Mr. Horse Goes Camping

State Parks are a great resource for the outdoor enthusiast. Camping, boating, and hiking are just some of the activities a state park offers. And yes – many have horse trails and horse camping. The Virginia State Park system sports thirty-nine parks across the state, and twenty-one offer a variety of equestrian elements from bridle trails to camping to show facilities. The Virginia Parks website has a clear and easy-to-use search for parks. The horse-friendly parks cover all types of terrain; mountains to the Chesapeake Bay. Check out the link for general details on horse activities in Virginia State Parks.

Recently my friend Amanda, and Mr. Horse spent a weekend at the James River State Park in Gladstone Virginia, along with a friend Dani and her horse Myles. I was able to catch up with Amanda to get all the details of her adventure.

 

Suzanne – It sounds like you had a great time at James River State Park. Give me a brief outline of your trip.

Amanda – Dani and I were at the park from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, we did not get there in time Friday evening to ride but we were able to get Horse and Myles (16hh Thoroughbred) comfortably settled into their stalls. Saturday morning, we rode for about 2.5 hours and that evening we rode for a little over 3 hours. Sunday morning, we decided to let the horses rest before it was time to head home. Myles is a retired show horse and school horse and had never been on a trail before in his life. His feet got very ouchy from walking over rocky terrain and the dreaded tree roots. Saturday during the day when it was too hot to ride, Dani and I rented tubes to float down the James River. Sunday morning after packing up our stuff, we went down to the river to go swimming for a bit.

 

Suzanne – What did you think of the park and the equestrian area?

Amanda – The facility was simply amazing! The equestrian campground is shaped like an oval—the middle area has pull-through parking for your truck and horse trailer. Each pull-through site comes equipped with an electrical hookup for your trailer/camper, water spigot, picnic table, and in-ground grill pit. The 12 x 12 covered stalls had padded mats on the floor, hay racks with grain bins, and a wall-mount waterer, though they weren’t hooked up to a water supply, I guess you could manually fill it with water. We just used our own buckets. The facility provides pooper scoopers, wheelbarrows, and has bedding available for purchase. Beside each stall, there were giant black plastic containers to make mucking out easy. Another plus, they empty them for you! Just past the trailer pull-through sites, there is a hitching post, giant mounting block, and wash station. The wash station has a hose long enough for you to use that for filling water buckets in the stalls, but since we just had two horses, we chose just to haul the water buckets by hand. Adjacent to the equestrian campground is a bathhouse that was cleaned and sanitized twice daily.

Suzanne – What were the costs?

Amanda -The stalls were $15 a night and I believe the trailer fee was $5. We bought bedding there too for $9.99 a bag.

Suzanne – How were the conditions of the trails? What did you think of the difficulty?

Amanda – I absolutely loved the trails! They were very well maintained and they stretched for miles and miles. Many sections of the trails are covered with crush and run, and tree roots, so it’s not horrible terrain by any means. Those with tender footed horses will want to consider easy boots. Overall the trail difficulty was easy but there was one trail in particular with a very steep hill. Horse was able to navigate down and up with minimal effort but Myles has an old hock injury and wasn’t able to make that portion of the trail. We did cross a mini bridge at one point. Myles didn’t want to go over at first but followed behind Horse with no problem.

Suzanne – How did the horses do? Was Mr. Horse a gentleman?

Amanda – Horse absolutely loved the trails! The only thing, which he is known to do, is whenever we would stop to allow Dani and Myles catch up, he would get impatient. He isn’t the biggest fan of being stalled, but the stalls are so spacious he had no qualms about staying in them.

During the last part of our ride Saturday night, Dani had to get off Myles to hand walk him. His old hock injury was bothering him and he was taking every opportunity to try to scrape her off on a tree. Instead of riding back all the way on the trails, we made the decision to just ride back along the road in the park since it would be a lot easier on Myles. As soon as we got to the road, Dani was able to get back on him. Both of the boys did amazing with cars and campers and trailers passing by us as we made our way back to camp.

Suzanne – How were the staff at the park? Did you see other campers?

Amanda – The staff was very friendly and helpful whenever you had a question. As far as other campers, there was one other family at the equestrian campground with gorgeous Tennessee Walkers. They seemed friendly, but they didn’t ride their horses much. Since we are still in the COVID situation, I’m sure they were just being safe.

Suzanne – Did you have any issues with bugs or other wildlife?

Amanda – The mosquitos and gnats were horrible in the evenings! Luckily, we were able to keep them out of our tent. In the middle of the night Friday night, we heard some snuffling outside the tent and my first thought was, “Oh no! A bear!” But it was just a little raccoon. It didn’t bother anything, just being curious while looking for a snack.

Suzanne – Anything funny happen?

Amanda – Dani and I were so focused on getting anything and everything that we could possibly need for the horses that we forgot part of our own food! We had to drive 45 minutes to Food Lion to grab supplies for us after we got the boys settled in.

Suzanne – Any scary moments?

Amanda – Honestly the scary moments didn’t occur at the park itself, it was the drive to and from the park. On the way to the park, it started storming badly. Thunder, lightning, gusts of wind, and a complete downpour made it very hard to see the road. And people driving recklessly around us. From passing us on solid lines to cutting in front of us in traffic to someone passing multiple cars.

Suzanne – Is there any equipment that is a must-have besides the normal tack?

Amanda – Definitely a breast collar! I normally do not ride in one but luckily I grabbed mine for the trip. Even with a well-fitted saddle, going up some of the steep hills will make your saddle slide back a bit. Also, I would recommend getting a combination trail bridle or putting a halter on under the bridle. There are several hitching posts along the trail where you can dismount and check out some of the gorgeous scenery. If possible, bring a water bottle you can clip to your saddle or better yet, have a saddlebag.

Suzanne – Will you do it again? If you went back what would you do differently?

Amanda – I would definitely take Horse to the park to go camping again!

If I went back, I would make sure to bring swim shoes for going in the river. I wore my slides so trying to walk across the slick river rocks was interesting, to say the least!

I think it went pretty well overall, I have no complaints at all about the park or the experience.

Thanks, Amanda for sharing your time at James River State Park.

So if you want to try something new with your horse, consider a weekend at a state park. If you are uneasy, find an equestrian partner who has had either trail or horse camping experience. Also, keep in mind the level of your horse’s normal workload and riding conditions, and plan accordingly. All horses must have an up-to-date clean Coggins test. Please feel free to comment on any experience you had at a state park. I’d love to hear from you.