I’ve signed up for the Bunny Hop CTR towards the end of March in NJ. From the description, it sounds like it is fairly flat and mostly sandy. Does anyone know how deep the sand is? Is is rocky at all? Water on the trail?
TIA for any info!!
Yep, it’s all flat except for the moguls (see below). Lots of sand, but only a few spots where its so deep you have to slow down. Most of it is a few inches deep, and it’ll be soft. It’s a good workout for the horses! There are some stretches of “moguls” where the sand gets built up into little hillocks that you have to go up and down. When you’re not on the sandy jeep trails, you’re on dirt roads – no rocks, just hard-packed gravel/dirt.
If they’ve had a lot of rain, there will be tons of natural water, otherwise not much, but they also put out tubs on trail. The water is all cedar water, which some horses love, and some hate. Mine turns his nose up at it for most of the ride, but he gives in by the end 
Ride management is super, the trails are very well marked, and the food is good, too! It’s a great first ride of the season.
I rode it last year in sleet and rain. That was pretty miserable. It’s a nice ride other than that. Oh, if you go the parking area up in front is really limited. Very tight. I suggest you just go ahead and drive around to the area on the back side and have a bit more room for rig and horse.
Bonnie S.
Thanks guys- I really appreciate the info!!
I like the name of the ride - makes me think of cool and sunny Eastertime rides in the Spring!
Are you riding it again this year chicamuxen1? Im sending my entry for the 50 in tomorrow …riding with Kathy Shank — we’re just looking to finish, not compete. This will be my horses first ride.
KS did this ride last year, finished 15th in 5:27 – we’re training in Stoney Valley doing 30mi in 4:25, I think we’ll be spending a lot of saddle time on this ride … 
but at least no big mountains and rocky trail!~
No I’m not doing that one. I’ll be at the Chesapeake CTR with a junior rider. It will be my first ride in over a year. My knees are pretty bad and I need to see how they do on a 25 mile ride. If I can survive that I’ll do another, etc. I may have to stick with the short rides now. Also I have a troublesome gelding that is taking a loooong time to grow up and settle down. He’s a big, strong, smooth moving and sound Arabian who just worries himself to death. I probably should have sold him a long time ago but decided to keep trying with him as I truly do hate selling horses any more. He’s a sort of challenge to me, to see if I can learn what will work for him and let him trust that what I ask him to do is OK. Now if I could just quit falling off the d@#$! creature.
Enjoy your ride, slow down for the deep sand. I highly recommend carrying hay or hay cubes along on each loop as there is nothing out there for your horses to graze on. I hand the occasion handfull to my horse as we travel. I have learned that it’s very importent to NOT put going fast over putting forage in your horses stomach along the way. Ulcers just suck, hay or grass in the stomach helps prevent them.
Have a good ride.
Bonnie
Packing hay cubes is great advice. — Just recently he’s learned how to drink water, though still not grazing when able. 
[QUOTE=tabula rashah;6865145]
I’ve signed up for the Bunny Hop CTR towards the end of March in NJ. From the description, it sounds like it is fairly flat and mostly sandy. Does anyone know how deep the sand is? Is is rocky at all? Water on the trail?
TIA for any info!![/QUOTE]
I’ve done both the bunny hop and rabbit run for the last two or three years. They are both great rides, and have wonderful management. Donna is a wonderful person who will do anything to help.
I conditioned on the trails, and as bighorse said they are almost all sand. Definitely not as deep as the area where mustang is, but make sure to pay attention becasue the moguls can catch up with some horses if they do not pay attention. Also, if a horse is not used to conditioning in sand watch for muscle cramps, as it is a lot more work for a horse to trot in sand compared to fair hill’s rolling hills. You should have enough time to walk through the first moguls until your horse gets the hang of them, but some horses will climb up them and kind of fall down, unsure of how to do. Once they get the hang of it they can just fly through them, but it just takes some time.
As for rocks, I believe there are none. There might be some packed sand/gravel carriage roads, but I am unsure if I am confusing bunny with mustang.
For water, they normally have tons of filled bins at every road crossing, so maybe every 3 miles? It’s definitely plenty of water.
