# Vermont 100



## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

This past weekend, my DH and I trekked to Vermont with Sultan and George for the 2013 Moonlight in Vermont endurance ride. We were going for the boys' second attempts at 100 mile rides (and Dean's 3rd attempt). The weather was forecast to be insanely hot, so we left at 3am Thursday morning, as to arrive before the heat of the day. We got to camp about 10am and got a wonderful parking spot on the top of a hill (not only had it been hot as hell, it had been raining a LOT and parking was very different this year than normal years because of the wet).

Thursday and Friday were both hot as hell (highs in the upper 90s) with insane humidity.. we heard rumors the heat index was 117 during the vetting in on Friday. But a front was coming through, and the anticipated strong thunderstorms arrived Friday night about 10pm.. and went on until 2am. Who needs to sleep anyway, right?

At 3:30am Saturday, the alarm went off. We got the boys ready and off we went. It was the 25th anniversary of this ride ride/run, so there were _fireworks_ at the start. Luckily none of the horses seemed to mind. The day was pretty close to the forecast: very very humid, highs in the mid 80s, with storms predicted between 1-4 as the last of the front came thru. It was 76 when we started on trail at 5am!

This ride is like no other, as we are sharing trail with ultra-marathoners. They run the same 100 mile trail that we ride. Because we have holds and they don't, we generally leap frog the same runners all day, which is really fun.











Vermont is either uphill or downhill.. 




















What might have been the only flat section we saw all day (and can I tell you I was sponging myself just as much as I was George):











The locals are super supportive of the ride, which is over a lot of private land. They not only put out water tanks, they often run 100s of feet of hose out to the trail for us. I am not sure I can even describe the delight of getting to the top of yet another grueling climb to find a water tank and a hose!! You can see even the runners appreciate it.











Things were going according to plan until between the 3rd and 4th holds, when George developed some nasty girth rubs. Yet another example of tack that works for 50s not making the grade once the distance increased (from hold 3 to 4 was mile 50-70). I moved the saddle back more than normal and changed to a different shaped girth and left the hold with it basically flapping in the wind, in the hope of making George more comfortable (as well as applying liberal amounts of body glide and desitin). But as we continued down the trail - esp on the downhills when the girth must have swung forward - he was moving in a way that let me know it was bothering him.

The lady we were riding with (a lovely woman from South Carolina who happened to have been parked next to us) said that her husband had once finished a ride without a girth at all, because of the same issue. I figured I had 3 options: rider option and not finish, keep going with the girth loose and hope it didn't worsen to the point of making him lame, or go without the girth. Because we were running slowly, I wasn't sure that I had enough time to walk the remaining miles on foot.. and I had attempted to walk up a hill on foot earlier in the day and didn't make it even halfway up. So how was I going to cover that many miles in time?

So at the next pit crew point (this ride is also fun in that it gives your crew specific places they can meet you on trail with stuff), I took the girth totally off the saddle. We had 6 miles from that point to the last hold, so I figured if it worked great. If not, I would just walk on foot to the hold and see how the time was and decide from there. I stood on the back of the truck and DH held my stirrup while I climbed onto my unsecured saddle. By this point it was totally dark out, so I whispered to George that it was all on him, and off we went.

I rode *EIGHTEEN MILES* with no girth. I can still hardly believe it. When we came into the last hold, people were floored. But George's girth sores were no worse, so on went more desitin and back out on trail we went for the last loop. In the end, we crossed the finish line about 2:30am. In a sweet twist of fate, not only did both boys get their completions, but we also tied for 9th!












I could not be more proud of George. To think that only a few months ago he had major eye surgery and we weren't even sure he would live, forget get back out on trail again!! :happydance:


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

There will be video, but I haven't had the time to edit it yet (took something like 3 hours total). Will post the link when I have it finished!

And for those who like stats, this ride had 13,636 feet of elevation change. :shock:


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## EnduranceLover6 (Jul 4, 2012)

I double like this post! So glad to read all about your adventures this weekend and see someone else's perspective on the Vermont terrain :wink: Hills, hills, hills. Conditioning here can be tough, especially when it comes to making time! Sounds like you guys handled it well and had a blast...Congrats again! 

