COTH History Issue: Focus on Green Mountain Horse Association (GMHA)

[MorganMaresVT]

At a time when we seem to see story after story of venues and competitions lost, I was so happy to see COTH include this look at how GMHA continues on, adapting to the changing climate and competitor preferences, as it gets ready to celebrate it’s 100th anniversary.
https://lane-press.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=849579&p=36&view=issueViewer

I can’t overstate how important GMHA is for the trail preservation aspect in our part of south central Vermont. I benefit from the trail system nearly every day that I ride. I certainly have my own stories and memories on the ground of GMHA too, but the reach into the surrounding towns amplifies what happens at the venue itself.

Enjoying time at GMHA with my own mares:

Spectating, which is beautiful regardless of the season:

I know there are folks who post here who also have fond memories of their time with horses at GMHA. I would love to hear them! I used to have a riding buddy who was in her 80s when we rode together, and she would tell some wild tales about flat out gallops up and down the Vermont hills on pleasure rides, which may or may not have been fueled by flasks borrowed from the foxhunters My sense is that my own memories from the past decade or so are relatively tame in comparison!

To keep this place going is really a labor of love for staff, volunteers, members, competitors, and the broader community that sees its value. I hope it continues to thrive for at least the rest of my horsey life, as it really is an anchor for me. And sincerely hope that there are future generations of riders who will be able to experience it too!

[Janet]

I first went to GMHA about 1968 for what we then called Pony Club Clinic. Getting there (from the NY Metro area) was quite an operation, as my father was racing at Mosport the same weekend. The Ford Econoline van held 5 people, 1 racing motorcycle (Kawaski A1R), 2 bicycles, all the spares and equipment for a race weekend, all the human and equine equipment for 2 weeks at Clinic. It was pulling a horse trailer with 2 horses ( we were hauling my friend Cathy’s bicyce and her Connemara as well as my TBxQH, but she wa travelling there seperately with her family)… Some of the Vermont hills slowed us dwn quite a lot. I-91 had not yet been completed, and we had to drive through the middle of Springfield Mass
They left the trailer, horses,and horse / riding equipment at GMHA, and me, my suitcase, and both bicycles at the boarding house just down the road.

We had the BEST time. Two mounted lessons a day, plus an unmounted lesson. Cleaning our stalls, horses and tack for nightly inspection. Ordering “graveyards” at the snack booth, riding our horses through the creek,or standing them in the creek for an extneded time if they needed soaking.

The 2 weeks culminated with a full 3 Day Event (at appropriate heights). As far as I remember, both dressage and show jumping were on grass. “Roads and Tracks” for cross country day was a (timed) ride up the mountain to the cross country course. The show jumping course included real fire. It was a “road closed” jump, with lit “smudge pots” underneath.

(the original is a lot better. This is one of the first photos I scanned, and it didn’t scan well.I need to find the original and re-scan it. But if you look carefully you can see the smudge pots.)

The third year I was there i was in the most advanced group, taught by Sally Lord (now Sally Ike) whose horse, Evening Mail, had been on the long list for the Mexico City Olympics. Two of the other riders in that group were Beth and “Little Bea” Perkins. I still use things I learned then. (One of the other instructors that year was Tad Coffin.)

The big white barn next door was strictly off limits, with dire threats of what would happen if we went there. Apparently it is now part of GMHA.

I visited GMHA a few years ago when the Connemara Society had their meeting nearby. A LOT had changed- there were enclosed rings, some with footing, and the cross country course was all down in the flood plane, not up on top of the mountain, But the shedrow barns and the creek were still very much the same, and brought back good memories.

[clanter]

@Janet

I first went to GMHA about 1968 for what we then called Pony Club Clinic.

only wondering if you ever met Ann Gascoyne ? She was from the same county in Kentucky that I grew up in, she was instrumental in bringing the Connemara Pony into the forefront in the US.

She is buried near my father in Floydsburg, Kentucky

The Crestwood Service Award is in honor of her

Crestwood Service Award Archive - American Connemara Pony Society

[MorganMaresVT]

@Janet, love the photos you shared. I had to read twice about the “real fire” in the jumping My first thought was that the smudge pots probably helped with the insane bitey black flies and deer flies!

You’re right that cross country doesn’t really go up the back hill much anymore, certainly not like I’ve heard people describe it. Distance rides do still go that way, climbing up, up, up. And, across the main road, Long Hill Road is appropriately named and quite a challenge when it comes right at the start of a ride!

And the brook is still a wonderful place to give legs a good natural cool-down after a ride. Horses and people both seem to love it.

Upwey Barn is now part of GMHA-there’s a nice visitor’s center/museum and plenty of stalls.

[Janet]

The name Ann Gascoyne is certainly familiar, but I do not think I knew her personally.
The Crestwood Awrd winner I knew best was Anne Frey (Cathy’s mother, the owner of the Connemara we trailered to GMHA, and the breeder of MANY Connemaras).

[tabula_rashah]

It’s such a gorgeous facility! I did an endurance ride there 2 years ago in the fall and the trails were tough but awesome

[B_and_B]

I loved going to GMHA for both dressage and eventing back in the early 90s. I went as a groom for a dressage stable a number of times. That was how I learned I liked being the groom more than the competitor, and those shedrow stables were so much nicer than anything else. GMHA and King Oak were my favorites during that time. But the best part about GMHA was that it was always an excuse to visit the little village where my parents lived when I was born, way up in the hills above Randolph.
I’d love to take my two drafts up there to drive someday.

[Aleuronx]

My history doesn’t go super far back but GMHA has always been held as a magical place to me. It’s not just competition grounds or a means to an end for scores etc. It just feels more than that while you are there.

