Am I an Idiot? GMHA

[phoenixrises]

First, yes I probably am. . . My barn manager would really like me to do the GMHA 100 mile in September with her.

I have a 7 yr old thoroughbred mare who is very good on trails, great feet all around good girl. She did have to have two surgeries this winter because of an infection but has never taken a lame step (of course I can’t believe I wrote that). We are low level eventers but have gone out for 15-20 mile rides before with little issue. I am not so stupid to think that a 15-20 mile ride is anything like a 100 mile one. I know I have the option to do one of the shorter rides. She is fit, we do trot/canter/gallop sets as a normal part of our fitness and fun. And I ride her 45min-1.5 hours 5-6 days a week (or at least I will once we are back to our fitness post her surgery). I would be able to do longer rides on weekends and when the sun stays out longer. I’m sure there are 100 million articles that will help me on a fitness plan.

So my question is, is it feasible to take two reasonably fit partners (me and my horse) and be ready for 100 miles by Sep? Keep in mind I do NOT have access to any large hills. I will have to trailer 2-3 hours to get to any hills, but i do have access to take my horse out for hours on relatively flat land.

I won’t even worry about my gear at this point. Is this something we could do, or do I need to say no, but I’ll be happy to do the 50 miles?

[OTTB2]

Its Vermont… you need the hills. This is really only something you can evaluate because every horse is different.

[GreyDes]

Christina Keim did an article on her blog last year about doing her first 100 mile ride at GMHA. You can read it here -https://christinakeim.wordpress.com/category/personal-stories/

Go about 1/2 way down the page.

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

If you’re talking about doing a 100 as your very first endurance ride, ever? Yes, you’re crazy. Get your feet wet with some shorter distances first. 15-20 miles on a trail is a good start, but no where near the same experience as a competition.

[phoenixrises]

[QUOTE=Melissa.Van Doren;8546988]
If you’re talking about doing a 100 as your very first endurance ride, ever? Yes, you’re crazy. Get your feet wet with some shorter distances first. 15-20 miles on a trail is a good start, but no where near the same experience as a competition.[/QUOTE]

Oh gosh no, if I was committed to do this we’d do 3-4 before the one in September. Right now it looks like we’ll do a 25 mile the first weekend in May in NH as a tester. IF (big if) I was going to do the full 100 miles, I’d want to get at least 4 different ones in before I went to GMHA. At this point I’m pretty sure I’ll do the 50 miles there but the 100 will just have to wait and see after we do this one in May and see how it feels. We also have an event schedule to fit in somewhere but the fitness from this won’t hurt her there.

[beowulf]

if you were serious you’d need to be legging up on limb loading and interval fitness NOW.

i think it’s a wonderful goal but i’d be doing some 15-20 trails before you make up your mind. i’ve done 30 mile trail rides in a day and just been exhausted after and that was when both my horse and i were much fitter than now. it’s a long jaunt and not for an initiate.

ETA: i forget where you are but the hills in VT are nothing to laugh at. i’ve ridden all over where they do the GMHA 100 mile and it is some serious terrain.

[phoenixrises]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8548687]
if you were serious you’d need to be legging up on limb loading and interval fitness NOW.

i think it’s a wonderful goal but i’d be doing some 15-20 trails before you make up your mind. i’ve done 30 mile trail rides in a day and just been exhausted after and that was when both my horse and i were much fitter than now. it’s a long jaunt and not for an initiate.

ETA: i forget where you are but the hills in VT are nothing to laugh at. i’ve ridden all over where they do the GMHA 100 mile and it is some serious terrain.[/QUOTE]

That is absolutely a worry. So far I have trips to NH planned in May for 25 miles, and then I’m going to do a week at otter creek in NY, where I will have access to over 60 miles of trails with all sorts of terrain. After those two happen I’ll see if 100 miles is something we even want to think about!!

[irish_horse]

I don’t think you’re crazy, but I think you’d better start riding a lot more now! I do think trailering 2-3 hours to do some hillwork once a month would be highly beneficial. Definitely do back-to-back days of 20+ miles at the speed you’ll be doing. Maybe sign up for a 2-day AERC LD ride? Vets will check the horses, you’ll get a better idea of the whole thing, and find the holes (there will be holes!) in tack, care, feed, travel, camping, your horse and yourself that can be fixed before the main event. It does sound like you have a good base to start from. And good luck!

[SharonA]

Could you go up to GMHA for the mud ride weekend, April 30-May 1st? That ride will probably be mostly on gravel roads, not on trails (though, with little snow in New England this year, maybe the trails will be dry enough), but you could see how your horse did for two days on the gentler hills, etc. And then you and your horse would recognize things and feel comfortable when you came back for the 100 in a few months, which is not a bad thing.