Please share more about your girth-less ride! Did you have any difficulties keeping the saddle stable? I'm so intrigued


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Wow! Once again, you are my hero!


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## CJ82Sky (Dec 19, 2008)

haha im so happy you guys did so well and top 10'd! still can't believe you managed that w/o a girth meanwhile in the jumper ring, we lost a pad and our saddle slipped...then again sky did almost attempt to jump out of the ring... :shock: 

and still 18 miles no girth! can't wait til dream is back in the 50 and 100s and you guys are kicking butt. so now i have to ask, when we go camping in aug, does that mean you'll trail ride girthless? i see a new trend starting :wink:


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Excellent accomplishment, Phantom. With regard to your girth (or technically, lack of it) did you keep your breastplate on?


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## TheOtherHorse (Aug 5, 2012)

phantomhorse13 said:


> And for those who like stats, this ride had 13,636 feet of elevation change. :shock:


That make the lack of girth even more impressive! I've ridden with a really loose girth for this reason (with a breastcollar and crupper on a high withered horse), but never NO girth! Wow! You really worked for that completion


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

was that the woolback girth ? think there was anything different you could have done which might have helped if you could go back in time ?


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I so wish I had a trailer! I don't live all that far from there. While a 100 is too much for me a lot of their other rides would be fine. I ride on trails in country like that all the time. All we have is hills.


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## gemsmom1007 (Jul 22, 2013)

Congratulations! 100 milers have my respect and admiration; I'm still trying to graduate from 25 to 50 miles!


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Chevaux said:


> With regard to your girth (or technically, lack of it) did you keep your breastplate on?


I did not. I figured if the experiment was to fail, better for the saddle (and me) to fall completely clear versus dangling from George's neck!




Joe4d said:


> was that the woolback girth ? think there was anything different you could have done which might have helped if you could go back in time ?


It was the woolback girth, but keep in mind that is the exact same girth I have used on Dream for multiple 50s and 100s with no issue.

IMO, the issue was the _saddle_. George is still going in a treeless, as the funds to provide both geldings with new custom treed saddles was not in the budget at once. Sultan showed lameness issues first, so got the new saddle. This was the first time George attempted a 100 in this saddle, which does not have the ability to change the rigging to center fire. 

In George's previous 100 attempt, my DH started with his Bob Marshall in the normal rigging then changed to the center fire rigging about mile 70 because George was starting to get rubs. I likely would have finished the ride with a girth attached had I been able to change the rigging on the Torsion in that way. :wink:

I personally think that eventually treeless saddles just don't distribute the weight evenly or enough, so the horse starts to do weird things with his back, which translates into the girth moving in ways it wouldn't ordinarily. Sultan has had ZERO girth issues since changing to the treed saddle, and I think we had tried every type of girth or rigging imaginable with him when DH was still using the Bob Marshall (he was coming up girthy even at lesser distances, but never showed apparent back pain).

Just goes to show how much a horse will tolerate for us!!


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

WOW Dawn, A *huge Congrats* to you and brave George!! 
And to your DH and Sultan also!

We need that "Super Like" button for your post!! 

What type of saddle pad did you use? I am trying to figure out how a saddle stays on without a girth or breast collar...can't wait to see the video


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

AnitaAnne said:


> What type of saddle pad did you use? I am trying to figure out how a saddle stays on without a girth or breast collar...can't wait to see the video


Used a Skito pad under the saddle.

I hope to have some time later this evening to work on the videos.. I worked a 13 hour shift yesterday and have to go in again shortly. Where is that winning lottery ticket?!


