March 9-10, 2025
I found Mane Gait Equestrian Center when I was looking for campgrounds in Virginia along I-81. It was listed on the HipCamp website. Staying at Mane Gait, with its 30+ horses, was a new experience for me. It was amazingly great.
The Center is located eight miles south of Lexington, Virginia, only a mile off the interstate. I drove in the dirt driveway and parked in front of a large barn. The website had indicated there were two campsites with hookups for electric and water. I did not see any signs or other indications of the sites. I went into the barn and asked a woman who was feeding a horse over the stall if she knew anything about the camping here. She turned away from me and yelled to another woman a few stalls away, “Sydney, someone here to see you!” Then she went on feeding the horse.
Sydney introduced herself and walked me outside again, pointing towards the rear of the property, telling me the site was along the side of another barn back there. She said the hook-ups were on the side of the barn. It took me a couple minutes to understand her directions and finger-pointing, but I thought I understood enough, and I’d figure it out as I drove farther down the gravel road. She told there was a break room with a refrigerator and table, and I was welcome to use them. There was another room for laundry if needed. Then she walked away.
I had the impression that both Sydney and the other woman were both very busy. So, I gave myself a personal tour of the horse barn. There were a few other people walking back and forth, some with equipment, some leading a horse by the reins. A woman walked out of a doorway and said hello. Katie seemed interested in conversation. It turns out, she has a horse she boards here. She was friendly, and she was a good source of information.
Her horse’s name is Kevin, named after the Macaulay Culkin character in the original “Home Alone.” Katie drives an hour from her home to use this barn. She told me there are a few other barns closer to her, but this one is much better and worth the drive.
I learned that the horses spend daytime hours in the stalls and are moved to the corrals late afternoon, where they spend the night. Some horses have blankets, some do not. I’m not sure how that is determined. There are thin, medium, and heavy blankets depending on the need. It looked to me like these blankets as well as saddles were stored in front of each stall.
There was a white-board on the wall that showed the layout of the farm. Katie explained the boxes drawn on it were the corrals, and the names in each were the horses who occupied them. Most corrals had two horses, a couple had three, and one had one horse. There were some with no horses. She told me the empty corrals were being “rested.” The corrals were good size, in the range of 200 feet or longer on each side. The horses had plenty of room to run and roam around.
The horse barn has thirty-five stalls. It is surrounded by fields and about a dozen corrals on rolling hills. There are two outdoor rings and an indoor ring in an adjacent barn. Riders rent time in the rings by the hour for equestrian practice. Also, the equestrian team from Washington & Lee University keeps their horses here and had practices the two days I stayed.
The “campsite” is basically a spot on the lawn next to the barn. It is at the high point of the farm and the view is fantastic. In the distance one can see the Blue Ridge Mountains heading north-south. In the near view is the farm with its many barns, corrals, and rings. The adjacent properties have a few huge homes built on them, each having their own corrals and horses. I was under the impression these homes and fields are associated with Mane Gait. Overall, it is quite a view, and it lends itself to creating a rustic, pastoral environment.
In the evening, all the farm’s employees and visitors have left the premises. It was so quiet, just me and the thirty or so horses in their corrals for the night. My second night there, I took a walk through the corrals. Each corral is fenced off by attractive, newer-looking wood fencing. In between each corral there is a path about ten yards wide. It provides easy access. I walked around so I could visit the horses in each corral. Two main things I noticed.
The first thing is that although the horses have lots of room to roam, in almost every corral they stood relatively close to each other, in the range of 10-15 yards or closer. I recalled that Katie had told me that they refer to horses in each corral as “buddies.” It seemed to me they wanted social activities of some kind. The second thing was that in almost every corral, as I approached the fences, the horses walked towards me, right up to the fence, often reaching their heads over the fences, as if wanting me to pet them. Or was it they were hoping I had some food treats for them? In any event, they seemed very friendly and social. I did not pet them, thinking it is possible I could be bitten, and I did not relish the thought of that. I took a lot of photos! They are big animals!
I found that walk to be amazing. I talked with them of course, introducing myself, giving them a little explanation for my presence, and wishing them well. They did seem to be interested and welcoming. The “walk and talk” with the horses capped off a wonderful time here!
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