Max Goes Camping

 September 4-7, 2026
Fair Hill, MD

It has been a whirlwind year even by my standards. Mike and I have certainly traveled plenty and done a lot, but one thing we didn't get around to was pleasure camping. When Max entered the picture, I hoped that would change. 

Labor Day weekend provided the perfect backdrop for Max's first camping trip.

I chose Fair Hill because there are hot showers for the humans and stalls for the horses. Plus it's a short drive for us. I knew Max was capable of hanging out in a stall for a few days, even if being stalled is not his favorite thing. This would be the perfect evaluation.

Mike was also excited to go to Fair Hill because of nearby Valhalla Brewing. We were both pretty distraught to learn that the brewery has permanently closed its doors since our last visit. Bummer. 

Originally, Hannah and her husband were the only ones planning to join us. It then turned out that Sandy was planning to be there the same weekend because she's hosting a NACMO ride at Fair Hill at the end of October. She was looking to scout out some trail and do some pre-ride planning. 

Obviously, this turned into a group event. 

Day 1- Friday

We managed to get on the road from Hannah's around 1:30pm. While Hannah's is objectively a huge upgrade for me on every level, I'm still getting used to it being half an hour in the "wrong" direction from me. 

Without traffic and a horse trailer, Fair Hill is about two hours from Hannah's. On this day, however, the weekend traffic was really stacked against us. 

Mike and I took separate vehicles so we'd have a truck unhooked for convenience. Sandy left at about the same time we did and I chatted with her a lot of the way down. 

While I know the way to Fair Hill International once I'm off the highway, I can never remember which exit goes "my way". Usually, Mike drives and I navigate and override the GPS. Since I was the one behind the wheel this time, I didn't have the option to scroll on my phone.

Instead, I took Sandy's advice and just followed the signs for Fair Hill. Of course, I got there just fine and the route was perfectly trailer friendly. Still, I decided that my way is definitely more straightforward and faster. I now know it's the exit without the signs. 

Whatevs, it's good to have options.

I was delighted to see that our usual spot was wide open despite the fact that the barns were hoppin' that weekend. We had our usual corner completely to ourselves. As the first to arrive, Mike and I got our choice of parking.

I got the critters unloaded and threw Max on the Hi Tie. As usual, he took a quick look around and decided he was content to eat grass and chill. 

After this weekend, I have no doubt he would happily hang out on a high line indefinitely. (Another nod to his polo-playing background.) 

He also made very smart choices while on the Hi Tie and quickly figured out how to lay down and even roll safely. Clever boy!

No cares in the world.

Probably wondering what insanity I've gotten up to now.

Sandy arrived about 20 minutes behind us. I noticed that she stopped in front of the barn for several minutes before joining us at the bottom of the hill.

She texted me, "Ummmm...." For a moment, I thought she didn't see us, which seemed impossible. 

It turns out there was a fox hanging out in one of the stalls. I'll give you one guess as to whose stall the fox was in.

Mine. Of course.

I chose to take this as a good omen. 

It wasn't long before we had everything set up and were settled in. It felt good to just relax. I was very overdue.

Why yes I did purchase this double chair specifically for my dog's comfort. Why do you ask?

Hannah and Amol weren't set to hit the road until 4:30pm. Sandy and I decided to head out for a short ride that evening to let the horses stretch their legs. 

We followed the driveway out of camp and across the way to the orange loop. 

I left Max's hind boots off. I figured it would be a short jaunt mostly on gravel. I had ordered multi purpose gaiters for the Scoots, but they hadn't arrived in time for our trip. They were minor, but Max did get some rubs setting up NACMO. I knew we'd put in a lot of mileage over the course of the camping trip and wanted to give him one more day without boots. 

It turns out a lot of the trail we did on Friday night featured rocks and gravel. I felt bad about Max's bare hind feet. He definitely stepped gingerly in a few places. Sorry, bub!

When we reached the open, rolling fields behind the training center, we couldn't resist a good canter. Max was very well behaved even when Tot pulled away from him. 

We'd done a little bit of dressage schooling in the previous week and it was definitely paying off. By the end of the weekend, Max's canter had improved in leaps and bounds. He is quickly learning how to carry himself across terrain in a more balanced fashion. 

