Assuming the weather turns out reasonable, a friend of mine and I talked about going out there this weekend. I’ve never been but she’s from Aiken so she’s been a bunch and knows the trails.
Anyone else been? Any tips or things I ought to know ahead of time? I’m given to understand that the only place to take trailers is the Stable on the Woods. Is there ever a problem with it filling up on weekends?
Thanks!
My only advice is that it’s better to take a fitter horse than an unfit one. The woods are fabulous! Some of the tracks are deep footing and harder on the unfit ponies - there are a myriad of great trails that span from easy to difficult even for the fittest of horses. I find the trails closest to the training track and the brook are the best.
Make sure you pack lots of water! Mine were always very sweaty and thirsty after an outing.
Thanks!
We’re not seriously fit yet, but we’ve been working up and we’re planning on being mostly a mosey for the first time out. My friend was like, “yeah, you don’t want to come out with my eventer/foxhunting friends, their “breaks” are waiting for everybody to go over a jump!” 
So after the ice storm, it looks like nobody’s riding in Hitchcock Woods for a bit, they put out a notice for riders to stay off the trails due to all the downed tree limbs and things and that it’d be dangerous until they get cleaned up. 
.
If you can go once the weather clears up, it’s AWESOME!! A zillion years ago I spent my winters in Aiken and one of the whipper in’s for the Aiken Hunt (is that the right term?) worked as a groom at the same barn as I. We’d take afew of his proven field hunters and go through Hitchcock Woods on our days off (I guess because we didn’t ride enough during our usual 6 day work week…:rolleyes:)
Especially fun is Cathedral Aisle…a long, grassy stretch with a series of about 6 brush jumps. There we’d play “steeple chase”…line up and go off like shots at a full gallop, taking each jump in turn!
Damn, that sure was fun…
That evokes great memories, Kyzteke. I loved Cathedral Aisle.
Hitchcock Woods is amazing. One could ride for years and never cover all the trails (spoken as one who knows). One needn’t worry about it “filling up.”
I loved Cathedral Aisle!
I have one picture, very treasured, of my late guy in the brook at Hitchcock Woods, right after the bridge. The lighting after 2pm really changes everything - riding right before dusk is my favorite time.
https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1/537608_10151188839592643_941768056_n.jpg
The picture doesn’t even capture how glittery and gold everything seemed!
I wonder how long it will take them to clean up? I imagine not too long, HCW is a HUGE spot for trainers, hunts, tourists, joggers, race track trainers, etc.
[QUOTE=beowulf;7438733]
I loved Cathedral Aisle!
I have one picture, very treasured, of my late guy in the brook at Hitchcock Woods, right after the bridge. The lighting after 2pm really changes everything - riding right before dusk is my favorite time.
https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1/537608_10151188839592643_941768056_n.jpg
The picture doesn’t even capture how glittery and gold everything seemed!
I wonder how long it will take them to clean up? I imagine not too long, HCW is a HUGE spot for trainers, hunts, tourists, joggers, race track trainers, etc.[/QUOTE]
Beautiful pic. Back when I was there we didn’t see many eventers and nobody was jogging back then, but plenty of folks keeping their field hunters fit and all us no-good trackers, messing around on our off days.
I’m so glad to hear it’s still there and not turned into a subdivision or something…haven’t seen it in (almost) 40 yrs…:o
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