A Collection of Madcap Escapades: AVTA Fall Hunter Pace

Someone recently asked me why I never post Ozzy updates any more. I replied that he's been sitting around in a field, not doing anything terribly exciting, which is true. Ozzy has been doing very well. He's sound and happy, and if you stop by the farm around 6pm on any given night, you'll find him running laps around the pasture while the other horses ignore him. I joke that he's been keeping himself in shape, just in case.

Last Thursday I took him out for a half hour hack around the farm. I hadn't done anything but groom him and give him cookies in about three weeks, but he was good nonetheless. Later that day, Jen mentioned that she was doing the hunter pace on Sunday and talked me into bringing Ozzy. I had the pace marked on my calendar, but hadn't been holding my breath on finding a horse to go with. On Friday, Christine came down for her weekly ride on JR. I took Ozzy and the two of us did a four mile ride off the farm. Ozzy was sassy, but mostly good. He had Saturday off and I went to the hunter pace hoping that I wouldn't have my hands too full.

In the mean time, I had talked Tor into coming down to join us. She and Cola have never done a hunter pace, but she's been wanting to for quite a while and she does plenty of trail riding with him at home. She talked her barn owner into letting her borrow the truck and trailer and found a friend who was willing to come play the part of crew and co-pilot. The friend, Jason, also brought a dog for Herbie to torment.

I went up to see Tor on Saturday to work on Cola's trailer loading. He wasn't bad about it. It was just a new concept to him and he was very green about the trailer in general. Tor was kind enough to video tape the session from start to finish and I had him self loading in record time. I'm hoping to get my hands on the video in the near future for educational purposes.

On Sunday Mike joined me on my morning trip to the barn. Ozzy was happy to see me and seemed to know that something fun was up. I put him in his lime green gear just as Jen pulled up the driveway with the trailer. Ozzy loaded into the step up with no issue and we were on the road in no time.

The pace was being run out of a farm that I used to ride through all the time when I boarded Ozzy in the Amwell Valley. I was excited to ride in some of my old favorite places, and especially excited to be doing it with Ozzy. Don't get me wrong. I love riding a variety of horses, but there's something about being out there with my guy that gets my blood pumping.

We parked on this scary slope and I was grateful the ground had dried pretty nicely. My little Poof demonstrated some awesome off road capabilities for a two wheel drive vehicle. Mike looked skeptical. Tor and Jen's friend, Susan, pulled in one right after the other and Tor parked alongside us.

We unloaded the horses together and I tied Ozzy next to Cola. Tor and I have been joking for years that Ozzy and Cola are not allowed to get together because all hell would break loose. Cola is basically Ozzy in a thoroughbred body and I can only imagine the shenanigans they would get into. Cola was too busy taking in the new surroundings to pay Ozzy any attention, and Ozzy, for his part, was just worried that this strange new horse would kick him and was standing as far away from Cola as possible. The horses seemed pretty indifferent to each other and I was a bit disappointed that they weren't instant BFF's.

Before long, we were tacked up, signed in, mounted, and ready to go. We signed up as the Under 18's again, something which seemed to make just us laugh. O well.

I had been worried that Ozzy would be hot and hard to handle, but he blew me out of the water with his attitude. As soon as I got on him, his ears went into Happy Mode and he seemed to say, "Yup.I remember this. This is my job."

He was awesome all day. He moved right along, conquering everything I put in his path, from water crossings to small jumps to crazy ditches that fox hunters charge through like they're no big deal. I have missed really riding this horse. He's goofy with some hilarious in between gaits, but he has such an engine on him. He is a serious power house, even when he's completely out of conditioning. Speaking of which, I guess those laps around the pasture really paid off because Ozzy surprised me with his fitness. I think he could do an LD tomorrow. We cantered and galloped almost the entire course and Ozzy got pretty lathered, but never quit or asked to slow down.

Hopping baby jumps with the boys.

It was a gorgeous ride and I, once again, got to see parts of the trail system that were new to me. Sadly, my helmet cam died about a third of the way into the ride so I missed some of the killer views and tricky trail crossings, but I still got enough video to bore you guys to tears. I was grinning from ear to ear and laughing the whole time and the weather was absolutely perfect.

