound up doing seven beautiful, peaceful miles. I took many photos, which is why this wasn't in my monthly recap, but there was nothing amazing to warrant a longer post. 

My favorite trail in the park has been cleared!

Camping (and horse shopping) at Moshannon

 When we last left off, Sandy and I were plotting...

Sandy has had Fina for almost a decade now. (Where does the time go?) In that time, we have been on some truly fabulous adventures. While Fina doesn't show any actual signs of slowing down, she is getting older. Sandy has casually been thinking about her next horse. Her unofficial plan was to maybe get a young horse for her 40th birthday (next year). 

In the process, Sandy has been talking about the things she does and does not want in her next horse. The abridged version is that she was looking for a young horse, preferably a mare, preferably gaited, with a pretty blank slate. 

Sandy has loved Lucy since the first time they met, and the more we talked, the more she was pretty sure she wanted a fox trotter. I have to giggle at the number of fox trotters that seem to come into my life these days. Before I met Lilly in 2012, I had never met a MFT before! Now I own one and a half and Lilly is still very much in my life. Sandy and I even talked about going to Missouri to try some (this would have been an epic adventure, I am sure.)

As all my readers probably know, horse shopping can be a real roller coaster. Sandy sent me ads for potential horses, and I dutifully looked at them with scrutiny. I nitpicked and weighed pros and cons. Some of them, I flat out typed "NO" to. 

Then Sandy sent me a handful of photos of some fox trotters that were about four hours away in Pennsylvania. There was a breeder with a handful of horses for sale, ranging in age from six months to seven years old. The photos were mostly of the horses hanging out in their pasture, but there was something that drew us both in. There was a black pinto mare, five years old, that specifically got my attention.

"I think they're worth looking at," I encouraged Sandy. "It's not that far of a drive and there are multiple horses to make the trip worth it."

When we rode the Columbia Trail together, we were both looking for something to do the following weekend. Sandy agreed to go home to see if the MFT owners were available to show her their horses. 

Coincidentally, the Moshannon State Forest is near the farm the sale horses were at. There is equestrian camping at Moshannon, and it was on our list of places to check out. On Thursday, Sandy and I were still hemming and hawing. I checked the camping website and found that the sites at North Run were wide open. Sandy was still on the fence.

Finally I texted her. "I just booked site #4 for tomorrow through Monday." That was all the encouragement Sandy needed. 

So, with less than 24 hours notice, we went into the forest for four days with a side of horse shopping along the way. It was brilliant.

A change of scenery in more ways than one.

Chasing Waterfalls (and beer)

 As I mentioned, I was supposed to do the Chautauqua ride with Booger, but opted not to. This meant I had an unexpected free weekend, which left me feeling sorry for myself. The rainy weather didn't help. Sandy ended up coming to the rescue, and we agreed to meet at the Columbia Trail in High Bridge. We wound up having a ride that was (in a word): epic:

Sandy and me in front of the Solitude Dam. 

October

 I still have one more September post to go. Then I have to talk about camping at Moshannon, Sandy's new horse, riding at Deer Path Park, cattle sorting with Lucy, two hunter paces, conditioning with Mike, and a CTR.

Oh yeah, and I bought a foal:

This is Chip. He's a grade Morgan colt. He comes home for my birthday.

Fingers Crossed 2024

 My first foray into the world of mounted orienteering was at the Fingers Crossed ride in April of 2023. This year, Fingers Crossed was held in September and I got to go back to where it all started (plus camping.)

Hector Half Hundred 2024

 The last (only) time I did Hector was in 2015. That was my cursed season. I rode Wendy's lovely Asgard gelding, Fleuron. It poured rain. We did 55 cold, wet, miserable miles. At the finish line, the vets (who were new to the sport) played 'not it' while Fleuron stood around waiting to be vetted. By the time someone drew the short straw and came out to vet us, Fleuron had cramped up. Mike and I worked hard to work out the knot in Fleuron's hindquarters. When he represented, we all thought he looked good. The vet disagreed and we were pulled at the finish. It was honestly such a miserable experience that it took me nine years to want to go back. 

I have to say I'm super glad we went. Booger and I had an absolutely brilliant experience and Hector is on my do-again list (assuming the weather is good).

Photo by Kelsey Eliot.

Jumping Around CHP

 The weekend after Labor Day, we had a rare free weekend. I reached out to Eryca to see if there was anything she wanted to do. She quickly suggested Christie Hoffman, which is always lovely. It was Booger's turn and she hadn't been there yet. This was perfect. I figured we would do some little jumps and get a few easy miles in. We ended up doing a little over six miles. I was having a brave jumping day, and Booger took me out of my comfort zone successfully, which was awesome.

I really need to invest in a jumping saddle. (Add it to the list of expensive things on my wish list at the moment.) I also need to shorten my stirrups about nine holes. Booger does a good job making up for my failures though.