Equine Archives

Memories from 1961 to 1997

Camille’s first riding lesson on her 7th birthday in the Bronx, June, 1961.

 

Camille at Alan and Sally’s Colorado ranch in 1992 and jumping four-year-old Penny in a knee brace after ACL surgery in 1993.

CHINCOTEAGUE

 

Camille drove to Chincoteague in 1996 to witness the annual roundup. The horses are rounded up on their island by members of the fire department and herded to the mainland. This, of course, involves a bit of a swim.

  After the ponies roll around in the grass to dry off, they are paraded through the street to holding pens and then the foals are auctioned off. With so many pintos in one place, it was difficult for me to tell where one horse ended and the next began.

VIRGINIA 1996 – 1997

We bought a seven-acre horse farm in 1996 and named it “Trouts Farm,” which inspired our website name.  Woodland Farms was a group of small farms which had been cut from one large farm. Nearly, all of our neighbors owned saddle horses. The family next door had 80 acres. We kept this farm until we realized that it owned us. A year later, we sold it and left the country for our Central American adventure. During that year, we boarded a few horses and enjoyed keeping the property and the outlying forest trails well-groomed.

PASTURE MANAGEMENT

We mowed the pastures once a month, picked up all manure piles daily and removed all the cherry seedlings from the fence lines.

We added fixtures to the barn, swept the aisle after the daily stall cleaning and carved a riding trail into the little patch of woods on the property. This trail connected with the neighborhood trail system. During the week, neighborhood volunteers went out and kept the main trails cleared for riding. 

Bob rides his horse Jesse across the front lawn.

Camille leased a mare named Amy who sometimes kicked up her heels a little.

 

We lived close to the York River State Park where there were even more great riding trails riding trails.