Montanova Stables
Farm Open: 10:00-4:00
Farrier Chris Beaulieu Demonstration :10:00-1:00
The Belvoir Cemetery Open to Visitors: 10:00-4:00
Drill Team Exhibitions: 12:00, 1:30 & 3:00
Farmington Beagles :12:00
Farrier Chris Beaulieu Demonstration :10:00-1:00
The Belvoir Cemetery Open to Visitors: 10:00-4:00
Drill Team Exhibitions: 12:00, 1:30 & 3:00
Farmington Beagles :12:00
Montanova Stables Foundation is located on Stony Point Pass in the Heart of the Keswick area. The farm features 45 acres of paddocks, access to trails, a sand riding ring with an adjacent “jumping field,” and a beautiful 16-stall barn.
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Montanova Stables has been teaching horseback riding to children and adults in the Keswick area since 1996.
The Foundation’s after-school program and weeklong summer camps benefit children from a variety of backgrounds, helping them to develop valuable life skills such as patience, trust, responsibility, and a strong work ethic. Students gain a valuable sense of accomplishment and increased self-confidence as they learn to ride and care for horses.
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The Foundation is one of the many organizations that have received financial support from Farm Tour proceeds.
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The Belvoir Cemetery Open to Visitors: 10:00-4:00
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The family cemetery at Belvoir, which is now owned by Mary Walker, is accessed through Montanova Stables. At Montanova, Farm Tour visitors may watch a farrier’s demonstration from 10 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., see twin sisters Lise Pratt and Marcy Burke demonstrate dog agility training, enjoy watching riding lessons, and see horses, ponies, goats and chickens. Prominent figures who are interred at Belvoir’s cemetery include Dr. Walker, Col. Walker, Eliza Kinloch, Hugh Nelson and Thomas Warner Meriwether. In his 1898 treatise Historic Homes of the South-West Mountains of Virginia, Edward C. Mead described the “old Belvoir burying-ground, where so many of the Meriwethers, Walkers and Nelsons lie,” and he observed that “the stately tower of Grace Church rises just opposite old Belvoir as a silent witness to the faith of those who sleep in these tombs…”
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Drill Team Exhibitions: 12:00, 1:30 & 3:00
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The Montanova Stables Foundation Drill Team is pattern-based. They learn precision riding, teamwork, leadership and mounted accuracy with horses and ponies. These riders work to improve horsemanship skills while incorporating increasingly difficult maneuvers and exercises to form a mounted drill team put to music. The MSF Drill Team strongly supports sportsmanship among these dedicated riders as they bring you a musical performance.
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Farrier Chris Beaulieu Demonstration :10:00-1:00
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Farmington Beagles :12:00
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During the Farm Tour, the Farmington Beagles will demonstrate the sport of beagling at Fruitlands. The pack consists of roughly 30 beagles that hunt primarily in the western portion of Albemarle County, in Louisa County, and further afield by invitation.
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