A group of concerned horsemen and friends gathered in the living room of
Holmes Hay (Columbus,
NJ) after the news as confirmed the New Jersey Arabian Association, which
had managed the NJ
100 Mile Ride since 1963, was giving up the project. Feeling that this competition
should not pass
out of existence, a fledging group went into action hosting the 1971 ride.
This group has grown,
incorporated and been in action ever since their initial effort all those
years ago. Blessed with riding
area in state forests, planning headaches were limited to financing, stabling,
mapping and
managing.
Our first rides were headquartered at Jackie Weavers Rolling
Acres Farm in Indian Mills, NJ. Each
year during the week preceding Memorial Day weekend, large tents would go
up covering portable
stalls. Inevitable, the wind would gust threatening the integrity of the
stabling area. The Green Tent
Company knew their business well and only one year did some canvas come
down in the wind.
Fortunately, the mishap was before any horses were on the scene. (The ride
finished without further
incidence that year.)
In 1980, hoping to hold down ride expenses (and consequently entry fees),
the organization
abandoned the ever-increasing tent cost and moved for leasing permanent
stabling at Terry Harkers
Pine View Farm in Indian Mills. After several years there, we moved back
to Rolling Acres Farm,
but started looking for permanent base of operations for the future. The
dream was becoming a
reality when we had our 1985 and 1986 rides at the land we leased bordering
Wharton State Forest.
The dream was short lived. The Pinelands Commission denied our application
to have our ride
staging area at the location we were establishing.
We are still pursuing our dream. We hope that one-day NJTRA will have
a permanent ride staging
area for the joy of riding just keep believing and supporting the effort.
In the meantime, The ride is back
at Pine View Farm. The farm is owned by the Balch's and we are grateful
for the use of the facility.
Memorial Day Weekends are now automatically spent by a special group of people working
their
way through assorted delights and disasters. Lost riders are rare and you
really have to work hard
at becoming one with the expert trail marking team we have. Helping to keep
track of riders and
workers is a job fulfilled by a group of Amateur Radio Operators (Hams)
who also double as trail
snack stop for competitors at their checkpoints. A water wagon sent to strategic
spots for horse
refreshment is supposed to keep riders from entering questionable swampy
areas in search of
water for their mounts.
We have not been able to eliminate all sandy
stretches that create problems for horses and
vehicles or the narrow trails with low hanging branches that reach out and
grab helmets, aerials or
side mirrors. We survive the difficult times by maintaining a sense of humor,
and remembering the
time a volunteer went fishing in the water tank while waiting for the riders
at the P/R stop,
discovering persons unknown had run interesting items up the flagpole to
be saluted, recalling with
appreciation many of Barb Madills cartoons and comments, or hearing the
call to the post to start
the ride.
Prior to NJTRA running the ride in Lebanon State Forest,
Greenwood Forest, and Ocean County's
R. J. Miller Air Park, the ride had been in the Gladstone area, the Ringwood
area (with a teeny bit of
NY), Wharton State Forest and the Hammonton area. We are adding the longevity
of distance
riding and years in service. Many of the riders and drivers join all our
members in achieving our
chartered goals: (1) of learning to select better horses, (2) to encourage
better care of horses and
(3) to put on a 100 MILE RIDE every year.
