Countdown to the Derby: Horse Riding at Little Creek Farm Conservancy
Before leaving for the Kentucky Derby it is best to have ridden a horse.
- photo compliments of author
We wouldn’t dream of hoofing it to Churchill Downs without first becoming acquainted with the horses. Amy was already familiar, having ridden in the hunter-jumper seat from a very young age. Laura’s experience with equines was limited to flat-palming apple slices to foals at 4H fairs.
Naturally the two of us saddled up at the Little Creek Farm and Conservancy off of Lawrenceville Highway to take a gander at their grounds and consult with Dana McDaniel one of the three resident instructors. Founded in 2004, the conservancy is a 40-acre farm home to over 40 privately owned horses. Steeped in Southern history, the land has played host to less welcome horsemen, as well - General Stoneman’s Union Calvary once recouped there before marching toward the Battle of Atlanta. After a brief stint as a dairy farm in the 1920’s, the land returned to the horses in 1958 and has remained faithful to them ever since.