GMHA - nearby ship-in recs

[beowulf]

I’d like to go to GMHA’s September H.T. Does anyone have recommendations on any local farms (~30m) that would allow overnight ship-in and night turnout on Saturday for one quiet horse? Rustic and/or backyard is fine - horse needs zero special accommodations and respects all fence types. While not required, it would be a bonus if the barn allowed me to camp or stay onsite.

I usually just drive to/from both days, since it’s not an awful drive (~2hrs). I went to the June H.T with SO and he thought it would be nice to stay local this time around and grab dinner and a bevvy in downtown Woodstock.

Will I see any COTHers at the September H.T?

[MorganMaresVT]

I’ve hosted people here in the past to camp with horses that don’t mind being fully turned out, but given last week’s storm & flooding, you can’t get a trailer to my farm for the forseeable future

You may have already checked out the horse B&B options that are listed on the GMHA website, but you might start there: https://gmhainc.org/listingcategory/accommodations-lodging-near-gmha/
It’s going to be a bit hit or miss right now because of how much flood damage there is. I’d recommend looking to stay in the Woodstock/Pomfret/Barnard/West Windsor or Springfield areas, because Reading/Plymouth/Ludlow/Cavendish are difficult right now, with major roads closed and no repair timeline. I’m hesitant to name any specific farms because I know people are in varying states of cleanup and not sure who’s got space right now. Feel free to PM me if you have questions about specific locations.

I’ll be there volunteering in some capacity that weekend. Last year I jump judged which was tons of fun.

[beowulf]

@MorganMaresVT

I’ve hosted people here in the past to camp with horses that don’t mind being fully turned out, but given last week’s storm & flooding, you can’t get a trailer to my farm for the forseeable future

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear you were impacted by the flood. I hope you are not too hamstrung by local conditions, and that repairs start ASAP. It’s so scary how some roads were just wiped off the map. Are your property and horses ok?

Thank you for the info on specific townships. I did look at the GMHA lodging but I’m unsure if any of those offer overnight turnout - I understand some people would be nervous to have an unknown horse out overnight. I’ve gotten a few leads and I did send an email to one of the listed lodges. We don’t need much – I could go without amenities and camp often. A few times at Huntington I stayed nearby and set up tent right by my horse’s paddock - there is something magical about Vermont late-summer nights and listening to your horse graze as you fall asleep!

Thank you for volunteering!! If I end up going (I’m sure I will) I hope to see you there.

[MorganMaresVT]

Fortunately my farm and all the animals were totally fine. Unfortunately, we live on one of the worst affected roads in town…as in, there is a gaping chasm where the road used to be. We have an alternate route to get out, but it’s not a road we can take a trailer on.

If you come back next year, you’re more than welcome to camp! We’ve got plenty of fenced pasture and room for trailer parking.

And it’s always fun to meet people in person!

[beowulf]

Just bumping this up for more visibility - I’ll be sending my entry in next week. Will I see any COTHers there?

[MorganMaresVT]

If you’re a member, come to the member appreciation tent for your free breakfast voucher and I will be volunteering there and would love to meet you

We had a fabulous turnout this weekend for the volunteer rock picking party to clean up the cross country field while a smaller but very enthusiastic group participated in the horse trials. Things are looking good!

[beowulf]

I must have missed you – or maybe I did meet you and had no idea? I was there yesterday!! You guys did such an amazing job. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend on Saturday due to a commitment, but I did come in yesterday for two AWESOME derby rounds.

[MorganMaresVT]

So glad the Derby went well! I was only there on Saturday but they were doing amazing work getting jumps built all day. It’s such a great community- not a lot of places where there would be a festive, joyful feeling while picking rocks off the ground in the hot sun.

Here’s an ‘after’ pic of what was completely destroyed by the flood, but by end of day Saturday was ready to be turned back into a road for galloping.