The benefits of horseback riding go beyond simply being outdoors surrounded by nature and breathing fresh air. Horseback riding is a fun activity that helps to improve overall health and fitness levels. Additionally, horseback riding helps improve your posture, your core muscles and overall muscle tone. Whether you're looking for riding lessons or a peaceful trail ride, you'll find a suitable riding stable in Newport News or the surrounding area.
Area
Newport News is located in southeastern Virginia, in the Tidewater region, on a peninsula between Chesapeake Bay and the James River. The city is part of the larger Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Area. The weather in this part of the country is temperate and seasonal, allowing outdoor activities to be enjoyed year-round. Tourists can enjoy visiting local attractions, including Lee Hall Mansion, one of the last antebellum homes on the Virginia Peninsula, the 18th-century Endview Plantation and the Virginia Living Museum, which showcases wild animals in their natural habitats.
Riding Lessons
Gentle Touch Stables in Hampton, Virginia, approximately 7 miles northeast of Newport News, provides English riding lessons for riders of all ages. Both private and group lessons are available, as well as preparation for the local and A-circuit Show Hunter circuit. Topline Horse Center, located in Yorktown, approximately 20 miles north of Newport News, is a full-service facility offering English riding lessons and hosts horse shows on a monthly basis to keep riders in top form.
Trail Rides
Stonehouse Stables offers guided horseback rides through the Williamsburg area countryside, less than 30 miles north of Newport News. The one-hour Lakewood Trail ride can be enjoyed year-round, following a private trail through fields and along a lake. If you're looking for a longer ride, Stonehouse Stable's York Trail ride is a three-hour ride that takes you through miles of bridle trails in York River State Park.
Public Access Trails
Within a 30-mile radius of Newport News, you'll find a number of public access trails open to horseback riding. In Chesapeake, 25 miles south of Newport News, the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail offers 8.5 miles of flat-terrain trails. Lone State Park in Suffolk, Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry and York River State Park in Williamsburg have equestrian trails. Newport News Park offers a 5.3-mile loop trail that connects to the Yorktown Battlefield trails.
Other Activities
You'll find numerous outdoor recreational opportunities in the area both on land and on the water. Newport News boasts more than 30 parks, including one of the largest municipal parks in the country, Newport News Park. This 8,000-acre park offers 30 miles of trails for biking and hiking, playgrounds, two 18-hole public golf courses, an archery range and mountain biking trails. You can rent canoes and rowboats at the park's campsite office, and fishing is permitted in two freshwater lakes. As well, you can explore preserved Civil War fortifications at this designated stop on the official Virginia Civil War Trails network.
References
- Exercise for Fitness: Try Horse Riding As a Fitness Aid
- Go Virginia: Newport News, Virginia Travel Guide
- Gentle Touch Stables
- Stonehouse Stables; Lakewood Trails
- Virginia Horse Council: Tidewater Section: Primary Horse Trails; Page 14
- Newport News: Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism: Newport News Park
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