11 minute read
NRV Rides
Home Away from Home for Humans and Horses
Sarah and Nick Canevari love animals. On their farm in Floyd, the married couple – both veterinarians at Town & Country Veterinary Clinic in Christiansburg – care for more than 60 creatures, including cats, a dog, chickens, guineas and miniature donkeys. Their Quarter Horses are provided the most sophisticated transportation: a 2018 3-horse, dual-axle, four-wheel Shadow horse trailer with living quarters.
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Weighing 6,500 pounds and capable of bearing an additional load of 10,000 pounds, the trailer is stout and impressive. “We had to buy a truck to match the trailer,” Nick relates, referring to a 2013 GMC Sierra 2500 Duramax with a gooseneck hitch.
The couple bought the trailer new and have already taken it out west multiple times to South Dakota to buy
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Tom Wallace
horses, and to Colorado where they were married in 2018. On their wedding night, because the ranch where they held the ceremony was fully booked, the newlyweds slept in their new trailer. The living quarters, all things considered, are spacious. “It literally has every spec we wanted,” Nick adds.
In the forward portion of the living quarters, a step-up platform leads to a California king bed, in the elevated section where the trailer connects to and rides over the bed of the truck. The middle part of the living quarters includes a living space with sofa and kitchen with a 2-burner propane stove, microwave, small fridge and exhaust fan. This section also has a slide which increases the width of the living quarters when travel has stopped and the rig is parked. “The slide was definitely a selling point,” states Sarah.
“There’s also a lot of storage space.”
The rear of the living quarters has a complete bathroom with toilet and full hot water shower. The back wall is slanted to accommodate the slant design of the stalls in the rear of the trailer.
Locally, the Canevaris use the trailer to take their Quarter Horses to a trainer in Hillsville, where the duo practice the techniques measured in Versatility Ranch Horse Competitions: roping, reining, cutting and more – the skills required of western performance horses and their riders.
The Canevaris participate as amateurs in ranch horse competitions, having started competing about two years ago when looking for something more than just trail riding. “Competitions are intense,” Nick explains. “It’s an adrenaline rush, going full speed,
spinning, stopping, turning. Quarter Horses can manage it because they have such thick, powerful hindquarters.”
“Our horses,” Sarah says, “seem to really like cutting,” or the process of handling a lone cow separated from its herd. They own five Quarter Horses, all geldings, and recently purchased a brood mare with which they plan to raise their own Quarter Horses. “We’re hoping more people catch on to how fun competing is.” Nick used to work as a contractor, and they have built a horse barn and riding arena at home for regular practice.
The rear of the trailer has two side-opening doors. The door on the right is where the horses step into the trailer,
and the left door encloses the trailer’s tack storage, fitted with a convenient slide-out saddle rack. Apparent on the outside of the trailer are utilities which support life inside the trailer - propane tanks, a battery, satellite dish. Tucked behind the sidewalls are tanks for fresh, grey and black water. There’s also a spare tire mounted on the front wall of the trailer’s main enclosure.
The battery runs the lights and microwave, and there is a generator which powers an air conditioner. Some of the appliances are barely used. Instead of using the satellite dish, for example, the Canevaris usually watch DVDs. And the stove is used only for
light cooking like boiling water and such. More involved cooking they do outside over a portable grill.
Sarah credits their decision to cook mainly outside to the fact that the trailer still smells new inside. That’s something the Canevaris appreciate when they are at a show in summer and have time to take a break between rounds, enjoying fresh air and the clean smell of their home away from home.
The trailer provides a nice interlude before they get back out to participating in the competitions. “It’s one of those things,” Nick declares, “that when you do it once, you can’t wait to do it again.”
Trail Champion outdoor enthusiast Ralph Robertson leads Giles Countyin adventure
Text by Nancy S. Moseley | Photos by Nathan Cooke, CBM
In 1987, Ralph Robertson was featured in Outdoor Life Magazine for float fishing the New River. Now he is instrumental in efforts like ReNew the New and River Cleanup and often volunteers his time to teach interested folks how to kayak and stand-up paddleboard. But, fishing? It just isn’t his thing anymore.
“I can’t get back into it,” Robertson laughs. “Even when I’m out catching fish I can’t figure out what I saw in it all the years I liked it. But I guess a person changes.”
Robertson was born in Narrows in 1951. After high school graduation he enlisted in the military. Five months later, he landed in Vietnam for what turned out to be a 26-month stay.
When he was young, all Robertson wanted to do was get out of small-town Narrows. “There was nothing to do,” he reflects. After Vietnam, he returned to the states and battled a noxious relationship with alcohol for
nearly 10 years. He settled into a job at Celanese Corporation in 1972 and retired six years ago after 41 years of employment.
“Whenever I felt I had to have a drink or a cigarette, I’d run up the mountain,” Robertson remembers. To fortify sobriety, he dove into the outdoor recreation. He started mountain biking, trail running, paddling and rock climbing. “Then I realized I lived in paradise my whole life and didn’t know it!”