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Awesome accomplishment! I had so wanted to volunteer at the 100 this year, but after contacting the organizers multiple times, and being assured I was on the mailing list, I never heard any details about how to volunteer. Like Sue, I live not so far from the event, and it would have been a great experience- maybe next year. Anyway, thanks for letting us live vicariously through you.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I've said it before but I'll say it again. If anybody wants to practice for that ride you are more than welcome to park at my back gate. Those are all dirt roads out there and there are a ton of snowmobile trails that crisscross all over that don't show up on the map. Even throw up a tent and camp. Lovely out by the river. I suspect there is even a way to get to the GMHA trails through the snowmobile corridors though I've never gone that far. I do know people can get to the Canadian Border.

Phantomhorse, great ride! I'm amazed you did it with no girth. Everything is hills here nearly to Lake Champlain.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Finally got all the video edited!

2013 Vermont 100 mile endurance ride - YouTube


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## TheOtherHorse (Aug 5, 2012)

Great video, looks fun! Between following Tevis, reading a couple 100 ride stories this week, and people talking about BSF 100 I think that is my new long term goal. Nevermind the fact that I'm still doing LDs... I want to do a 100! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## 2SCHorses (Jun 18, 2011)

Does anyone have a trail map of the VT 100? I would be interested to see the route and the towns it goes through. I love the map of the Tevis ride online. Just wondering if there was one for the VT ride. I really want to do this ride maybe next summer when my pony has worked up to 100s.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

hey your ahead of my, I sold my big walker so dont even have an LD horse at the moment. 
I for sure see VT as a stepping stone to Tevis. 
I know tevis gets alot of attention but with the humidity in VT these last couple years, and the fact I actually think there is MORE climbing in VT than tevis. I wonder how the two compare. After all Tevis starts very high up and over all ends several thousand feet lower. So quite a bit more down than up.
No dont get me wrong I have never done either, and am looking at it solely from a heat index, and climbing perspective. Any one know the over all elevation change for Tevis ?
I do miss this sport and hope to be back in the saddle soon, going to look at a really promising Egyptian tommorrow. 
Probably sooner or later gonna end up getting the horse from Cre, Phantom been telling me to get for at least 6 months. But I'm hard headed.


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

Joe4d said:


> hey your ahead of my, I sold my big walker so dont even have an LD horse at the moment.
> I for sure see VT as a stepping stone to Tevis.
> I know tevis gets alot of attention but with the humidity in VT these last couple years, and the fact I actually think there is MORE climbing in VT than tevis. I wonder how the two compare. After all Tevis starts very high up and over all ends several thousand feet lower. So quite a bit more down than up.
> No dont get me wrong I have never done either, and am looking at it solely from a heat index, and climbing perspective. Any one know the over all elevation change for Tevis ?
> ...


Joe was it Miss Emma you sold? My new goal is to buy a horse Dawn trained  maybe you should try out her suggestion...


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

yes sold Ms emma, really good girl but I cant keep 2 horses and I want something more competitive in endurance.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

2SCHorses said:


> Does anyone have a trail map of the VT 100? I would be interested to see the route and the towns it goes through. I love the map of the Tevis ride online. Just wondering if there was one for the VT ride. I really want to do this ride maybe next summer when my pony has worked up to 100s.



The ride does not provide a map, but this is the link to my garmin stats, which includes a map:

vt100 (george) by phantomhorse13 at Garmin Connect - Details


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Cool! Thanks for sharing.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

You might be able to call up a trail map off some of the snowmobile club sights in the area. I tried to find one for you all. No luck. The clubs are probably like the one I have here and want to sell the maps to non members. I get one because I have a major corridor that passes through my property.

Cell service is spotty at best (mostly none) so I keep a paper copy in my fanny pack. Google maps shows the terrain clear enough but if the google car hasn't been down it you don't see those backwoods trails.

I could try asking Denny Emerson.


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## 2SCHorses (Jun 18, 2011)

phantomhorse13 said:


> The ride does not provide a map, but this is the link to my garmin stats, which includes a map:
> 
> vt100 (george) by phantomhorse13 at Garmin Connect - Details


That is so cool! I grew up in Stockbridge, VT and I would love to go back up there for a ride. This ride is for sure on my list. A lot of elevation gain, too!

That Garmin is cool. I think I want one.

Thanks for sharing!


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