My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
Last weekend, Zelda and I went on a fabulous hunter pace. It had been rescheduled twice. Once for flooding after rain earlier in the summer, then because Hurricane Ida was coming through New England. Finally, we had a cool, pleasant day. The first ride in months that was bug free. Zelda and I hadn’t been […]
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Spring hunting passed in a flash, moving onto the next season of activities: Hunter Paces. Zelda and I got to hunt four or five times this spring, and an ulcer-free Zelda was back to her happy, agreeable self for most of it. She still can be a handful. I’m always amazed by how she can […]
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Yesterday, Zelda and I went to a Hunter Pace. It was one of those perfect spring days, sunny but not too hot and hardly any bugs. I hadn’t been sure I could go, so I showed up without a partner. Just my luck, a friend from the hunt was also there looking for someone to […]
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Zelda and I went on our first post-recovery hunter pace last weekend. I am not ashamed to admit that doubts plagued me the day before. Should I go? Was I ready? Would Zelda behave? One of the fallouts from my accident last winter is the residual fear, and I have to remind myself that 1) […]
Read MoreLast October, Freedom’s problem with intermittent lameness came to a head. I trailered him an hour an a half to a glorious hunter pace only to find that he was so uncomfortable that I turned around and hacked him home after two miles. If you’ve been reading along with the blog, you’ll remember that I […]
Read MoreIt was a hot, steamy early summer day. But a great time to be out riding with friends. Today was our hunt club’s Spring Hunter Pace. In case you’ve never been to one, teams of riders go out and follow a prescribed course trying to approximate a hunting pace. The team that comes closest to […]
Read MoreOn Sunday Freedom and I rode in a Hunter Pace. For those of you who haven’t the chance to try a Pace event, it’s a timed ride that replicates a fox hunt. A team of riders sets an “ideal” pace and each team tries to replicate it, without knowing exactly how long the ride will […]
Read MoreToday Freedom and I participated in a Hunter Pace. For the uninitiated, a Hunter Pace is a timed ride where you try to come the closest to an “optimum” pace that is set either by a specific team or by averaging the scores of different riders. There are different ways to calculate the optimum time […]
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