Past Trips

East Coast Mountaineer Women: Three Mares and Us Ladies

On October 28, 2018 by Erika Eckstrom

Just the three of us and our mares headed south. This time we impromptu decided to skip the endurance race we intended to go to in Virginia and keep driving south for adventures along the Virginia Highland Horse Trail and Mount Rogers.

The trip had a bit of a strange start. After a long day including multiple morning trail rides back at Painted Bar Stables, a vet visit to the barn, a surprise trip to Cornell Vet Hospital and a 400 mile drive through waves of sun showers, all of us ladies safely arrived at the Penmerryl Inn to kickstart the adventure.

Penmerryl Farm

As always the Bed & Breakfast at Penmerryl Farm took great care of us.

When you find a great layover site while traveling with horses you keep returning again… and again… and again…

And this is why: after arriving late at night we were easily able to know which stalls to put our horses in and how to help ourselves to our room. After a post-midnight email to the ladies because I forgot to tell them that one of us is vegetarian and one of us is lactose intolerant we had hot showers and a great night sleep on memory foam mattresses.

We awoke at 8:25am to our 8:30 breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt parfaits on the table waiting for us and were each given a customized plate personalized to our dietary needs. Muffin tin upside-down peach French toast, ham, and sundries tomato scrambled eggs.

Rocky Hollow Horse Camp

We left Penmerryl without much to-do and headed down to the Rocky Hollow Horse Camp at Mount Rogers.

We were welcomed by the amazing and gracious owners who helped us get the hoses tucked into their deeply bedded stalls. The horse camp offers stall overnighting as well as high-line and tie post options at their campsites.

They then showed us down to one of the most quaint cabin imaginable by his 80 year old father and a golf cart. Rocky Hollow, though mostly set up for live-in trailers with hook-ups (aka RV living for equestrians) has a couple cabin options as well which we took advantage of.

Riding the Virginia Highlands

Is this really the East Coast?!

As we rode the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area that contains the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail all I could think of was:

“Where am I?! Seriously?!”

Yes, this is Southwestern Virginia not out west. These rocky, rugged, terrain based trails are an East Coast landmark, not in the Rockies.

More credit needs to be given to East Coast riding!!!

“Rocky” is an Understatement 

To say the trails in the Virginia Highlands are “Rocky” or “Rough Terrain” can’t even begin to explain how difficult they were.

Every trail trail up to the top (because everything from anywhere is “to the top”) was steep. For well over a mile you must go up, up, up to get to anywhere. Even at the walk our well conditioned horses were a bit out of breath when we got to the plateau.

The trails going up the mountain were also full of stones varying from small pebbles to big boulders, all wet from this rainy season on the East Coast.

At the top of the mountain the trails were washed out roadways that were sharp and pebbled. Honestly it was better riding off the trail on the cow trails that ran alongside and through the fields – minus a couple divots and bushes on the way.

As we reached the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail the trail narrowed and actually became almost comical. Basically our horses were bouldering.

While the locals don’t understand why we thought it was so difficult because their horses have become well adapted for, this is definitely a trail system that horses need to be prepared for with conditioning and ingenuity.

We rode the entire system wearing Professional Choice SMBII boots for both tendon support and protective padding. I prefer the SMBII to the Elites as they are thicker and provide more protection on the trail. All of our horses were shod with little overhang at the heel as well.

We are lucky that all of our horses here at Painted Bar Stables are ridden so regularly and very well conditioned. Regular riding in a variety of terrain strengthens soft tissue and also provides a muscle structure to prevent sprains and strains. 

You could easily tell that Nym, who has ridden four endurance races this season, was in the best shape of our three because while the other two were doing admirably Nym never waned going up the steep incline and was positively spritely trotting and cantering over the stones.

The Scales in the Virginia Highlands

When they kept telling me “Just head to the Scales” I was pretty darned confused. It was explained that the Scales are the place at the top of the mountain where cows coming off the pastures were weighed back in the day.

Great, sounds thrilling…

Well, wow, were my expectations exceeded. This location was by far my favorite spot on the entire mountain. Thrilling views, long horn cows, green pastures, open spaces, tie bars and a bathroom! What more could you ask for?!

Just past the Scales is the Crest Trail which takes you up and over the top of the mountain through grazing association pastures in the National Forest filled with long horn cattle. The views were stunning and you could see for miles.