Life in the outdoors became Robertson’s new relationship. Now he is somewhat of a mountain man hero, known for his profound knowledge of the local landscape and his passion for its care and upkeep, something he started entirely on his own in the early ‘80s.
“When I first started clearing the trails around Mill Creek, the forest service actually threatened arrest,” Robertson chuckles. But he cunningly affirms that he never built new trails, he merely kept the brush cleared away from existing log roads so bikers, hikers and runners alike could gain access. All he used was a saw. More than 20 years after Robertson began forest vigilantism, Giles County started to take interest in outdoor recreation as well. Official permission from the forest service followed shortly thereafter, and the creation of the first sanctioned map of Robertson’s Mill Creek trail system was released.
“An individual cannot get anything done. You have to be part of group. If it’s part of local government it’s even better,” Robertson states.
The tourism committee in Giles County began meeting informally in the early 2000s and immediately understood the gift they had in Robertson. “I contribute what I can, river knowledge and stuff like that,” he humbly remarks. “Anything they need me to do, I’m glad to do it. That’s more or less my passion.”
“He’s not only a wonderful stakeholder, but he’s a user of outdoor recreation and community assets. If something is on his mind, it probably means we should also be paying attention,” Cora Gnegy, Giles County’s tourism marketing director, offers.
Susan Kidd, director of strategic development in Narrows adds: “Local folks can identify with him and what he is saying. Sometimes there is suspicion when ‘outsiders’ try to tell locals how to care of their own home area. People respect his opinion.”
Robertson has paddled the famed Gauley River and through the turbulent New River Gorge. He’s paddled all of the New River and most of its tributaries, from near Boone, NC, to the Gauley Bridge. He’s walked 800+ miles of the Appalachian Trail, all of Virginia and Maryland, much of Pennsylvania and sections in North Carolina and Tennessee. He met his wife mountain biking at Pandapas Pond and recalls how he wrecked in the creek “right in front of her!” on the day they met.
He currently manages a 7.2- mile section the Mary Ingles Trail from Glen Lyn Park to the West Virginia border. He belongs to the Outdoor Club at Virginia Tech and leads curiosity seekers on spelunking missions into the old 1930s commercial cave in Narrows, rigging up a 40-foot ladder system and putting folks on belay.
He has recently been asked to share his knowledge for “Watershed Stories,” a digital storytelling project that will capture the stories of local individuals who have or have had a relationship to the New River. The effort is a partnership between the New River Valley Regional Commission, the New River Watershed Roundtable, Virginia Tech’s Oral Historian and the Virginia Tech Philosophy Department.
Robertson is paramount in community meetings, revitalization projects and business plan development. He’s pitched the construction of a white water play wave through Narrows Falls for nearly 20 years and has even inquired about getting the area designated as state park. He dreams big and adventures bigger, aptly echoing Giles County’s tagline as Virginia’s Mountain Playground.
But for now, it’s back to Mill Creek Nature Park where he works a few hours here and there blazing a new trail to Sentinel Point. It will be close to 5 miles long with 1600 vertical feet and views of Pipestem Knob in West Virginia. The excitement in his voice for what this trail will mean for mountain bikers and trail runners is palpable.
“I don’t know when it’ll get finished. I’ll probably be so old I’ll need an e-bike to get there,” Robertson laughs.
Nancy S. Moseley is a freelance writer who took full advantage of Ralph’s expertise to plot out her next mountain biking adventure.
Hogs 4 Hokies Annual Spirit Ride April 25
Avid Harley-Davidson riders take off simultaneously from northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton and meet at VT’s drillfield in Blacksburg. The cost to ride is a $32 donation. All funds go to Virginia Tech Foundation’s “32 Named Memorial Endowments Fund” that benefits deserving students seeking to attend Virginia Tech. www.hogs4hokies.org
City of Radford Unveils New Logo
After nearly a year of rebranding efforts, the City of Radford is ready to roll out a new logo. The symbol will be visible on roadway signs and eventually on city vehicles and buildings. The graphics include a stylized representation of Ingles Mountain and waves of the New River. The goal is to inspire economic development and cultivate a sense of unity and excitement for those who live, work and visit Radford.
National Women’s Day – March 8
New River Valley Magazine would like to give a shout-out to all female business owners for their steadfast determination and dedication to keeping everyday life in the NRV movin’ and shakin’.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
March 17 is a global celebration of Irish culture named after one of Ireland’s patron saints who ministered Christianity in 5th century Ireland. A number of communities commemorate the day with a parade and area Macado’s restaurants serve up their traditional green beer. www. nextthreedays.com
New Art Installation
More than 50 pieces of art by international painter and sculptor Dorothy Gillespie (d. 2012) will be installed throughout the City of Radford. Gillespie grew up in Roanoke and was fundamental in the creation of Radford University’s permanent art collection. The exhibit, featuring brightly colored, enamel-painted aluminum sculptures, will be on view through June. www.VisitRadford.com/ArtTrail
BLACKSBURG
FORK & CORK
FOOD WINE & ART FESTIVAL
SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2020 1-6 PM 12 pm early access for premium ticketholders
