To the Blue Ridge

Well....she got me something that isn't even 500 words so we can make the pics big! I am attaching a Mud Bogging image she sent - it has an odd extension so I copied the link she sent below - but we need a steeplechase and maybe a Horse/Dog Show image. The March 2019 issue has a couple of nice steeplechase images on page 26 & 27 (I don't have the images in my files so I am assuming you got it from stock pics somewhere).

Aspate of relatively mild winters lacking any newsworthy snow or ice events (despite the networks’ best efforts to invent them) have also left us with mild mud seasons. None worthy of mention. But come on out to our sodden dirt roads and swollen creek beds in western Loudoun and Fauquier counties, we’re making up for lost time. Still, it is the COVID 19 pandemic, not the mud, that is putting the brakes on this year’s outdoor activities.

Dog and Pony Shows & Mud Bogging

and restrictions continue to affect what and how events can be held, some organizers are getting creative. Certain horse and dog shows are now holding online competitions with contestants videoing themselves and sending it in to be judged against other entrants in that division. The cyber judging is no different than at an actual event. And, you need not worry about getting a truck and/or trailer stuck in spring mud.

Now, if you happen to think getting muddy is fun, mud bog racing really is a thing and you can find them at Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Va., on the middle peninsula of the Rappahannock and York rivers). They offer six classes of racing, all run in an elimination format of pairs of drivers advancing toward a final. Other venues offer races for ATVs and even shoe leather runners can find extreme cross country events that incorporate mud into the course.

Racing over fences— Point to Points and Steeplechasing

Once the surest harbinger of spring in Virginia, last year most spring race meets were either cancelled or run with limited to no spectators. An abundance of caution dictated that hunt meets cancel or reschedule their March events again this year. The larger, late spring steeplechases are postponing theirs, with the hope later dates will allow some or their normal amount of spectators.

Horse racing as a national spectator sport fared better than many sporting events last year, since much of its revenue comes from parimutuel and online betting. But the small local point to points derive most of their income from admissions sales and without spectators, it costs too much to put these races on for no audience.

Locally, most of the small meets had to cancel last year as did the early meets this year. Without a clear policy direction on numbers and social distancing logistics for large outdoor gatherings, a few of the larger spring meets have been postponed and are hoping the later dates will accommodate spectators, too.

Foxfield Races near Charlottesville in April are cancelled for 2021, but the Middleburg Spring Races and Virginia Gold Cup have both been set for later dates. Middleburg Spring to May 1 and the Gold Cup, moves from the first Saturday in May to the 29th of that month.

Piedmont Point to Point

Photo by Nancy Milburn