With that said, it certainly wasn't an easy ride. There was one section in particular that had my eyebrows up in my hairline. There was a steep, slick descent into a ravine with some rocks and water at the bottom, followed immediately by a large, vertical up-bank, which you sort of had to leap up from the down hill position. Of course, the whole thing was overgrown by tall weeds and scrub brush. And that wasn't the hard option either! The other option was to jump a four foot coop. No thanks! Ozzy and Cola did it just fine, but what really impressed me was the group of fearless pony club kids who charged right through there single file like it was no big thing. I miss being fearless like that!

We did hit a few snags along the way.

The first few water crossings were really an issue for Cola. He has gone through plenty of creeks and puddles, but doing it far away from home in a strange situation was pushing it for him. He didn't do anything bad, just sort of planted his feet and refused to move. All your typical horse bribing tricks (following other horses, being left alone, etc.) didn't work and I don't tell Tor what to do with her horse. She has made a ton of progress with him and they make a great team. If it wasn't for her, that horse's future would have been pretty bleak. We wanted to make it a learning experience for Cola, but we also didn't want to lose too much time on the water crossings, so Tor got off and led him through the first few times. By the end of the ride, he was a water crossing pro.

Puddle of doom!

The first creek crossing.

Cola was also very sassy. He did some pretend bucking and frisking and even earned some comments from the women on the quarter horses, who were very impressed with Tor's riding.

Ozzy's big issue for the day was this short stretch of road that we had to walk on. Ozzy was on his very best behavior, plodding along on a loose rein. The road surface was that slippery spray-on tar that sort of shifts under pressure. I guess Ozzy's bad conformation did him an injustice and his feet suddenly splayed out from under him. He hit the pavement like Bambi on ice and looked over his shoulder at me, startled, before he carefully got back up. It was like he was saying, "Do you still have your stirrups? You do? Ok. I'm getting up now."
"Well, he was sound," I muttered. He was stiff for a few steps after that, but walked it off without any lasting effects or road rash. Poor guy! I can only imagine how bad it would have been if he'd had shoes on. Eek!

We had an absolute blast out there. Jen was riding with Susan and Alissa so we were free to go at our own pace. We galloped the open stretches, went of course to jump some logs, and hung out in the water letting the horses play. We spent a good portion riding with two very nice women and their quarter horses, who seemed to be trail pace machines! We made really good time and if it hadn't been for those first few water crosssings, I'm willing to bet we would have placed.

Susan, on the badly behaved black horse, told Jen that Ozzy looked nuts and she wouldn't ride him.

It's nice to ride with a horse that can keep up with Ozzy. It was Tor's first real gallop on Cola.

As for Ozzy and Cola, they actually seemed to really hit it off. Ozzy played the part of big brother very well and Cola was playful and tolerant of Ozzy in ways that most horses aren't. By the end of the ride, they'd decided they were soul mates. Ozzy stopped at one of the check points and gave Cola a shoulder rub. At the next big water crossing, Cola returned the favor by splashing Ozzy with mouthfuls of creek water.

Hour and a half ride in five minutes.

When we tied them at the trailer at the end of the day, they shared alfalfa cube mush out of one bucket. Tor had just said, "Who do you think will knock the water bucket over first?" when there was a telltale splash from behind the trailer. We came around the corner to both of them staring at us with their innocent ears on, like, "What water bucket? I have no idea what you're talking about."

When we got to the finish line, Mike and Jason met us with sandwiches, chips, and drinks for everyone and we spent some time picnicking in the grass before we went home.

Tor offered to give me a ride back and both horses self-loaded into her bumper pull like they'd trailered together all their lives. We unloaded them both at home and hosed them off before turning them out in the outdoor to play together. They frolicked like colts, showing off all their best moves and playing like the best of friends. It was sad to see Cola go, especially since he doesn't have anyone to play with at home. Our hope is to some day get them living together. I think it would make everyone very happy.