WILD PONIES!

Yep. There are miniature ponies living wild in the Virginia Highlands.

More than 100 wild ponies roam wild within 200,000 acres of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and neighboring Grayson Highlands State Park in southwestern Virginia. The ponies have been in these mountains since the 1940s, prior to the National Forest ownership that occurred in the 1960s. In 1974 the Wilburn Ridge Pony Association was formed to take ownership of the ponies, help manage them and use them to graze and maintain the grassy area.

More information on these ponies via the Smithsonian HERE

Heading home across the Virginia Highland Horse Trail, crossing the Scales at sunset and heading back down the Second Peak “trail” we got home at dusk.

Anyone who thinks trotting and cantering is hard hasn’t spent hours in the saddle at the walk!!!

Lady (Sunny’s Foolish Gold)

My personal mount for this adventure was Lady. Lady is out of one of our renowned lesson mares and by my stallion, Sierra’s All The Gold. I chose this little 5 year old to join us because she needed some miles and we needed to work out some of her fussiness with the bridle and saddle fit, but I knew she had a good head on her shoulder.

Well, if I had known how tough the riding would be in the Virginia Highlands I probably would have taken someone else.

That said, this little 5 year old worked her butt off and impressed the hell out of me.

She climbed up a mountain full of rocky, very rocky trails, leading the way. While she was a little all over the place compared to the other mares while navigating the rugged terrain she did a terrific job leading the way through some off the roughest country I have ever encountered. She climbed and climbed and cantered over gravel strewn pathways like a trooper.

For our longest ride in the public lands, at the end of the day we did:

20.0 miles

4232 feet Total Ascent

5446 feet maximum altitude

2.8 mph average speed (yes the terrain was that tough!!)

She’s a fussy faced woman, but man is she made of steel!!

Carvin’s Cove

After LOTS of walking over stones and rocks we decided to hit up my favorite spot for a jaunt on the way home: Carvin’s Cove in Roanoke, VA

There’s just no place better for variety and meandering trots and canters.

Carvin’s Cove is a city park surrounding a large reservoir that is completely designed to cater to horseback riding and mountain biking. As both sports like to have the same types of trails it makes sense.

A great example of how the park caters to the cyclists and horses is the fact that almost all of their creek crossing have flat cobble stones laid into them to prevent mud tear up from tires and hooves. All of them have enough traction to not present any problems at the walk but I wouldn’t suggest trotting them.

All of the trails at Carvin’s Cove are labeled as Green Circle (easy), Blue Square (moderate), Black Diamond (hard) or Double Black Diamonds (challenging).

Green Circle trails tend to be the access roads providing wide open lanes that are perfect for a good canter. The trails generally follow obvious, well-marked trails and roads. Grades are gentle and only minor obstacles will be encountered.

The Blue Square trails are usually meandering paths that may have tight turns and some inclines, but no particular challenges beyond some roots and little riverbanks. Terrain will be steeper. Trails will be narrower. Obstacles such as rocks and loose stone will be encountered. They usually present a good opportunity for winding trots through the woods.

The Black Diamond trails usually have steeper inclines and are best approached from a certain direction (namely, heading up hill is preferable). They can have some narrow paths that are close to the edges or some tougher footing.

The Double Black Diamond trails are significantly more challenging. While not impossible for horse users, these are paths that I do not suggest for riders traveling in groups, as herd dynamics can cause whiplash effects or control issues. On these trails riders need to control speed, watch for surface hazards, and be familiar with trail locations. The terrain is steep and technical obstacles will be encountered.

Throughout the trail system there are many opportunities for horses to take a break to drink at the creek. One of my particular favorite drinking spots is located at the base of the terrain between the trails “Tuckaway” and “Enchanted Forest” as this creek offers ample space for numerous horses to spread out for a drink.

 One of my all time favorite trails is “Enchanted Forest.” This trail is one of the easiest Blue Square trails in the parks. It offers windy sandy trails that take you from the main access road “Happy Valley” through tall pine woods and along the edge of the reservoir with beautiful water views.  The footing is relatively smooth and cushioned throughout the entire trail.

 While this trail is beautiful, usually I don’t have much time to take it in because it is by far the BEST TROTTING TRAIL EVER. The twists and turns are interesting and as you trot through the tall pines the needles on the ground absorb almost all sound of the horse’s hooves making it quiet and quite special!

2 comments