Partway through our ride, Mike texted to let us know that Hannah and Amol had arrived. Sandy and I made as much of a beeline as we could back towards camp. Unfortunately, this involved a lot of gravel road. Sorry, Maxwell! We were able to walk in the grassy shoulder for some of it, but I promised Max I wouldn't skip the hoof protection for the rest of our stay. 

The ride back was a real treat. The evening featured an incredible sunset and the woods were full of thrushes serenading us as we rode beneath the darkening sky. It was magical and I felt like I finally exhaled for the first time all summer.

Sandy and I wound up doing 5.32 miles in a little under two hours. It was the perfect kick off to a weekend of riding.

Back in camp, the horses got nighttime baths before going back on the Hi Ties to graze until bed time. We did have an unfortunate incident in which Merlin rolled into the side of Mike's brand new truck. Thankfully, the damage is minimal, but the first ding always hurts the worst.

While the horses nibbled on grass and hay at the trailers, the humans had a delicious feast around the fire. This included roasting kielbasa and other snackables. Sandy also made an incredible lentil salad. It felt good to be doing our favorite thing.

Bonnie in her glow collar.

That night we all tucked the ponies into their stalls before heading up to shower before bed. It was a sticky night and I was glad to rinse clean. 

Goodnight, Maxi.

Unfortunately, the temperatures didn't drop until late into the night and it was very hot in the trailer. 

The connection to our battery wasn't right on the first night so the trailer fans didn't work. Neither one of us felt like climbing back out of the gooseneck so we slept to the quiet hum of the portable DeWalt fans instead.

Our little corner of camp.

Day 2- Saturday

The next morning got off to a leisurely start. Sandy was meeting with a lady named Janet who is helping her with the orienteering ride. 

The rest of us rolled out of bed and checked the horses. 

I'd been a little worried about how Max would fare in the stall over night. It was the first time he'd been captive in a stall since I brought him home. 

Unfortunately, after a long time without meaningful turn out, Max does weave if he's contained for too long. He's on 24 hour turn out so it's not a problem at home, but I was mindful that the closed-front stalls at Fair Hill might be triggering. 

While there definitely was some weaving over the course of the weekend, I was pretty pleased with how well Max settled in. It seemed that having a friend on each side helped comfort him. Plus I think there was enough activity to keep his mind busy. That combined with the regular exercise over the course of four days did the trick. 

On the first night, Max didn't eat much of his hay, but by the end of the second day he resumed his regularly scheduled vacuum duties. 

That morning, we got to meet our neighbors for the weekend. It turns out the Our Lady's Manor Driving Club out of Monkton, MD was on a two week stint at the stables. They were so bubbly and welcoming and we spent a lot of time chatting with them over the course of the weekend. I even got a crash course in the proper way to hitch a pair. This is knowledge that is going in the vault for the future. 

When Sandy got back from her expedition with Janet, the group of us had what I am now calling elevated breakfast. While our camping fare is always top notch, this weekend set the bar.

We had cheesy eggs with fresh steak, a side of beef bacon, loads of muffins and other baked goods, and bagels which we made boujie with the addition of lox. It's honestly a miracle we can move enough to get on our horses after our morning feasts.

Fancy breakfast. And don't worry... a certain someone had her share.

Hannah brought Guppy for her first camping trip.

The rest of the morning was spent generally lounging about. We walked and grazed the horses and put them back out on the grass.  

Bonnie surveys her expansive domain.

Max has really been enjoying the option to roll.

Mike and Bonnie spent some time bonding over the weekend.

Around noon, we collectively decided to go for a ride. This ride wound up being 8.61 miles in about three hours.

This was only Hannah's second time at Fair Hill and she hadn't done the orange loop previously. Orange is the loop I'm least familiar with and the trail Sandy has a permit for this month. It made sense to go out that way again.

This time I booted Max behind. The difference was night and day and he moved with confidence all afternoon.

I won't recap every step of the ride in painstaking detail, but there were many highlights.

Early on, we spotted a lane that seemed to lead straight over the horizon. It was too good to resist and we had a great canter that seemed to lead us right into the sky. 

An invitation to a detour.

Looking back down the way we came.

The weather was perfect.

The first portion of the ride overlapped the section Sandy and I had ridden on Friday, but it wasn't long before we were in the woods and on trail that I haven't ridden in recent years. While I have done most of the Fair Hill trails either pleasure camping or competing, it has been long enough that they felt new again. 

