Our First Win
Haven't done an Ozzy update in a while ;) Two weekends ago I begged workingtrot into hauling Ozzy to Maine for an endurance ride. She and gatehorse crewed for me for the weekend and we kicked ass.
Ozzy's had two months off of the endurance scene because I switched barns and lost my ride to events. I don't have a truck or trailer, but I wanted to see if it was possible for us to compete independently.
When we first arrived, everyone was looking at me like I was nuts. It was a long (14 hour) haul and we arrived in the middle of the night. I wasn't at all prepared for the mosquito population up there and I always ride in plain old ordinary English tack. That and my horse isn't exactly your typical endurance G.A.G. (gray Arabian gelding).
"Who are these crazy Jersey girls, getting here in the middle of the night with their wonky looking barefoot standardbred? Is she seriously going to ride 25 miles over rocks and bogs in a tank top and English gear?"
And then we won. :) It was a gorgeous ride and we had a blast. We even made some new friends. There was a bit of a... delay... about two miles out from the finish line when two cars got in a nasty accident on the bridge, but overall things went smoothly.
I won't bore you with the infinite details, but I did want to share pictures of the big weekend.
Start. That's me with the bare shoulders behind the tree ;)
First vet check.
Ozzy and his new friend, Remington.
All Remi wanted to do was roll.
Who needs saddle bags when you can cram everything into your half chaps?
Look closely, there are actually two horses here.
Ozzy pretending to be an Arab.
Riding past the accident.
The rush for camp.
Vetting out.
Remi finally gets to roll
Trotting out.
The pit crew.
The view from horseback.
Yet another few hours on the trailer.
Ozzy's had two months off of the endurance scene because I switched barns and lost my ride to events. I don't have a truck or trailer, but I wanted to see if it was possible for us to compete independently.
When we first arrived, everyone was looking at me like I was nuts. It was a long (14 hour) haul and we arrived in the middle of the night. I wasn't at all prepared for the mosquito population up there and I always ride in plain old ordinary English tack. That and my horse isn't exactly your typical endurance G.A.G. (gray Arabian gelding).
"Who are these crazy Jersey girls, getting here in the middle of the night with their wonky looking barefoot standardbred? Is she seriously going to ride 25 miles over rocks and bogs in a tank top and English gear?"
And then we won. :) It was a gorgeous ride and we had a blast. We even made some new friends. There was a bit of a... delay... about two miles out from the finish line when two cars got in a nasty accident on the bridge, but overall things went smoothly.
I won't bore you with the infinite details, but I did want to share pictures of the big weekend.
Start. That's me with the bare shoulders behind the tree ;)
First vet check.
Ozzy and his new friend, Remington.
All Remi wanted to do was roll.
Who needs saddle bags when you can cram everything into your half chaps?
Look closely, there are actually two horses here.
Ozzy pretending to be an Arab.
Riding past the accident.
The rush for camp.
Vetting out.
Remi finally gets to roll
Trotting out.
The pit crew.
The view from horseback.
Yet another few hours on the trailer.