Many people love to ride in the Smoky Mountains; we have approximately 500 miles of horse trails in the Park, offering varied terrain. Some are old roads which used to run through the park land when it was inhabited, which are wide, and usually not steep. Many of these run along side the creeks. There are other narrower trails, which often act as connectors, which can be steep and rocky, but the horses seem to navigate them with no problems. There is some rim riding, not uncomfortably narrow, but these can easily be avoided. There are some wonderful views, especially in winter when the leaves are gone. In spring the flowers are incredible, in summer the leaf covering offers a wonderfully cool riding environment. Fall brings those great colors. We ride year long, as the Park does not permit hunting, but the weather offers summer temperatures that are seldom above 85, and winter days in the 50’s and 60’s, perfect. It is not necessary to trailer to the Park from our property; we can ride directly to the Thomas Divide trail head. With a trailer though, one can access thousands of miles more of incredible riding, from the DuPont Forest, to Biltmore, the National Forest Land, and other trail heads in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. For the person who prefers to stay on the property, we will shortly have a nice riding arena, and gentle trails throughout the property. We were lucky to find this property, which has unusually good pasture for the mountains. We have created a large parking area for trailers with easy access to the ring and the barn. Some of the individual home sites offer an area to keep your own horses, but in most cases, we have kept the best horse pasture land in the valley for everyone to enjoy. We have positioned the lots around this pasture, so all can enjoy the view over it, to the mountains beyond. The following is a guideline as to how we see the horses being cared for on the property, but as more horses and their owners join us, we anticipate that changes will happen.
- There are two possibilities for keeping your horses at The Settlement, in the central barn (limited to 2 horses per lot) with the easy access to the pasture, or on your own property. Many of the home sites have the space to put your own small barn and dry lot; a few have their own pasture. If you decide you would like to keep your horses on your own property, we also encourage you to create an area to park your trailer, so please keep this in mind as you select your home site. (Please see the First Amendment to the Covenants on the Web Site). Should you decide to keep your horses on your own property, the community pasture could be accessed for a small monthly rental fee.
- Every care will be taken to assure a safe environment for both horse and rider, and all horse owners and riders on the property will be asked to sign a Liability release form. It will be understood that all owners and riders are aware of the inherent risks of any equestrian endeavor, and will not hold Bryson City Horse Property LLC liable for any injury to horse or rider.
- We expect that very few owners in the community will keep their horses at the property year round. We are therefore expecting horses to come and go, which is why we have planned the central barn with a steel interior for easy cleaning. Any horse on the property for a short period of time will probably remain in the barn with a dry lot. All horses coming onto the property will need an up to date coggins certificate, record of shots, and up to date worming. Any horse on the property and using the pasture will need to be wormed with the general schedule set up by the barn manager. All horse owners will need to manage their own horse’s needs, though there will of course be co-ordination of vets and farriers as much as possible.
- The keeping of horses in the central facility, will be managed as much as is practical by the horse owners themselves. There will be a barn manager, either by vote, or by appointment. Carol Dilley is acting barn manager at this time. It will of course be necessary to work out feeding schedules, (currently we feed in the morning only around 8. 00 a.m.), however this can be changed by majority vote of horse owners. At some point in time some or all of these horse owners may choose to hire a manager, or simply someone to feed and muck stalls. They might choose to allow someone to run a teaching and training business at the facility, in return for managing the barn. They might choose to run events at the property to help support the cost of upkeep. Any events however would need to be approved by the Home Owner’s Association.
- The building of the barn and excavation for the arena is now in progress, and should be completed in November 2009. We are building a barn by Barn Masters, which can easily be expanded as needed. Initially we are building a 7 stall barn with a storage area. Each stall to be 12 x 12, with a fenced dry lot. Initially we will be using portable stalls for the outside dry lots, which will offer the option of using them as 8 outside stalls, with good shade for visitors. There will be a center aisle for grooming, and storage space for horse owner’s property, hay and bedding. The bathroom in the farm house will be accessible for the people using the barn.
- Pasture will be managed as necessary, to keep it green and attractive for all residents. The pasture fees will be used for this purpose. The next round of fencing will include the back pasture, and more divisions for the large middle pasture. It may be desirable to add run in shelters to different pastures depending on the wishes of future residents of the community. Presently all the horses, both mares and gelding are pastured together without problems. We are aware though, that in the future, as more horses arrive on the property, we will probably need separate pastures for mares and geldings. Care will always be taken as a new horse is added to minimize the possibility of injury. Stallions will never be allowed on the property. If a horse shows itself to be consistently aggressive to the others, it will be kept separately as space allows, or possibly invited to leave.
- Trailer Parking: we have set aside a large area to the right of the barn for trailer parking. It currently has electric and water hook ups for live in camper trailers as a way to invite people onto the property, and enjoy what we have to offer. This availability will depend on how many residents’ trailers are permanently parked in the area. We will always try to keep 3 to 4 power and water hook ups available for guests and residents, first come, first served. Visits may be limited to two weeks, according to demand. Mountain living offers many wonderful benefits, but space to park trailers is at a premium! We expect this parking area to be large enough to service the needs of the residents, as they come and go, but visitors of our home owners may need to park elsewhere. Should this be the case, there are many options around us, both for horse camping, and RV camping, and we will be up to date with all options.
- Current Fee schedule for residents (fees cannot go up more than 10% a year).
Pasture per month per horse $50.00, $25.00 per week.
Stall per month for residents $100.00, $50.00 per week, per night $15.00.
For visitors, with a limit of 2 consecutive weeks, and subject to availability:
Stall per night $25.00.
Outside stall per night $15.00.
Please clean all stalls before you leave.
These fees do not include bedding, feed or hay, these can be provided by owner, or bought
separately.
P.O. Box 965
Bryson City, NC 28713