Melissa was originally supposed to join us on this trip, but she had truck trouble the morning of our departure and had to stay home. As we wound our way along the rise above the river, our conversation drifted to peeps and marshmallows. Melissa always provides the s'more supplies and we found ourselves missing her company. 

The trail eventually took us down to the covered bridge. This is another spot I haven't been to in a long time. (I tried to look it up and I think my last time at the bridge was pre-pandemic!) 

I was surprised to see that the bridge is in a state of disrepair. It made me feel old in that moment.

Of course we had to pause and let the horses splash around in the river.

Checking off some of my favorite places with the new kid.

From there we rode past the Nature Center, where we read the informative signs, learned about birds, and spotted fascinating local flora.

Max expands his knowledge base.

You're a common buttonbush...

From there it was back into the woods for a while.

Max is very scent-oriented and spent a lot of time with his nose to the ground, tracking like a dog. This amuses me greatly.

Much sniffing.

Along the way we went over a bridge at the top of a steep hill. I vaguely remember this bridge from my endurance riding days and I was grateful to see it has railings now.

Bridge visible in the top right.

We saw many more fascinating things while we rode. One thing that caught our eye was a branch that was covered in tiny white insects that appeared to be dancing. It gave the illusion that the whole branch was vibrating. 

It turns out these are beech woolly aphids, also known as boogie woogie bugs. I did get a video, but this one I found on YouTube is way better.

Unfortunately, a big tree came down on the orange trail and we couldn't get over, under, or around. It was a dead end. 

Luckily, we weren't far from a trail intersection and we backtracked and rode through the fields instead.

Eventually we crossed the Telegraph Road bridge back to familiar turf.

Fair Hill can be a challenge with its variety of bridges, but Max didn't have a care in the world.

From here, it made sense to go down to Gallaher Road and go through the tunnel. While I've been through the tunnels more times than I can count on a variety of horses, it turns out this was a first for all three of our mounts. 

It also turns out that they are the very best ponies and did not care at all.

Tot's first tunnel.

Max's first tunnel.

Merlin's first tunnel.

At about this time, we all agreed we were ready to head back to camp for more snacks. We took the shortest route back across the cross country course and down Foxcatcher Road.

We got the horses bathed and put away, and fed them lunch.

The rest of our afternoon was spent painting gnomes and eating delicious food.

There were perfectly seasoned chicken thighs and steak, plus hot dogs and plenty of snacks.

I wish I had a picture of the gnomes I painted. Not because they were good. Because they were hilarious. 

Sandy and her broken knife of sadness.

Eventually we lost the light, which meant it was time for Max's first official night ride! At the last minute, I decided the best way to celebrate this milestone was by leaving my saddle out of it. We did the three miles and change bareback!

Sandy also ditched her saddle. 

The night ride was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. Max was perfect, which was no surprise. While the covered bridge falling to pieces made me feel old, gallivanting bareback under a star strewn sky made me feel young again. 

We went around the pond, through the cross country course, and back in the way we'd come earlier. I'm glad we had just done this trail in the daylight because I forgot just how dark it gets at night. 

It was pitch black and we couldn't even see our hands in front of our faces. Sometimes we could catch a glimpse of Tot's white markings if the trees thinned, but mostly we were riding blind. Riding through the creek crossing was a little unnerving, but the horses had it under control. 

Photo of the weekend for me! Sandy and Tot above the pond.

Proof of night ride.

While Amol and Sandy went to bed early, Hannah, Mike, and I stayed up late roasting more meats over the fire and melting Babybels to chase them down with.

Eventually it was time to tuck the ponies in, take our daily showers, and crawl into bed. Thankfully, it was much cooler the second night and I think we all slept soundly.

Day 3- Sunday

By the third day of our trip, I felt like I had truly relaxed. We started the day off with more lounging about and delicious breakfast foods. There was also more chatting with the delightful folks from the driving club. 

Bonnie had the time of her life camping.

Another day in paradise.

Around 11am we headed out for our final group ride for the weekend. This ended up being our longest ride at 9.87 miles in three and a half hours.

Surprisingly, I took almost no photos on this ride.

We did the red loop, which is a favorite of mine. Of course, I made Max put his feet up on the stepping stones, as is tradition.

Tot shows Max how it's done.

At the Gallaher Road day parking, we ran into a large group of riders. Max definitely noticed the influx of horses, but remained his gentlemanly self. 

We rode past the landmark ruins and opted to take the purple trail.

