Booger's First Hunter Pace

 My new year's resolution was to ride Booger as often as I ride Lucy. My only goal for her this year was trailer her off the property to ride. We accomplished that in July when I took her to the Sourland Preserve with Eryca. My secret reach goal was to take her to a hunter pace this fall. I had planned to take her to the fall pace right here in the Valley. Their events tend to be on the short side and very quiet. It's not unusual for us not to see horses on trail at all. Plus it would be a short trailer ride. I am probably guilty of babying Booger a little bit, but I'd rather go slow and have her stay sane and happy than skip a step and have a hot mess on my hands. 

The AVTA pace was supposed to be the first weekend of October. Eryca and I planned to go together. My plan was to take Booger and go nice and slow. As usual, the universe heard me following a plan and promptly ruined it. After one of the driest summers in memory, the skies opened up for several days and the pace got rescheduled. I was so disappointed.

The following weekend was the Monmouth County pace at my old stomping grounds, the Assunpink. This pace has been on my to-do list for several years now, but we never seem to make it down there. Unlike the AVTA pace, the course is a little longer, there tends to be a large turn out, and the drive is about an hour on the highway. Originally, I planned to go with Lucy and Eryca. Unfortunately, Eryca was not available that weekend. 

As I was pouting, Mike suggested, "Why don't you call Tor and see if she's available?" The two of them enable me.

So I called Tor, who was in fact available, and told her I had a little brainstorm going on. "Feel free to say no to this. I understand if your idea of a good time doesn't include babysitting me, but we have two options. We can take Lucy and Lilly or you can ride Lucy and I can take Booger to her first hunter pace. I might die but..."
"You already know which option I'm going to pick..."

Merrill Creek

 It's October, which means Mike and I have started hiking again. As always, I take way too many photos. We're about to run out the door to go hiking again so I'm mostly just going to dump photos and skedaddle. Earlier this month, we headed up to Merrill Creek Reservoir. Regular readers know that this is one of our favorite places and that we go there all the time. This time around was as lovely as ever. We decided to park at the bird watching area on the dam, then head along the Deadwoods. From there, we decided to detour from our usual route and explore the blue and yellow trails. I don't think we've been in that particular section of the park since the first time we went! It was beautiful and peaceful and a lovely way to spend a fall afternoon. 

Dawn and Dean Come to Visit

 One month ago, Dawn and Dean came to visit for a Saturday of riding. Long story short, Dean hadn't been on a horse in about eighteen months and was long overdue for a trail ride. It is so nice to be in a position where I have horses I can share with my friends. I only got anywhere in the horse world due to the generosity of other people over the years, and it feels nice to give back, even in such a small way.

That day, we ended up having a lovely eleven mile jaunt through the valley.

Dawn on Booger and Dean on Lilly.

Pace with a View

 We have been super busy around here and I feel  like I am never going to catch up on blogging. I also feel like I've been saying that for years, so I should probably just let it go unsaid. 

Almost a month ago (!) Eryca and I took Lucy and Lilly to the Tewksbury Trail Association "pace with a view". The pace lived up to its name and was the most scenic pace I've done to date.

Photo taken by a lovely volunteer at the halfway point.

The Ninth Month

 I was planning to take Booger to her first hunter pace today, so of course it's been pouring down rain for 48 hours straight. I guess I'll take this opportunity to do September's photo dump.

Jess took this awesome photo one evening when she, Tara, and I rode together.