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.

Muckleratz CDR 2024

The weekend after Vermont was the Muckleratz CTR. Spoiler alert: I did not quit horseback riding. 

Mike and I agreed to being the photographers a year ago. Even before his camera died at the endurance ride, Mike was encouraging me to bring a horse. His logic was that we had to bring the trailer either way. Might as well pack a pony. 

"Plus you can get a hang glider photo with both mares," he reasoned. 

Sold!

I decided to bring Lucy and do the CDR (one loop) and just have fun. It was frankly genius.

And, honestly, after this photo, do I even need another shot at this site?

Moonlight in Vermont 2024

 The second Booger completed her first 50 last year, I started day dreaming about rides I'd like to do with her one day. Moonlight in Vermont quickly went to the top of the list. Long time readers know how much I adore this ride. When I started planning the 2024 season, Vermont became my secret goal ride. Well, spoiler alert, we got there! There were a lot of ups and downs along the way, but Booger completed the 50. Details below (a month later). 

Photo by Ben Kimball. 

Muckleratz LD 2024

The short version of the 2024 Muckleratz endurance ride is as follows:
I was going to do the 50. The temperature was in the mid 90's with high humidity. I had a crappy week. My motto for the weekend was, "I don't even want to be here." I ended up dropping down to the 30 to ride with Christine. It ended up being the best endurance ride Booger and I have had to date.

New York Adventure 2024

 After Booger ripped my arms out and would not walk for 30 miles at Rabbit Run, I decided I was just going to enter her in a 50 next. I took Lucy to Foxcatcher and No Frills got cancelled. That meant New York Adventure would be the next ride on our list. I did the 30 with Booger at NYA last year and struggled with her pulse. I told Mike, "Either she'll have her first pull, or we'll get year two of our decade team under our belts..."

I'll say one thing about this ride. It was New York Adventure. Emphasis on Adventure.

Photo by Carien Schippers of ImagEquine. Used with purchase.

Lucy's First CTR

 People periodically ask me if I'm going to do endurance with Lucy. I always say no. Historically, I've also said things like, "Lucy gets to about 15 miles and says that's enough for her." She doesn't quit or anything, but I just didn't feel she'd ever want to do more than that. 

This winter, Lucy got pretty fit. She was feeling better than ever. As you know, I took her to Foxcatcher and did the intro. It was only 12 miles, but we did it at CTR speed and I had plenty of horse left at the finish. Nick told me with confidence that he felt she could do an LD. That really got the wheels turning in my head.

The question then became: what LD is somewhat local and has terrain that isn't much harder than Fair Hill? I did not have a good answer to that one. 

After No Frills got cancelled and Booger ended up on UlcerGard, I scrapped my day dream of going down to Biltmore this year. That left me free on the weekend of the NJ 100+ CTR. This ride is an hour and a half from home in the Pine Barrens. It's actually held at Kowboy Korral, which is where I did my first ever ride on Ozzy back when Mustang was held there. I haven't been back to that venue since 2010 (Ozzy's last 50 mile completeion). I have never done NJ 100. 

I decided to see how Lucy did on our camping trip to Fair Hill. I rode her three days in a row and she felt awesome. I went home and sent my entry for the 25. I was torn about whether I actually wanted to do a two-loop CTR. The short holds always stress me out. Plus the NJ 100 features away holds, which was probably going to be even worse for Lucy's first time doing a hold at all. Mike reminded me that it's Lucy and she's a Very Good Girl. 

"You'll be fine," he told me.

So I filled out my entry, checked the box for pass/fail, and hit send. I figured it would be a good test, and if she got pulled I wouldn't be upset because there would be no record of it anywhere. 

It turned out Christine was planning to ride Gracelyn in the 25 as well, and we agreed to start together and see how it went. 

Photo taken by Mike at the finish. As you can probably tell from our grins, it went really well!

 

Lucy Goes to Ridecamp

 Long story short, Lucy went to her first AERC event at the beginning of the month. We did the intro. It was her first time camping with us. I had a blast. 

Rabbit Run 2024: First Ride of the Season

Just like that, it's ride season again. Booger and I did the LD at Rabbit Run. The short version is she has another 30 miles on her ride record, and I have a fire-breathing dragon on my hands.

Jersey Devil 25

 One year to the day after Booger's first CTR, we went back to where it all began, finishing the season at the Jersey Devil. 

This was the moment she spotted Mike waiting for us at the in timer.

Crewing Mustang Memorial

 The weekend after we got back from our vacation was the Mustang Memorial endurance ride, right here in NJ. Originally, I had planned this ride to be Booger's first 50. When I entered her in the Horseshoe Bend Boogie in August, I was hoping it would be her second 50. After she was not-quite-sound at the finish, I went back to the drawing board. I hemmed and hawed and Mike encouraged me to enter the ride. My mantra all year has been "just try it and see what happens". Jen F and Christine would be attempting their first 50's. Jen M was coming to crew for them. A lot of our friends would be coming down. I wanted to camp and ride and have a good time.

In the end, I entered the 30. I planned for it to be my last ride of the season. The only other ride left on the AERC calendar was Fort Valley, and we are definitely not ready for OD trails. 