Make sure to go out into the water when they give you the option. There is an area where its about 2 foot deep and great bottom for about 20 feet out, and its a beautiful area in the cranberry bogs to take a minute to just look around. (hopefully I am thinking of the right ride?)
Have fun! Watch for deep sand. Most areas are fairly obvious the type of terrain you are coming upon, so just relax and enjoy the pine!
I just wanted to tell everyone thanks for all the advice! The ride was fabulous and soooo much fun. We just did the 10 mile CDR because I was a bit worried about her race brain and the deep sand, but everything went really well. The sand moguls were “interesting” but she got the hang of them really fast and I think this may have been the best marked trail I’ve ridden We ended up doing the 10 miles (although 11 by my trail GPS which is usually quite accurate) in 1:40 and pulsed down right away.
Good for you!!! So glad you did so well. Those NJ rides are fun, especially when the weather gets weird, or when the trails are flooded up to your horse’s girth. You’re lucky you just missed the nor’easter Sunday evening!
If you do the ride again, either as one of the Mustang rides (LD or Endurance) or another CTR, you might find that skirting the side edge of the “moguls” makes for easier riding, although you have to do a lot of ducking under those %^%$#@# branches overhanging the trail. Otherwise you have to ride the center, and doing it at a trot is…wild! Better than a gym workout on the abs! I think it was Susan Greenall (??) that came to grief one year (about 8 or 9 years back) on those moguls riding the center when her horse tripped. Bonnie could probably correct me if I’m wrong.
[QUOTE=gothedistance;6904261]
Good for you!!! So glad you did so well. Those NJ rides are fun, especially when the weather gets weird, or when the trails are flooded up to your horse’s girth. You’re lucky you just missed the nor’easter Sunday evening!
If you do the ride again, either as one of the Mustang rides (LD or Endurance) or another CTR, you might find that skirting the side edge of the “moguls” makes for easier riding, although you have to do a lot of ducking under those %^%$#@# branches overhanging the trail. Otherwise you have to ride the center, and doing it at a trot is…wild! Better than a gym workout on the abs! I think it was Susan Greenall (??) that came to grief one year (about 8 or 9 years back) on those moguls riding the center when her horse tripped. Bonnie could probably correct me if I’m wrong.[/QUOTE]
LOL! yeah, we did kind of stay to the edge of them where there was less of a dip and I was quite glad for my helmet (not that I don’t ever not wear it) since I ran into about a bazillion branches. The best part was some narrow, twisty single track that had great footing and she pretty much flew down- sooo much fun!
One of my favorite places to ride. A ride I HIGHLY recommend.
Congratulations, glad it went so well. And I hope you’re hooked now on distance riding, whether Endurance or CTRs… or both! A friend who used to live up in NY State loved the ECTRA (East Coast Trail Riding Assn?) rides, too, so look for those…
What?! No pictures?!?! :lol:
Glad to hear it went so well!
[QUOTE=ChocoMare;6905201]
What?! No pictures?!?! :lol:
Glad to hear it went so well![/QUOTE]
Well, I kind of forgot about the taking pictures thing while I was riding, but I did take a couple of her at base camp
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tabula_rashah/8593177134/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tabula_rashah/8592076371/
Well I’m just really curious - did you enjoy the ride well enough to do more in the future?
Your mare is cute - love the bay mares - and very relaxed in that second photo. Looks like a nice partner to have.
[QUOTE=GotMyPony;6906230]
Well I’m just really curious - did you enjoy the ride well enough to do more in the future?
Your mare is cute - love the bay mares - and very relaxed in that second photo. Looks like a nice partner to have.[/QUOTE]
In a word- absolutely!!!
This wasn’t our first ride- we did the Chesapeake CTR last spring and the Foxcatcher and they both went pretty well, but I revamped a lot (training thoughts, equipment, etc) and wanted to kind of start over. And several years ago (before I had a major accident) I did some CTR’s with another mare of mine.
And thank you for the nice complements on Esme- she is an awesome partner (but then again I’m a little biased LOL!)
Bravo!
What’s next for you then?
Bravo!
So what’s next for you then?
I always tell people the hardest thing about their first ride is signing up.
Maybe followed by just GETTING there!
And then they’re HOOKED …
–Patti