There wasn't much to look at or report on this trail, but when we popped out in the field at the end, I realized that one of Max's hind boots was missing. Of course, he was wearing a brand new pair. It's the first time he has thrown one, so I guess we were due. They aren't cheap so we back tracked all the way to the bridge crossing.

Unfortunately, we had no luck finding the boot, but Max was moving well without it. I decided I'd come back later and give it another try, and we moved on with our ride.

There was lots of talk about empress/princess trees.

We took the long way back across Telegraph Road and arrived at the trailers in the mid afternoon. 

The ponies got bathed and I noted that Max seemed to be gaining weight on our trip despite being ridden more than usual. 

Shortly after we got back, Hannah and Amol hit the road. They both had work obligations the following day (boooo!) Sandy stuck around for a little bit after that, but she also had to get home Sunday night.

I was a little worried about how Max would react to being the only horse left. I expected some calling and some weaving. I told Mike that I'd give him an hour to settle down, but that if he wasn't handling it well, we could cut our weekend short and take him home.

I was pleasantly surprised when Max gave a few sad whinnies then went right back to eating his hay. I suspect he was a little tired from our ride, which probably took the edge off. Plus he was able to see other horses coming and going even after our friends left. 

Mike and I decided to stay.

Mike filled me in on his day, which included a little exploratory hike with Bonnie. This is the first time he's taken her for an off leash walk away from home by himself.

Happy girl.

Around 6pm, I opted to take Max for a solo sunset ride. We did three and a half miles in about 45 minutes. 

We started out along the racetrack and then hit the cross country course.

Right off the bat, I let out into a little hand gallop.

We alternated walking and trotting as we made our way around the fields. Max was really starting to soften and carry himself nicely while we moved out. 

The sky was turning a lovely shade of pink with cotton candy clouds on the horizon. It promised to be a beautiful evening.

The iconic Fair Hill wall.

Surveying his domain.

At the top of the hill we found an inviting little water complex. I spent several minutes playing with that. Max was hesitant to go in at first, but was easily convinced to give it a try. After a few repetitions, we worked our way up to trotting through the water. I think we were both having fun!

Darkness fell quickly while we were out, and we returned as the last of the light faded from the sky.

While riding down Foxcatcher Road, we got passed by a pair of e-bikes flying the other way with headlights on. 

I knew Max and I were basically invisible in the twilight. I called out a greeting, but I don't think they heard me since they kept coming without slowing down. 

I braced for a spook, but it never came. Max just paused and watched them go by, then reached around for a cookie. He had definitely earned one! 

I really enjoyed this ride. I felt like Max and I were romping around together and the whole mood was playful and fun. It's rare I can really appreciate a ride in the moment, but this was one of those rides.

I also enjoyed the campfire with just Mike and me that night. We were working hard to finish all the leftover camping snacks, which made for a delicious evening. 

It got downright chilly that night. I was thrilled to bundle up and huddle close to the fire. Following a nice, hot shower, I fell happily into bed and had a great night's sleep before our final day.

Day 4- Monday (Labor Day)

Mike and I slept in then enjoyed our morning bagels and coffee. Bonnie was starting to slow down a little after four days of having free rein of the campsite.

Max had finished every last scrap of hay, grain, and alfalfa in his stall, and I half-stripped it before taking him out to graze and putting him on the Hi Tie.

Max seemed content and perky so I decided to take him for one more solo ride. 

This one ended up being seven and a half miles per my Garmin watch (over nine miles according to AllTrails, but I think that was a glitch due to lack of cell service). We did it in two hours, so significantly faster than we'd been riding the previous days.

This was both our longest and fastest solo ride and Max felt like a million bucks. He was happy to be out and eager to go. If he noticed that our friends hadn't joined us, he didn't say anything.

We headed out the front of camp, the opposite of what we'd been doing all weekend. Early on, a huge tree fell in the forest nearby. I jumped out of my skin, but Max didn't react. 

In the fields, we spotted a pair driving a carriage in the distance. It was a beautiful sight that made me ache to be back in a cart.

As luck would have it, our paths crossed with this carriage again a short time later. We happened to be going in the same direction, so I tucked in behind them and followed along for a little while. I was very pleased when Max did not react at all to the driving horses. So many horses get spooked by carriages initially. 

Little did Max know what I have planned for his future...

We wound up following the carriage through the tunnel and past the Gallaher Road lot.

