Hunt Country Stable Tour, 5/24/14

For several years Renee and I have been wanting to go on the stable tour but either the weather was awful or there were scheduling conflicts.  This year everything was perfect - no conflicts and the weather was lovely.  We hopped into Baby (that's the M3), dropped the top, and headed to horse country early in the morning.

If you are wondering why we were interested in doing this, I guess it's partly because you always want to see how the other ½ lives (or maybe the 1%).  We saw horses living in better accommodations that most of the people on the planet.  While I remain conflicted about fox hunting (OK, so they don't actually kill the fox, they just scare the bejesus out of the poor little thing), I really do appreciate the love and care that goes into raising these beautiful horses.  Besides hunting, Virginia horse country is also big on polo and steeplechase racing.

For an interesting look at a scandal that sheds light on life in horse country, the write up on a murder that happened there in 1998 is most revealing.  See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/polo/polo0914.htm.  The heiress was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 60 DAYS but only served 51.

The tour began at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville where you picked up your tickets, map, information on each farm and had the opportunity to shop at a craft fair on the grounds of the parish.

Entrance into Trinity

Window was a gift from Paul Mellon

We headed out and found lovely vistas all along the way but having the top down turned out to be a mixed blessing - once off the main roads, the roads to the farms were all gravel and dust.  Before we even got to the first farm the car and we were covered.

This view is of a farm not on the tour and not involved in raising horses.  It was just too lovely to pass without stopping to take photos.

Our first stop on the tour was Trappe Hill Farm where they have breeding mares.

 The photo above is the horse barn and the pond is used for building up strength in the young colts without having to keep them on hard surfaces.  We did see a swimming exhibition but the photos were just of a horse's nose sticking out of the water.

Here's the history of one of their horses:

This sign in the barn helps explain the love the residents of the area have for their horses.

No flip-flops here!

Below is the road leading away from the barn.

Our next stop was Rock Hill Farm owned by a retired couple from Long Island.

Renee makes a new friend

Just back from a training ride

Stable frog.  Horses didn't seem to mind.

Next on to Belle Grey Farm.  The training facility was amazing the largest we saw all day.  By the way, there are twelve farms on the tour and there is no way you could see all of them in one day.  It is a two-day event.

There was a wonderful collection of antique carriages.

Training facility on the left, stables on the right.

Stable tour guides and horse and rider trainers.

It's all about the horses.

If you're going to ride to the hounds, you need puppies.  This little guy will be trained to participate in the hunts.

Renee makes another friend.  One of four miniature ponies.

If you are wondering why they had miniature ponies, I know we were, we found out they are used in training young riders.

This very confident and poised 6 year old demonstrated how to take a pony around the obstacle course.

After seeing these three farms it was time for a lunch break.  We decided to check out the new resort just outside Middleburg that was built and is owned by Shelia Johnson, the ex-wife of the founder of BET (Black Entertainment Television).  We were amazed that the place was packed given that rooms start at over $500.  Still it was a lovely setting, we had great service and the best bartender in northern Virginia.

A very busy doorman in proper horse country attire.

Reception area

Relaxing in the library.

Lunch on the veranda.

A lovely way to chill out.

The passing traffic.

It was hard to leave such lovely surroundings, but more horses were around the bend.

Now this is a horse barn!

Banbury Cross Farm

This is a school for horses and riders.

So sweet.

Students preparing for their exhibition.

Well done!

After that exhibition it was time to relax and prepare for the drive home.  We did see one young student fall during a jump.  Once the trainers made sure she was OK and she was back in stable and out of hearing range, the trainer explained that the fall was the rider's mistake.  She had allowed the horse to take the jump too soon after the preceding horse.  Once in the air her horse had no place to land because of the other horse.  To avoid a collision, the horse went to the right and the rider to the left.  Everyone was relieved that she appeared to be OK and was able to walk back to the stables.

Our last stop of the day was at Green Hill Winery.  The minute we turned down the drive we realized that we were at the former Swedenburg Winery.  Mrs. Swedenburg was the one who sued liquor distributors and took her case all the way to the US Supreme Court to allow wineries to ship directly across state lines.  We were happy to discover that the quality of the wine is as good as before.

It was a lovely way to spend the day in Virginia horse country.