EN introduced our newest writer, Abby Gibbon, on Tuesday.
I caught up with Organizer Molly Hutchins yesterday afternoon,
who credited the support of the eventing community in helping to re-vamp the
venue. “We got hit by Hurricane Irene and got trashed, but we’ve been
fortunate that people raised funds and we’ve been able to bring the facility back from the flood,” she said. “We’d planned to do fundraising to
re-do the existing courses, and then people came through again. We’re now
two-thirds of the way done with the new intermediate course.”
In addition to the competitions, attendees will also be
treated to GMHA’s exquisitely maintained miles of hacking (for those unfamiliar, GMHA hosts several
competitive trail rides throughout the year), a variety of evening
entertainment including a competitor’s party and live music, and virtually
limitless opportunities to give back to the sport. Molly estimates they’ll need
somewhere in the range of 200+ volunteers throughout the course of the week
(email [email protected] to sign up).
“Our courses have been redesigned, we’ve done a lot of
work on our drainage and our footing’s been upgraded. We hope to catch people
the week after Millbrook; they could just head over here and compete in any
variety of events!”
Keep an eye on GMHA’s website for updates as the “Festival of Eventing” approaches!
Go GMHA, Go Eventing.
