Photo by Jean Van Der Meulen

By Julie Reardon

We know February is the month of love, but weather wise, it’s a bust more often than something to love. We can’t wait to get out of the house as it draws to an end.

It might not feel like spring yet, with no signs other than a lonely crocus or two straggling up through the snow. But there’s no surer harbinger than the Point-to- Point season, which opens March 1st. For true horse lovers, those suffering from cabin fever, and those looking for a country outing, there’s nothing like the first few race meets here in the hunt country. These early season races tend to be smaller, more informal affairs but there’s no shortage of equine talent as the country’s top steeplechasers as well as hot young prospects make their debut racing over fences after a winter layoff.

The Rappahannock Hunt Point-to-Point opens the season Saturday, March 1^st with their meet at The Hill in Boston, Virginia and concludes November 1st with the Montpelier Hunt Races at James Madison’s homestead in Montpelier Station. In between, six more spring Point-to-Points will be conducted — three of which feature a sprinkling of National Steeplechase Association (NSA) sanctioned jump races — in addition to six full NSA sanctioned jump meets.

Following Rappahannock’s kickoff event, the Point-to-Point schedule continues with the Warrenton Hunt meet March 15th at the Airlie Race Course, the Piedmont Fox Hounds Point-to-Point March 22nd at the Salem Course in Upperville, the Old Dominion Hounds meet April 5th at the Ben Venue Farm in Ben Venue, the Blue Ridge Hunt Meet April 12th at the Woodley Farm in Berryville, the Loudoun Hunt April 20th at Morven Park in Leesburg, and the Middleburg Hunt Point-to-Point April 27th at Glenwood Park. The first five races are on Saturdays and the last two fall on Sundays. Information on these meets can be found at centralentryoffice.com.

“We’ve had a good experience running sanctioned steeplechase races at the Old Dominion and Blue Ridge meets and will be adding the Loudoun Hunt Meet at Morven Park to the mix this year,” said NSA Director of Racing Bill Gallo. “We thought it would be good to reach out to Point-to-Point meets that were well established and had good racecourses that were safe to race over and give them a chance to expand their racing opportunities. We refer to them as hybrid meets now since they include regulated NSA sanctioned races and other races they traditionally have run that are not regulated. These mixed meets give Point-to-Points a bit more validity and substance.”

With millions in total purses, meets in 12 states, and millions of spectators, steeplechasing is big business. Some of the best horses and horsemen thoroughbred racing has to offer race over fences, and it all starts here in Virginia this month. This year, these horsemen and horsewomen have have taken a key role in sharing the wealth with horse and farm owners devastated by Hurricane Helene in Western NC and surrounds, in a move spearheaded by a local Fauquier County horsewoman named Rachel Bates, of Remington. She drove her truck pulling her large gooseneck horse trailer stuffed with hay, horse and dog feed and on arrival, realized it was just a drop in the bucket after seeing first-hand the utter devastation. Farm, livestock and horse owners had been hit particularly hard. A friend of Bates, Kelly Eden, who’d helped her, provided a tie to the NSA, and wheels started turning.

NSA immediately donated a $4,500 grant to get hay to horse owners and farmers in the stricken area, matched by the local Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation. The Virginia Equine Alliance donated, too. Edens said they started contacting area hay farmers and farm stores to mobilize a stronger supply chain, and momentum built. “We were able to get some discounts and a lot of donations. Steeplechase sent out notices and a lot of the hunts picked it up and started publicizing what was needed.”

Convoys of small, privately owned trailers loaded with a few donated items were soon joined by commercial haulers, tractor trailers filled with many tons of discount-purchased supplies – hay, horse feed and pet items, posts and wire, hammers and pocketknives. “You wouldn’t believe it if you saw it yourself,” said Bates. “These people lost everything. [A horse friend] lost some of her pets, her bridge, most of her fencing, most of her barns, tons of damage to her house. The farmers with all those gorgeous river bottom hayfields, the cropland, the pastureland they’d have cattle on during the summer months. They lost it all. The livestock, the fence. Their cropland is under a sea of toxic, contaminated mud and debris. Not only did they lose this year’s hay and corn crops, but it’ll be years, if ever, they get that land back. “Their tractors washed down river. Their pets drowned. Their cattle got swept away. It is like a war zone, and it’s not over yet. We’ve got to help them get through the winter.” She added that the need remains high. “I wanted people to be aware they can donate money earmarked for this (hurricane) fund through the charitable Gwathmey Foundation. Your donations are tax deductible.”