GMHA 25-mile CTR

Returning to ancient history...weekend before last, I trucked Tucker up to Vermont for a 25-mile CTR out of the Green Mountain Horse Association, which gentle readers may remember from previous posts as the best place on earth.  This was the same ride we’d done last year as our first and I knew better what to expect from the sport now, but had no idea what to expect from my horse.  Our dressage school the Tuesday before the ride had been our worst in ages.  I should have just scratched the whole plan and gone out for a hack instead, except for the part where, as I was putting Tuck away, the barn owner came out to let me know that the whole area was under a shelter-in-place order due to a local having fired shots at the police and then bolting, possibly into the same (large, but still) wooded area that I had thought about hacking…!  On Thursday, Tuck was in much better spirits but also a raving lunatic.

So off we went to Vermont with fingers and toes crossed that our troubles would stay behind.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this ride.  It was fantastic.  Sunny and warm-but-not-hot, with excellent company for the 12ish miles prior to the hold and then mostly just Tuck and me trotting down the trails by ourselves after.  It was a typical Vermont ride: lots of rolling hardpack country roads between sleepy sprawling farms broken up by wooded trails with lots of natural water (but at least on this go-round, not too much mud!).  I’m told the trails to the hold ran through a new easement and our little group paused for a moment at the top of a hill climb to admire the view – mountains beyond mountains in every direction – and marvel at how lucky we were to be there, to be on horses, to have this gift of a day.

Which is what I keep catching myself loving most about distance.  It’s not an adrenaline sport the way that eventing was and I do miss that – but in eventing, there was always something of urgency happening in the moment or in the immediate future, and the appreciation was nearly always retroactive.  There’s just something especially wonderful about having the time and mental space for a little sense-of-wonder and gratitude right then and there, be it standing on top of the world with good horses and good friends or cantering in and out of shadows along a dirt road.

We finished the 25 miles in 4 hours flat of ride time plus 30min spent at the lunch hold.  I was awfully proud of Tuck at the hold!  He didn’t want to drink when we came in, but fell right to grazing while we waited in the long vetting line and when I retrieved him from the volunteer who kindly held him after so I could run to the bathroom, she reported that he had grazed for another minute and then dragged her over to the water trough.  So I pulled off his headstall and he drank!  First time he’s accepted water before 18-20 miles, I think.  Atta boy.  He drank a little in the streams at around 20 miles, too, although he’s clearly happier without a bit in his mouth.

The big winner of our gear for the ride was definitely our Renegades.  I didn’t think the trails were especially muddy, but there was a lot of farrier activity at the hold – but Tuck’s boots never budged.  He seems very comfortable in them, has good traction over all manner of surfaces, and at this point I just feel very confident going down the trail with him booted up.  And my initial worry that he would chew up his hind fetlocks if (hoof)-booted but not (leg-)booted (he used to ding himself a little with shoes -- not badly, but a little -- and leg boots are not legal for ECTRA CTR) has proved unfounded; I haven't found any evidence of contact at all, not even mud smears or disturbed hair.  Hurrah!

The bad news is that he was a bit backsore, not the day of the ride but the day after, argh, which: must confess is part of why I was not enthusiastic about writing this post early last week.  Buuuut the great saddle hunt has been turning its wheels in the background and I think I’ll have some very good news on that front in near future (fingers crossed, knocking on wood).

I gave him three days off post-ride and then hopped on for a gentle hack last Wednesday, eased him back into work over the weekend.  He’s felt excellent: very strong and happy in his body and brain.  This also translates into him being a cocky know-it-all on the trails – darling Tucker has clearly figured out that his job is to make time where the time-making is good, so he’s eminently responsive when I adjust his speed, gait, or placement on the trail to cope with an obstacle and then promptly offers whatever he thinks is best on the backside – but it’s hard to complain about that!  And he’s developed a lot more in the way of gears to his trail trot; it’s no longer all big booming travel-trot or else death slog.

We had a new-to-us trimmer come out (she used to work on Tristan!) last night, which was great.  I accidentally ended up taking over Tuck’s hoofcare this past winter – didn’t mean to, didn't want to, but we do enough unbooted road miles that he wears foot about as fast as it grows and I just take his toes back now and again – which is insane and I desperately wanted someone to evaluate what we had and either reassure me that all was well or else get us back on the right track.

Trimmer’s evaluation boiled down to, “I’m not sure why I’m here.”  The upshot is that everything is basically where it needs to be, but having her there to look at him with me in real time and help me understand what I was seeing was really great.  Plan going forward is to just keep on keeping on, with the option to give her a call if I feel stuck or confused or if we run into a problem.

Our next adventure is a trip to the rail trail this weekend for, if all goes as planned, a high-mileage training ride with The Other Amanda.  I’ll evaluate what happens next based on how that goes.

…I guess I did have a lot to say, after all.  And now have (in no particular order) some pictures.

 

Looking up from the stream behind Kedron Valley Stables.  Vermont is all jungle-y this time of year.

Used with permission of Spectrum Photography.  This is on the GMHA cross-country course.  Almost home, but I wanted a cantering (and snacking) pic!

GMHA stabling.  C barn, brookside.  Home sweet away-from-home!

Classic Vermont dirt road.

Dressage rings at GMHA.

Same, looking back towards stabling.

Vetting in the Dust Bowl.

Another dirt road.

Water stop behind Kedron.

My accomodations (and feet)!

Used with permission of Spectrum Photography.  This is our group, just before the hold, and this is such a Tucker picture.  Rebel is chowing down, Rufus is hanging out, and Tuck is all, "HEY GUYS THE REST OF THE WORLD EXISTS!"

Memorial pathway at GMHA.

Best picnic spot, or best picnic spot?  (Hint: best picnic spot.)

Random piney woods late in the ride.

Used with permission of Spectrum Photography.  At the lunch old.  My partner. <3

A Prelim and a Training fence on the GMHA XC course.  Also, a tiny windmill.

Back home, having a nice roll after our hack-about-town the other day.

Wrong turn?

Solar panels on top of the world.  You see a lot of these in Vermont now.

Prelim XC fence on the hill near the Dust Bowl.  There was lots of conversation about these while folks waited for vetting (there are three squirrels in total).  I reassured a few people that they actually jump great, although I haven't jumped this particular one myself (the Training squirrel is off to the right of this pic).

On top of the world at the new easement.

I call this one, "Event horse considers his fate."

Drinking!

Someone else's food tastes better.  (The rider associated with this bucket was long gone and Tuck was not the first to slurp up their leavings.  Wish I knew what had been in this mash; he loved it!)

Water stop.  (This trough is empty, which was too bad because Tucker loves drinking out of those mossy stone troughs, but there is a stream immediately to the right of this picture for horse water.)

Looking upstream from the Tuck-head-down-drinking pic earlier.  It was a good 10 degrees cooler back in here than out on the roads -- felt great by this point, not quite 20 miles into the ride!

Heading home across the XC course.