Buck 'N Horse Campground
Rumney. New Hampshire
Google Maps failed us again by saying the campground was sooner than it was on Brock Road and on the wrong side of the street, but we took a chance and continued down the road after Google told us we had already arrived.
We had full hook-up, but getting into the campsite was a bit of a challenge. We had to turn around at the end of the camp and it was tight, but we slithered into our spot. No picnic table, but a fire ring. Winegard worked fine on the Winegard SIM card, but no cell service at all. $50/night.
The horses got electric fenced off paddocks. They were good sized, but the electrical tape was saggy and loose. Before we started camping with our horses, we experimented at our barn with different methods of containing them. We tried hobbles and discovered that if a horse really wants, it can actually run in hobbles. Hobbles are not a good idea when camping. We tried high lines, but both horses would get tangled up, wouldn’t be able to lie down, and in some trials actually managed to pull the high lines down. So, nope, high lines were not secure enough. We tried electrical fencing and found that while our horses would respect it, they also were fine walking over and under the electrical tape and if they were spooked, they would even run through it. This is why we landed on using our portable corrals. Our horses have never escaped from those corrals.
The morning after our arrival, I went out to feed the horses and let Ari sleep in a bit. As I stepped out of our trailer, I felt a horse’s soft nose on the back of my neck. I turned around and there was Lennox. He had escaped from his paddock and was waiting by the door for his breakfast.
I put him back in his paddock where he happily munched on his hay. I thought maybe he had gotten out the back of his paddock. I went around and tried to tighten up the tape as best as I could. Meanwhile, Mercutio appeared to be secure in his paddock.
Ari ended up replacing one of the posts that was bent and adding bale twine to areas where he thought the tape was too saggy.
It promised to be a rainy day, so we went into the town of Plymouth, NH, about 30 miles from the campground. This is a sweet college town.
We started the day with a yoga class at Satya Yoga. $17/person for a drop-in class. It was a really nice way to start the day.
We walked a bit through the downtown area and came across this interesting display of naked barbie dolls rock climbing.
It was located next to an altar. This might be where the college students come to make offerings prior to finals.
When we returned to the campground, both horses were secure, so we were feeling pretty good about the modifications Ari had done. Dave, our host, had given us this trail map, but we found it almost illegible. Luckily, our Gaia trail app showed most of the same trails. We resolved to ride to the abandoned mineral mine Dave recommended.
The trails were mostly two tracks and easy to follow, but the section up to the mine was a bit rocky. There is a lot of white ash trees and lovely scenery.
We rode past a beaver pond. You can see the beaver dam to the right of my face in the background.
There is a really pretty grotto at the mine.
We were leaving the next day, but at around 4 in the morning Ari woke me up saying he could hear Lennox had gotten out of his paddock again. He got up and tied Lennox to the trailer to secure him. Mercutio couldn’t see Lennox where he was tied up, so he started calling out to him to check to see if he was OK. So, Ari ended up pulling Mercutio out of his paddock and tying him next to Lennox. Then we went back to bed for a couple of hours. When we got up, we put them back in their paddocks so they could eat their breakfast. Ari says we should have just sucked it up and put up the portable corral to contain Lennox, but we will be using our corrals at the next few stops, regardless.