Sig's Very Virginia Adventures

[SibeliusMB]

To continue on our previous thread about our life in the UK, I thought I'd start a new thread now that Sig and I are settled back in the US.

We moved over the weekend to the new farm. It was a super smooth move and now we truly are in the middle of Virginia's horse and hunt country. Sig was perfectly chilled and relaxed as soon as he stepped off the trailer. He's now living out in a 40 acre field with the retirement herd, though he has a stable if he should ever require one.

He's been so relaxed and seems very content from day one here, which makes me happy. He was still getting injured out in the field by the other horses at the last farm, but he's already integrated into the smaller and more low key group here. The (very!) long walk up to the barn from his field doesn't bother him, and out first hack around part of the property was a huge success. He happily walked around on the buckle and while we didn't get to explore the whole farm (it's 300 acres, it will take a minute ), I think we'll have many happy hours of hacking in our future. Plus tons of ride out onto neighboring farms so we can go for days and no roads.

The people here are lovely, SUPER knowledgeable and very detail oriented. The owners live on site and keep their hunt string here too. Their boarding operation is small, so all the horses get very personalized care. I feel so much better already. Fingers crossed we can call this place home for the next few years.

Anyway here are some photos of the new place. Absolute horse heaven and pretty great for people too.

 

[teapot]

Looks so english in parts!

 

[silv]

Looks so english in parts!

My thoughts too, its beautiful, especially the stables they are gorgeous.

 

[Nicnac]

Oh my, I'd move in! It looks glorious and so pleased Sig is settled already. Enjoy your paradise

 

[Kunoichi73]

That looks fantastic!

 

[SibeliusMB]

Looks so english in parts!

It is! This whole area has a lot of English influence. This farm is a former estate that dates back to the early 1800s. The town just down the road is the center of the horse and hunt communities. I've said for years that it's a quaint English or Irish village plopped in the middle of the Virginia countryside. LOTS of UK and Irish expats who live in the area for all the racing, breeding, eventing, and hunting activity in the immediate area.

 

[Season’s Bleatings]

Beautiful! Please do keep us updated, great to see him (and you!) settling in back home.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

The sort of place I think most of us dream of. Heaven on earth.

 

[Bernster]

Beautiful! And yes it almost feels like a fabulous version of England, with more space than we have now for hacking and fields. Love it!

 

[splashgirl45]

We can only dream of 40 acres available for horses in most of the UK, and would love to have off road hacking . it looks fabulous and it’s lovely that both of you feel settled..

 

[Reacher]

I’m not at all jealous!
Hope you are both very happy there

 

[Trouper]

Love the thread title!! It looks like paradise for both horses and people - hope you have very many happy years there.

 

[Squeak]

It looks wonderful. Not at all envious.

Yards are done so differently in England, tack rooms and tea rooms/common rooms/ club rooms? are far far more rustic. Would we all complain about the mud less if we had lovely barns and stables and tack rooms etc or would we just plaster mud and wet all over them

 

[SEL]

That tack room!

 

[Alibear]

Wow that looks wonderful, I hope you have many fun years there.

 

[SibeliusMB]

Thank you all! I am absolutely thrilled and Sig seems genuinely settled and happy here. I couldn't ask for more and I hope we get to enjoy this place for several years to come.

It looks wonderful. Not at all envious.

Yards are done so differently in England, tack rooms and tea rooms/common rooms/ club rooms? are far far more rustic. Would we all complain about the mud less if we had lovely barns and stables and tack rooms etc or would we just plaster mud and wet all over them

Ha! I will say, this new farm is not at all representative of barns in the US, probably with the exception of the "1%" types with rich clientle (which are not the average crowd). It's definitely the most unique and classy farm I've ever boarded at. This barn was recently renovated within the last couple years and was very carefully designed. It's an old bank barn, so all the stables/feed areas/grooming areas/wash rack/tack room are down stairs. The lounge and tack/locker room are upstairs so it definitely helps in keeping things looking very neat and tidy.

I'll have to take more photos because how they renovated the downstairs area with the stables is so, so cool. The old silos are converted to dedicated wash rack and a separate tack room/tack cleaning stations. Just a really neat and useful vision for the space. And the upstairs lounge and tack/locker rooms...well, that is just Old Virginia Hunt Country influence at its finest! Very posh and classy.

So all that said, this farm is very unique to VA hunt country and probably not representative of a standard US boarding facility. There are plenty of "rustic" tack rooms to be found in the US as well. The farm we just left was very workmanlike and functional, but not "pretty." The tack rooms were two converted stalls/stables with saddle racks installed and everyone's tack trunks shoved underneath.

Some more photos of the happy boy, my tack locker (my new favorite thing) and my truck/trailer which I am SO happy to have back! I miss being independent and can't wait to get Sig out/about for some hacks with old friends.

 

[Tarragon]

It looks amazing (and expensive )!
do they have cross country jumps??

 

[SibeliusMB]

They do! Kind of. Mostly logs of various sizes and some coops built into the fence line. So more like training for hunting versus training for eventing.

The crazy thing is that I'm currently paying the same I was paying at the last farm, and basically what I was paying in the UK, but have way more amenities. I do pay stall board cost so Sig has a stall if needed. If I wanted to go straight field board/grass livery here, it's HALF the cost. Useful for if I get overwhelmed with life, or if I get deployed for a few months and needs to put Sig on an extended holiday.

Options!

 

[humblepie]

Looks amazing and lovely to hear how you both are getting on

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

Looks amazing