North Carolina- Horse Riding at Biltmore Estate
Today I went horseback riding at Biltmore, and enjoyed the grounds, trails and horses, just as guests of George Vanderbilt would have during the Gilded Age.
Biltmore Estate features over 80 miles of equestrian trails located on 4,000 acres in the beautiful Western North Carolina Mountains. There are also lots of activities on the estate and in the city of Asheville for those who don’t ride. When I arrived at the stables, I stood for a minute to watch some of the children heading out for a trail ride and thought back to my days at camp in these same mountains. I love the cool mountain mornings and quiet forests of North Carolina and have such good memories from riding here, including a later trip in college. My mother and I took a Biltmore vacation and rode horses together. It had been years since my mom had gone riding, and it reignited her childhood passion. It was a really nice way to bond with my mom again.
The Equestrian Center at Biltmore hosts events and clinics throughout the year including endurance riding competitions, hunter paces and a kid’s camp. I joined Ginger Cecil, the Equestrian Center Advisor, at the stables to explore the trails on horseback. Ginger grew up in Western North Carolina and shared with me her experiences of riding horses on the estate and in the surrounding mountain areas. Our ride seemed almost magical at one point, as we rode out of the forest and into a wide-open field that looked out at a beautiful view of the estate, nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ginger told us that we were actually riding through a field, which was the original site for Biltmore House, before George Vanderbilt changed his mind. When you’re riding with a local, you can hear lots of interesting insider’s information like that.
There's so much history on the estate, but also peaceful natural surroundings. George Vanderbilt, a 27-year-old bachelor, had a vision of Biltmore House and grand plans for his estate. Biltmore has certainly lived up to his lofty goals. It's still the largest privately-owned home in the United States. No one has built a “McMansion” yet to top Biltmore, which is both surprising and not, when you consider the 250 rooms and 4 acres of floor space that the home occupies.
Back at the stables after my ride, I learned more about Natural Horsemanship. Natural Horsemanship helps people of all ages and skill levels discover how to better understand and communicate with horses, and it’s a base of the Biltmore riding program. One of the trainers told me a little about the experiences that led her to study Natural Horsemanship. She was competing three-day eventing and feeling the stress from competitions. Through Natural Horsemanship, she developed a new understanding of horses and herself as a leader.
To demonstrate her techniques, she started out working with a horse named Buckley, an 11-year-old part Quarter Horse and part Selle Francais. Buckley was responding well to his trainer’s cues. I listened to her talk about herd mentality and explain the flight response that I know very well as an equestrian. Next, one of the younger students demonstrated her technique with her horse, which had once been hard to handle. This child had the horse jumping by himself and listening to her very attentively. I think that Natural Horsemanship and learning to better communicate with horses is a pretty neat concept. Also, being safe on the ground around horses is always important.
That afternoon I explored Biltmore House, the estate grounds and gardens to learn more about Biltmore and the Vanderbilt history and later that evening I snuggled into my comfortable room at the Inn on Biltmore Estate. I was excited to enjoy another day in the North Carolina Mountains at the historic Biltmore Estate.
Darley Newman is the host of the Emmy Award-winning Public Television series Equitrekking®, which takes viewers on horseback riding vacations around the world. Equitrekking is broadcast on PBS stations and on international networks in over 30 countries.
Watch the Equitrekking video promos and purchase Equitrekking DVDs in our Store, including the Equitrekking Carolinas episode.
