Ranch Stays in Virginia

Virginia's horse culture runs as deep as its history, and the land still shows it. The Piedmont rolls west into the Blue Ridge; the Coastal Plain slides east toward tidewater; and between them sits some of the most established riding territory in America. The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests carry serious trail networks. Guest ranches work the country near Charlottesville and Middleburg. Riding academies across Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley teach every discipline going. Add the events calendar, the historic estates, and the sheer density of equine communities, and the depth of the culture is hard to miss.

The terrain sorts the riding. Out west, in the mountains around Roanoke and Harrisonburg, the trails turn rugged. Pack-trip country, with long climbs paid off in long views. The Shenandoah Valley below, with its farmland and towns like Staunton, is thick with boarding and training barns serving English and Western riders both. East of the mountains, the Piedmont's gentle slopes hold the foxhunting territories, showjumping venues, and dressage barns, nowhere more densely than the "Horse Country" of Loudoun and Fauquier Counties.