Eventually we split off. The drivers carried on down the carriage trail while Max and I veered left to retrace our steps up the purple trail.

This intersection featured a carriage, an excavator, bicycles, e-bikes, a stroller, and several dogs. Max didn't mind any of it.

I kept my eyes peeled for our missing boot, but had no luck finding it. Luckily, my trailer is full of spare everythings so Max had another boot on behind. 

After failing to find our boot, I decided to hit some trail we hadn't done that weekend yet. I followed purple to yellow and turned right, heading towards the river. This was a lovely stretch I haven't been on in a long time.

At the river, the trail crossed a rather sketchy-looking but very solid bridge. I plopped Max into the water for a quick drink and my eye caught movement near the bank. We had startled a water snake and it swam to safety, eventually coiling at the bottom of the river, where it held its breath for a very long time.

Snek.

View of the bridge.

Riding across said bridge.

Here we joined the blue trail. While I was tempted to keep making my way out to explore, I didn't want to overdo it so we stuck to the river trail. There was plenty of trotting along the way.

That took us to the main bridge that serves as a mental landmark for me. There was another water break and another bridge crossing before I hooked right to follow the field trails instead of the gravel road.

In the fields along Gallaher Road, I picked up a canter, then rolled into a gallop. The footing was good with a slight uphill grade, and we had the whole place to ourselves. I couldn't resist hitting the gas a little bit. 

Max was on a loose rein and was stretching nicely into the bridle as we covered ground. It felt effortless, but when I glanced at my watch, I realized we were cruising at 16mph. I didn't feel a need to push it any more than that at the tail end of a busy weekend, but it's good to know the potential is in there. 

There is very little that a good gallop won't cure, and I walked away from the fields feeling like I was on top of the world.

I felt like I couldn't ask for any more out of the weekend so I started to make my way back to camp the most direct way possible. 

At the tunnel, I spotted a group of people rolling down the hill on the other side. That did get a head raise out of Max, but I think only because they disappeared from view as they reached the bottom of the hill. He seemed curious rather than alarmed.

We wound up stopping to say hello and the people were very friendly. I handed out cookies for them to feed Max and they were absolutely delighted. Max left the interaction with a full fan club trailing in his wake. I suspect he's going to be an excellent horsey ambassador.

One last tunnel.

We did some final trot and canter sets in the cross country field before walking in down Foxcatcher Road. Along the way, we witnessed a murder when a large hawk dismembered a blue jay. The forest was full of angry blue jay cries from other birds, and Max's ears flicked back and forth.

"You're not wrong, bud. That was pretty brutal," I told him with a pat.

We stopped at the water crossing to drink before taking one final detour through the woods and back to camp. 

Mike had already packed many of our belongings, but we made time for lunch before wrapping things up. The sandwiches we made really hit the spot and gave me fuel to finish cleaning Max's stall while he happily munched hay at the trailer. 

I had a pretty good chuckle when Max tried to self load into the trailer while on the Hi Tie. The butt bar stopped him and he looked disappointed. I guess he was ready to go home.

Before I knew it, our first camping adventure was over and we were taking our little caravan homeward. Thankfully, the traffic on the way home was much better than on the way down and we made excellent time. 

Max seemed surprised and pleased when we arrived back at Hannah's. 

Hannah's older quarter horse stallion, Skippy, was assigned babysitting duty while we were away. While I thought Skippy & Chippy was adorable, I'm pretty sure Skippy did not sign up for being pounced on by an overly enthusiastic two year old Morgan for four days. He practically haltered himself when he saw me coming down to retrieve him. 

I put Max back in his pasture, promising him a week off for his troubles. He drank deeply, had a good roll, bit Chip in the butt, and wandered off to graze. 

Overall, our first camping trip was a huge success. I found myself feeling excited for future adventures. Max had done close to 40 miles over the course of the weekend. He felt surprisingly fit. I do think he was a little tired at the end of the trip, but he wasn't admitting it. 

It's hard to believe I'd only had Max for two months at that point. He had certainly checked all the boxes, and then some. I went into the weekend hoping he would be a good camping horse and came home feeling like we'd been doing this together for years. Somewhere between the long rides, lazy afternoons, and gallops through open fields, I realized just how much I'd needed this trip. I arrived overdue for a break and left feeling like myself again. Best of all, I had a horse who seemed just as excited as I was to find out what was around the next bend.