Event Recap: Haunted Hunter Pace

Yesterday I got to experience my first hunter pace -- guys, now I get what all the hype is about! Holy cow did I have a great time!!

All smiles!

My good friend Johanna and I signed up to ride in the Hilltopper division, so jumps optional. The event was held at Fox Run, which is one of my FAVORITE venues. Super gorgeous, well-maintained venue, they're always super organized, and it's just awesome. They always hold their hunter pace at the end of October, and they go all-out decorating the woods with a haunted theme! They also have a field full of cross country jumps (most of which we skipped, haha). There were prizes for both jumping and hilltoppers divisions for optimum time, fastest time, slowest time, oldest pair, youngest pair, and also prizes for best costumes! Hanna and I were fairly boring and just wore jack o' lantern t-shirts and painted jack o' lanterns on the horses (Hanna is a MUCH better artist than me, thankfully, lol). But some of the other groups went all out and had amazing costumes! I also got to FINALLY meet up with another blogger and her handsome steed, Kaity and Leo!

Unenthused about our monochrome colors today haha.

Hanna brought her mare Lily over to my house Saturday night, and I brought Ruby home from ACS so we could get an early start on Sunday. We had the trailer all packed and ready the night before, the girls were pretty clean and loaded up like champs, and off we went! We had an easy trip up to Fox Run, and got directed into the parking -- got the girls unloaded and settled with hay bags and water buckets, and checked in. After the girls got painted with their decorations, we tacked up and headed over to the outdoor arena to warm up before we headed out. I was absolutely thrilled with Ruby -- she gave me some lovely long and low trot, and then a very hunter-y canter! Just very nice and soft and relaxed -- she's starting to be comfortable in pretty much any venue, and that makes me so happy! While we were waiting to head out, she got an eyefull of some people in costumes jumping in the cross country field, and she got a little bug-eyed, haha, but once we got out on the trail she settled right down.

I'm an idiot and forgot to start my trail app, so I don't know exactly how far we rode (nor do I have a fun GPS map!), but Hanna and I finished at 1:03 and and change, and optimum time in our division ended up being 1:11 -- so we were close! Not close enough to win anything, but that's okay, we had a blast anyway. Ruby crossed the creek like a champ, hopped over four or five small cross country jumps, crossed a bridge, and gave me nice adjustable canter and always came back to walk on the buckle when I asked. Neither horse seemed to mind any of the outlandishly awesome decorations (although I'll admit to getting startled when I glanced over into a tree and Shrek's head was staring back at me from a gap in the trunk haha). After we finished riding, there was delicious chili and hot dogs, and the option to purchase amazing cupcakes from the Magnificent Miss D's cupcake trailer!

#sorrynotsorry for the blurry photo overload!

After lots of chit chatting with friends and hanging out, we finally packed up and made the trek back to my house. Hanna and Lily got packed back up and headed home, and I ran Ruby back to ACS where she got some extra electrolytes and a nice warm bath. I made sure she had lots of water available to her at the trailer and she wore my BOT quick wraps on the drive and while she stood at the trailer (I only have the one set, so I just switched them every hour or so), so hopefully she will come out of the hunter pace a little better than she did after our trail ride last weekend.

Sneak peek of something fun I'll be reviewing soon!