Starting in Wyoming, we would meet equestrians who told us that we must stop at Fort Robinson - that this campground was the best in the country for horses.
Fort Robinson started as a US Cavalry station. It has a great deal of history. There are several buildings that are original to the fort, but most of the buildings are from the 1930s and later.
This was also a POW camp during WWII for German prisoners.
We started by putting the horses in the Mare Barn.
The stalls are teeny tiny 10 ft by 10 ft stalls. Very dark and the openings for the horses were so higher they had to stretch their necks to look out. The horses were not happy. One of the horses was screaming - he was so upset about his accommodations.
My great uncle, Samuel Gardener (nee Goldman), came to the United States when he was 8 around 1887. He lived in New York with his brothers, ran away from them when he was 12, and then enlisted in the US Cavalry when he was 16. He served during the 1918 War. He was a private, could barely read and write English. He fed the horses, mucked the stalls, and groomed the horses. Only officers were allowed to the ride the horses. The rest of the soldiers were infantrymen or working jobs on base like my uncle. My uncle said the Cavalry saved his life. The older soldiers taught him how to read and write, provided lessons in mathematics and history. After he was discharged, he was able to attend college and graduate as an engineer.
He worked in Company G. He told me all the horses in Company G had names that started with the letter G. He hated the horses. He said they were mean and would try to bite him any chance they got. This is why the stalls are constructed this way - to prevent the horses from biting the soldiers as they walked by. Also, horses weren't considered sentient beings back then. They were tools with no more feelings than a gun.
We looked for a better space for the horses and ended up putting them in this large pen behind the arena. The horses loved this pen. It had grass, was open, and they could move around.
Unfortunately, a ranger told us we were not allowed to leave our horses here and we needed to move them.
So, we moved the horses to the Brick Barn - this is one of the newer barns. The stalls are still 10 ft by 10 ft, but they are open so the horses can see each other and they have light.
Tacking the horses up next to the brick barn. There are no hitching posts! So, we ended up tying them to the fence. Normally, this is not a good idea.
The trails here are extensive. No way we can do them all, but we got a pretty good sense of the land.
Lots of equestrians bragged about riding the buttes, so we did go up and ride the top of the buttes. The views were amazing.
We also rode along the White River. I had hoped riding by the river would be shady and cool, but it was hot and very little cover.
It is almost 90 degrees every day here and it is early June. Other people are reporting rattle snake sightings. I can't imagine how hot it must be and the insects when it is August. One person told us she took 20 ticks off her horse.
The equestrian campground is really nice - although it is far from the Brick Barns. We have to load our tack into our truck and drive there. We have water and electric hook-up. Four of the campsites are full hook-up, but they were reserved. There is an RV dump at another campground, so we stopped there going in and will stop there again when we leave.
Ari has cell service. I do not.
There is a laundry room with one washer and one dryer, so we are waiting to do our laundry.
There is an indoor pool, but it appears to be a major magnet for kids, so we are passing. It is closed two days of the week as well.
There is a cafeteria serving fast food at amusement park prices.
There are two small museums on site as well.
There is a small grocery in town about three miles away and larger stores in Chadron, about thirty miles away.
We had three excellent trail rides here and while I don't think this is the Best Equestrian Campground in the entire country. It definitely is a very nice one.
