Turkey Trot CMO 2024

 Alternate title: Birthday NACMO

The Turkey Trot CMO at Lake Ontelaunee fell on my birthday this year and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate! Dodie has been driving Willow, but Bee is out on maternity leave (the foal should be coming any week now) so Dodie did not have a horse to ride. Luckily for both of us, I have spares! I loaned her Lilly for the day and we entered the long course together.

Jersey Devil 2024

After Hector, my ride season came to an abrupt halt. We missed Chautauqua. After that, I set my sights on Mustang. Originally, I was planning to take Lucy and do her first LD. I was going to ride with Sam on Puma. Then Mustang got cancelled. We regrouped and planned for Jersey Devil. The plan was to ride Lucy in the 25 with Sam. Then Sam mentioned that she wanted to do the two day 50. It would be her first multi day. I decided to enter Lucy in back to back 25's. This way, if she completed one day and not the second, the miles from day one would still count. It would be more expensive, but since I ride pass fail, I was all for it. 

After the Essex hunter pace, I had my doubts about Lucy being able to do both days. Booger, meanwhile, was still rip roaring fit. I had no doubt she could do 50 miles in two days. It would be our first multi-day as well. In the end, I decided to enter Booger in both 25's. My train of thought was to ride the first day and see how it went. If I wasn't having a good time, I didn't have to start the second day. I was interested to see if she'd be quieter on the second day. I keep telling myself "no more sand rides for Booger" because she treats them like really long race track. But I had such a good time riding with Sam last year. I figured it was worth a try.

It turns out, Booger wasn't the problem that weekend. 

I seriously love this mare so much.

November

 So I got caught up on October posts, but I haven't touched November yet. What are the chances I get the blog caught up before the end of the year? Zero. The chances are zero. 

I still have to blog about the Jersey Devil CTR, Chip coming home (and subsequently needing his first e-vet visit), a NACMO ride, baby updates in general*, taking Booger to sort cows, riding with Sandy and Tot, riding Lucy at HSB, riding Booger at Round Valley, and another hunter pace.

*I am struggling with keeping things chronological. The baby hasn't come home on the blog yet, but he's been here for three weeks already and I have sooooo many photos!!!

Visiting Chip two days before he came home.

Covered Bridge Trail Pace

 The next morning was the Covered Bridge Trail Association fall pace. Eryca and I did this one two years ago and loved it. They weren't able to hold it last year, and I was excited to see it back on the calendar for 2024. These are Terra's home trails and we invited her to join us. 

Columbia Trail (with Mike and Booger)

 The last Saturday in October presented with beautiful weather, with clear skies and temperatures in the mid 60's. I found myself without any plans, and none of the usual suspects were available for a last minute adventure. 

Any time this happens, Mike offers to come ride with me, which is very sweet. I appreciate this, but I also know Mike would rather ride his bike than a horse. You may remember that he accompanied me to the Assunpink this way when I was setting up my NACMO course. That time, I rode Lucy. This time, we decided to take Booger and Mike's bicycle and revisit the Columbia Trail. He has been wanting to ride there, and Booger had enjoyed our outing with Sandy earlier this fall. Plus a rail trail is a great place to take bike and horse together. 

We wound up doing almost eleven miles and it's definitely something I would do again. 

Vetter Farm with Sandy

 A short while after Sandy brought Tot home, she asked if I'd be willing to come ride Fina with her. She had gotten the new girl out for a few trail rides with friends, but she specifically wanted to get her mares out together. Nobody was willing to ride Fina. I love Fina and was happy to oblige (poor Fina). We met up on a Tuesday after work (this was before the time change, obviously). Sandy suggested Vetter Farm, which is private preserved land accessible by permission. This was too good for me to resist. This will mostly be a photo dump, but it was glorious.

Not my usual set of ears.

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!