We finally went to New Jersey for a distance riding competition. This is our 11th season doing AERC and ECTRA competitions and we had never competed in New Jersey. So Friday, I (Rob), Alex, and Amanda skipped work and school and loaded up Fiona, Mojo, and JJ for the 5 hour drive south. We arrived in camp just after 1 and had everything set up in about an hour. It was sandy!

The afternoon consisted of letting the horses eat and recover from the trip, hanging out with friends around camp, and vetting in. Mojo had been pulled from the 50 at Pine Tree so we elected to enter the 30. It was also my first competition since Aug 2023. The ride meeting was at 6:30 and the kids were in tents by 7:30. I stayed up hanging out with friends and talking, but was also in bed by 8:30.

Since Fall is here, the ride started at 7 for the 50s and 7:30 for the 30s. It was a crisp 50F at the start and we all wore a long sleeves for the first 18 mile loop. Did I mention it was sandy? Like New England beaches have less sand than the forest roads and trails in New Jersey. It reminded me of riding in South Carolina.

The temps steadily warmed on the first loop and we all shed our outer layer before arriving at the hold; we did the 18 miles at a solid 6.5 mph. The 45 minute hold was uneventful – the horses vetted fine and we had a quick break. We headed back out for the second loop of 12 miles and had an extra rider with our group. A new rider was there with a friend and the friend’s horse got pulled. We had all been back and forth during the first loop and so pacing wasn’t expected to be a problem. Our group of 4 headed back out for more sandy trails.

The second loop was really unremarkable, which is usually a good thing in distance riding. All the horses were eating and drinking. We didn’t have any big tack issues. The temperature was in the 70s but not humid. So all-in-all, the 12 miles clicked by pretty fast and we were back at the finish in under 2 hours. All Fiona, Mojo, and JJ all made pulse quickly and we were surprised to find ourselves in a 3 way tie for 7th place! Even better, the 30 miles brought Mojo to his 1,000 mile mark for AERC!

We gave the horses (and people) a break and then loaded up to drive home and pulled in about 9:30 pm. Overall, the ride was very well organized, trail markings were clear and easy to follow, there was plenty of water for the horses, and we really didn’t have any problems. While I don’t love the sand, it is nice to ride in some different types of terrain, so we will be going back to Mustang and probably some of the other NJ rides in the future. Thanks to Holly MacDonald and her team for putting on the event!