Charlottesville Real Estate Talk

Charlottesville Horse Farms Spend A Day At The Races!

One of the best reasons for buying a Charlottesville horse farm is the Foxfield Races.  The steeplechase races are held twice a year in April and September.  I had the pleasure of spending last Saturday at the races.  The weather was gorgeous, the racing was exciting and it was fun tailgating with family and friends.  In this post I will share some pictures of the races and the beautiful horses that were the stars.

At a steeplechase the horses line up and start when the flag is lowered.  There is not a starting gate like we are accustomed to see at a flat track.

They're off!

There are two kinds of jumping races.  Hurdle horses race over National Fences.  In the past the hurdles were constructed from boxes filled with tightly paced cedar trees.  Several years ago they were replaced by the synthetic National Fences which are thought to be safer for the horses.  Hurdle horses are taught to brush through the top several inches of the fence.  Often we have several local horses from Charlottesville horse farms entered to root for.

Timber horses have a different jumping style than a hurdle horse.  The timber fences are big and solid.  A timber horse needs to jummp up over the fence and not hit the solid rails.

The Foxfield Race Course presents a challenge to horse and rider.  The horses must run up a long hill before they get to the final flat stretch at the finish.  A horse must be fit to travel several times around the course and have enough left to hold off challengers at the finish.  The course was designed to favor neither runners or jumpers, but to challenge both equally.  Saturday we were treated to several close exciting finishes.  In this picture you see two horses riding hard for the finish.

Charlottesville horse farms are home to a variety of breeds of horses that perform in many different disciplines such as fox hunting, trail riding, horse shows and dressage as well as racing, but you can see the owners of many of these farms enjoying the spectacle of the races.  I hope to see you there at the fall running of the Foxfield Races.

Copyright 2011 by Pam Dent all rights reserved "Charlottesville Horse Farms Spend A Day At The Races".

Charlottesville Horse Farms - Off To The Foxfield Races

Charlottesville horse farms are known to be some of the finest equestrian facilities in the state.  Not only are these farms home to show hunters, trail riders, and dressage horses but also we have some race horse farms as well.  And some of our local horses are sure to be found competing at the Foxfield Races.

However you don't have to own a Charlottesville horse farm to enjoy attending Foxfield.  Watching a steeplechase race is pure excitement.  Being able to actually witness spectacular thoroughbreds thundering around the race course from close at hand is an opportunity not to be missed.  Watching these magnificent creatures do what they are bred to do is nothing short of amazing.  Add to that spending a spring day outdoors in a beautiful setting in the company of friends and family with a yummy tailgate and you have a recipe for the perfect day.

There are UVA alumni that come to town every year just to get together with friends at the Foxfield Races.  While other people get their first glimpse of the Virginia country life while attending Foxfield and come back to buy a Charlottesville farm.

The above picture is of one of my daughter's horses on the way to the start at a Virginia steeplechase.

The  Foxfield property has not always been a race course; once it was the Charlottesville airport and the hangar still remains.  Later Foxfield became a Charlottesville horse farm.  As such it was the home of Grover Vandevender who taught many area residents to ride, myself included.  Grover was also the huntsman for the Farmington Hunt.  His knowledge of foxes and hounds was legendary.  Going hunting with Grover was a treat not to be forgotten.  I can remember hunting with Grover as a child.  He would lead us away from the main body of the hunt.  We would ride around for a while, and just when I would feel particularly lost, he would position us on the top of a hill with the instructions to "look over there".  Before long out of the woods (just at the spot where he told us to look) would pop the fox, followed by the hounds in full cry, and then came the horses and riders.  When all passed we would fall in behind and set off at a glorious gallop.  Following Mr. Vandevender's death Mariann de Tejeda purchased the property which then became the Foxfield Racing Association and Race Course designed by Raymmond Wolfe.

Since 1978 the Foxfield Racecourse has been the site of stellar steeplechase racing.  Races are held twice a year in the April and September.  This year the spring races will be held this Saturday April 30, 2011.  For information on how to purchase tickets and parking spaces go to: foxfieldraces.com

Come to beautiful Charlottesville Virginia in the spring, enjoy a day at the races, and then we can go out to look at Charlottesville horse farms for your very own.

Copyright 2011 all rights reserved by Pam Dent "Charlottesville Horse Farms - Off To The Foxfield Races".

Happy Birthday to the horses!  Yesterday morning on many Charlottesville VA horse farms the horses woke up another year older.

Thoroughbred horses turn another year older on January 1 each year.  So in reality a horse may only be 7 months old if it was born on June 1 but it will still turn one year old on January first just like a foal that was born in January of the previous year.  This standardization is necessary for the racing industry which offers races broken down by age such as the Kentucky Derby for three year olds.

On my Charlottesville horse farm it was traditional to wish all of the horses happy birthday on New Years Day.  Each one got treats of apples and carrots and a hot bran mash for dinner.

There is a very nice selection of Virginia horse farms on the market in Central Virginia and I would enjoy showing them to you.