I ride dressage and will share an old school photo from Reflections Photography, aka who used to be the best for capturing images that you had to view on their computer on site and order right then and there before you packed up for the weekend to leave. This is from 2008 where I believe the upwey rings/expansion and footing had not been completed as of yet so one of the rings was on the grass area past Walker ring in the XC field. Dressage on grass! People would be clutching their pearls these days at the idea.

And a fixture at GMHA events is the one and only Cecilia, who can be found bopping all around the grounds in her personally plated golf cart. Here she was insisting to wipe off the dust on my boots before heading into the ring in 2015. She wouldn’t take no for an answer!

I would encourage everyone to donate to the land purchase if they have even a little wiggle room to do so. I did donate to help them get some of the matching funds. We are just home from another wonderful weekend up there and finished my scores for my USDF Silver Medal and cheered my trainer on for her century ride. The GMHA memories I hold are endless honestly, great rides, great company and laughter amongst friends and the beautiful backdrop.

[Janet]

@MorganMaresVT

My first thought was that the smudge pots probably helped with the insane bitey black flies and deer flies!

Maybe “smudge pots” isn’t the right term. The things I am talking about were about the size and shape of a cannonball, with a small but bright flame, that were used as highway flares.

[Mosey_2003]

Maybe you’re thinking of sterno pots.

[Janet]

@Mosey_2003

Maybe you’re thinking of sterno pots.

No, Sterno pots are designed to produce heat (to keep food warm) and do not have a very visible flame.

These were deffinitley intended to produce a very visible flame, without much heat.

Here is an example
https://www.trampsuk.co.uk/product/vintage-highway-torch-warning-flare-lights/

or this
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1796176554/candy-apple-red-vintage-dietz-kerosene?ls=s&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=vintage+road+flare&ref=sr_gallery-1-8&sts=1&content_source=059cd1cb-20e5-48b1-a956-4216244be7d7%3A5496e5464311b4eace3ab3b4aa1b35fa1c1f0cba&organic_search_click=1&logging_key=059cd1cb-20e5-48b1-a956-4216244be7d7%3A5496e5464311b4eace3ab3b4aa1b35fa1c1f0cba

[Mosey_2003]

My bad, I was remembering little pots that did actually have tall-ish flames and just assumed that’s what sterno pots were.

[clanter]

@Janet

Maybe “smudge pots” isn’t the right term. The things I am talking about were about the size and shape of a cannonball, with a small but bright flame, that were used as highway flares.

[SharonA1]

I have great memories of trail riding at GMHA! Oh, the hills!!! Half the time the saddle was on the horse’s butt, and the other half on the horse’s neck. I think one of the CT rides was the first time my horse felt like her rider was “getting it.” Horse [and rider] were so happy to be moving out along those trails; I remember a judge watching my horse at one of the holds, and saying, almost wistfully, “She’s really in her element, isn’t she…” And the only time my horse ever lay down during the day was when she was tired after a GMHA ride with hills. Nice friendly knowledgeable people, magical venue, happy horses showing off.

[MorganMaresVT]

Gorgeous photos @Aleuronx

I love hearing all these stories! The hills, the stabling, the brook are all things that really stay with people.

I think I’m glad that the era of jumping over live flames hasn’t necessarily endured But the lit cannonball is certainly quite an image!

On the subject of golf carts, can’t recall who this was but it gave everyone a good laugh at a driving event a couple of years ago

[Janet]

Exactly

[Bogey2]

I love GMHA and have been to a few dressage shows there over the past twenty years. I am hoping to get back there with my young horse next year!

[quietann]

I’ve been as a volunteer and a groom for eventing, but never managed to ride there.

I volunteered one of the times they ran a long format event at Novice and Training. It’s a great setting and I wish more people were still interested in doing a long format.

I went as a groom twice for my friends Joc and her daughter Alice. Joc had this Connemara/TB cross gelding, Skippy, who was basically a pony on stilts, size 78 blanket and a hair short of 17 hands.

When I went with Alice, Joc had recently had surgery, so she couldn’t go. Alice took the Prelim ride on Skippy, but she was 15 at the time, so I was the “responsible adult,” although Alice was perfectly capable of handling things on her own. They were a cash or check-only family at the time, so Joc had handed me $1000 in 20s, and wished us luck. I made a wrong turn somewhere, and Alice certainly was better at turning our rig around on a narrow gravel road than I was. The shedrow barns were amazing, and I went to the tack store to get raincoats for both of us when it was pouring and ours failed. I also loved the brook, although some horses did not. Ditto the dressage rings across the road, where there were cows who’d come to watch the dressage, leading to all sorts of shenanigans amongst the horses. Skippy just didn’t care about cows as he’d been pastured with cows on and off. He did try to drag me a couple of times because, well, pony-tude. I remember the cross-country went partway up the hill but not all the way. IIRC, Alice got 3rd place.

I donated money both times their rings got washed out, because GMHA is the best!

[B_and_B]

I do not have fond memories of the cows in that far field though! That was how we learned that my wonderful OTTB could not stand cows at all. Despite the fact, or perhaps because of, that we had purchased him out of a cow pasture. That test was a disaster.

[MorganMaresVT]

Oh the cows! I have joked my little buckskin Morgan I posted was the only Vermont Morgan terrified of cows, despite our neighborhood being full of them. I am a little embarrassed to admit I’ve had to get off and walk her down Morgan Hill because she grew roots in the middle of the road and couldn’t bring herself to go past them. As of this year though, the farmer that maintained that herd has retired and the cows are gone. A little sad to see the change in the farm, but I think horses everywhere are rejoicing!

That said…across the road in the other direction there are now two enthusiastically chatty donkeys who like to occasionally participate in the festivities from their pasture!