History on Horseback

Boy, life moves quickly, and time escapes me. I've got much to catch up on in the next few days!

Before moving the horses back to Elkins for the winter, Chuck and I ventured out for one final trail ride. On this venture, I opted to take Q. The ride promised to be pretty low-key, just what the mare needs right now.

She self-loaded on the trailer with zero issues, unloaded quietly at our meeting spot, and stood like an old pro to be tacked and mounted while Chuck's 25 year old gelding acted a total fool. How refreshing to have the "good horse" and for that horse to be this mare!

Chuck's been in Canaan for decades and he's been involved with horses since he was a child. Originally in the fox hunting scene in Fairfax County, VA, during his childhood/teenage years, he later organized multiple endurance rides in WV - the now-defunct Canaan 50 being one which I hear about most often. I never tire of all of his stories.

On this ride, we traversed across multiple private properties in the center of the valley floor that I doubt I'd ever have access to without him.

Chuck regaled me with stories about Canaan's logging history and how the landscape has changed as a result of the logging and post-logging days. He also shared so many details about how the ownership has changed hands, from which people, and why. Much of the State Park is what it is due to the very generous donation of ~2,100 acres of land from a landowner to the State.

West Virginia has always been a state ravaged by industry. Long before the days of natural gas and coal, our primary industry was timber extraction which jointly supported the train industry. My favorite microbrewery in the whole state, Stumptown in Davis, is named such because Davis was a town surrounded by stumps as a result of huge logging operations. In the above photo, there was once a ~90-acre lake on the valley floor where timbered logs were put for transport downriver to Davis. A splashdam was constructed to hold and release the logs at key times for travel down the Blackwater to their next destination. Looking at it today, you'd never know!

We walked most of the ride with a bit of trotting here and there. While I let Q follow for the majority, she was outstanding during the times she led. While she certainly considered some "monsters", she didn't spook once the entire 8 miles, opting instead to pause and think and calm herself instead of whirling away in terror! It was refreshing to ride a horse that thought about life a little bit more critically instead of acting a total fool.

While I know this ride is only one small step in our process of getting to a better place, it was so good to have a relatively quiet ride with Q. My brain needed that bit of "success" to feel encouraged that we're on the right path.

Patience and time. Patience and time.

Once back at the trailer, Chuck brought over an ancient cooler with one of the original Canaan 50 shirts sewed onto it for me to drape on Q for a few photos. That was about the coolest thing ever for me.

I've heard countless stories about that ride over the past few years. Dan has gotten me out on a lot of the original trails, but there are still more to tackle that Chuck promises we'll get to with time. He'd like to tackle them one loop at a time some weekend. Yes, please!

While the return of my horses to Canaan is uncertain at best, this final ride was a great way to end this chapter of our time up there. Once winter passes, I look forward to many more explorations on horseback. Hopefully Q and I will be on a better page by spring so these rides are even more enjoyable.