With 48 hours to go, I couldn't shake a bad gut feeling. Plus the forecast was calling for 80% rain. I had only ridden Booger on trail once since the 50. I ride her in the ring about three times a week so she's not just sitting, but still...

If I was being honest with myself, I just plain didn't want to do this ride. I have done Mustang a million times. The trails are, frankly, boring. I will never beat crossing the finish line of the 50 in first place with a ride time of 4h13m in 2013. While I try to actively support all endurance rides, and especially the local ones, I didn't want to go. Thirty miles of sand and pine trees in the pouring rain sounded awful.

So I did something I've never done before. I pulled my ride entry and cancelled my PTO. 

Instead, we went down and crewed for Jen and Christine. It ended up being a lovely day.

Crew Jen, Killian, Rider Jen, and me.

Booger's First 50

 Yup. That happened.

Photographing Muckleratz CTR

While I was at Muckleratz doing the LD with Booger, Carolyn asked if Mike and I were available to photograph the CTR. This is one of our favorite locations to shoot. You really can't beat the view off the hang glider launch and it's easily accessible. We always sell a ton of photos. The CTR doesn't have the number of entries the endurance ride boasts, but we had nothing else going on that weekend and we are always happy to give back. We happily agreed. It turned out to be a little mini vacation at the end of July.

Julio really enjoyed camping that weekend. This is my new favorite photo of him.

Muckleratz 2023

 Over fourth of July weekend, Booger and I did the LD at Muckleratz. 

We had some highs:

We had some lows:

It's always an adventure around here.

New York Adventure 2023

 The reason I was in such a hurry to get the horse trailer picked up and situated was that I wanted to take Booger to the LD at New York Adventure. I had already missed the early entry deadline and was worried the ride would fill before I sent my entry. I messaged Dodie the day before the deadline and told her that I needed to have the trailer by the end of the week to be able to commit to the ride. It was down to the wire, but the trailer came home on Friday and I sent my entry on Saturday. One week later, we were on our way to New York. 

Booger's first official ride photos, by Carien Schippers of ImagEquine. Used with purchase, of course. I love how happy she looks!

Photographing No Frills

 Mike and I photographed No Frills again this year. Becky had the same scheduling conflict as last year and we were more than happy to step in. For starters, it's a great way to get to a ride and see everyone. Last year we also made a killing on photo sales. We have a lot of upcoming expenses so the chance to make a little extra cash was appealing. No Frills is a two day ride, which meant taking half a day Thursday to head down. 

My photography assistant for the weekend.

Booger's First Endurance Ride

 I filled out the entry form and hit send, then closed the computer and made a list of things to pack. Getting ready for an endurance ride always consists of a flurry of activity. Go, go, go. It wasn't until the initial frenzy died down that the date struck me. Rabbit Run was being held on March 18th. It was the five year anniversary of Ozzy's death. The realization hit like a ton of bricks. 

The following weeks flew by and the knot in my stomach grew. The date felt like a sign. Would it be a good sign like the eagle I spotted on the last loop of the cold and snowy fifty at Foxcatcher, or a bad sign like the tree blocking the road on our way to the airport for Tevis? Only time would tell.

Thursday night I packed the trailer. I climbed in the truck and the engine roared to life. I pulled out of the driveway, heading for home. Sirius XM played on the Mosaic station, a leftover perk of the truck's last owner. From the moment of silence between songs, the familiar chords of The Goo Goo Dolls rose and filled the cab. Name. The song that always makes me think of my heart horse and his larger than life personality.

"I think about you all the time
But I don't need the same
It's lonely where you are, come back down
And I won't tell 'em your name"

I pulled into the driveway at home with tears streaming down my cheeks. 

"I hear you, buddy," I whispered into the gray of the evening.

Good sign. 

Booger's First CTR

This photo says it all. 

Photographing No Frills

 As I alluded to in my April recap, Mike and I photographed the No Frills endurance ride in Virginia over Easter weekend. 

Ride camp as seen from the drone. 

Horseshoe Bend Boogie

 I still don't have it in me to talk about Herbie in any detail. After Ozzy passed, the blog stagnated for weeks. I am already six weeks behind on updates, and I really worry that if I stop now, I'll never get started again. Instead, I'm going to start chiseling away at this backlog of posts.

Over Halloween weekend, Mike and I photographed a new, local endurance ride. It ended up being one of those stories that we said we'd laugh about... some day. Well, enough time has passed for it to be some day.

Mustang Memorial LD 2021

 The Mustang Memorial endurance ride was on the 2nd. This is, historically, one of two endurance rides in NJ every year and, frankly, I like Rabbit Run better. Mustang is a ride I've done a million times so I never actively make plans to go. However, it's one of the more convenient rides for us to get to, so I don't typically say no if I get an invite to go. One of the downsides to Mustang in recent years is that it's co-sanctioned with FEI. For the most part, that means very little to me, but it does mean the entry fees are through the roof.

All the same, when Jen invited me to come ride the LD, I happily agreed. 

The last time I did the Mustang LD was two years ago when Peyton flipped over on me shortly after the start and I had a good cry before sucking it up for thirty miles. I was hoping for a little less excitement this time around.

Sand and pine trees. If you do one loop of this ride, you've basically seen all there is to see. I'll admit it's pretty though.