Background Stories

  • Assateague Island National Seashore

    Maryland's Wild Horses

    Assateague “wild” horses are world famous. A book has been written about them and a movie, too. “Misty of Chincoteague” memorializes the ponies that live on this 48,000 acre barrier island along the Mid-Atlantic Coast. Some suggest the horses are … Continue reading

  • Glen Riddle Farm

    Home of Racing Legends Man o'War and War Admiral

    The Community of Glen Riddle was once the most important horse training center in the nation. Called hallowed ground by some, the greatest horses of the 20th century, Man o’ War and War Admiral, once galloped where golfers now play. … Continue reading

  • Calvin B. Taylor House Museum

    Historic Horse Displays

    Built in 1832, the restored home that houses the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum depicts life in the Village of Berlin in the early 1800’s. Named for the town citizen who founded a bank in 1890 that is still in … Continue reading

  • Ocean City Life Saving Station Museum

    Horses Vital for Early Rescue Efforts

    Before vacationers captured Maryland’s sandy beaches, life on the coast was harsh and treacherous. For 100 years since 1850, the lucrative business of pound fishing lined the shores of the Mid-Atlantic states. It was a hard life. No matter the … Continue reading

  • Ocean Downs Harness Racing

    Harness Racing by the Sea

    Ocean Downs In 2014, Ocean Downs celebrates its 65th anniversary as a harness racing venue, providing spectators horse racing different from Maryland’s traditional thoroughbred events such as the Preakness and the Maryland Million. This is fast and furious pacing or … Continue reading

  • The Atlantic Hotel

    Horses Transported Guests; Home of the town Livery Stable

    The Atlantic Hotel (circa 1895), one of Berlin’s historic treasures, is located in the center of the town’s Historic and Entertainment Districts. The hotel has been recently restored to its original Victorian era décor with 15 gracious and deluxe guest … Continue reading

  • Rackliffe Plantation

    Horses Worked on the Colonial Plantation

    Rackliffe House, overlooking Sinepuxent Bay and Assateague Island, takes us back to the 18th century. Built in the 1740s by Captain Charles Rackliffe on his 1700-acre plantation, the estate reveals the life of colonial seaside merchant-planters. Sinepuxent Bay was then … Continue reading

  • Union Station

    A stage coach stop & equine transport center

    Substantial plantations, most of them self-sufficient, surrounded the town of Berlin. Horses and oxen were used for hauling produce to shipping points and delivering manufactured products and supplies back from town to the plantations. Although other towns benefited from the … Continue reading

  • Wicomico Hunt Club

    Center for Eastern Shore Foxchasing

    Fox-chasing has engaged adventurous Marylanders since 1650 when Robert Brooke first brought foxhounds from England to his estate on the Patuxent River. On the Delmarva Peninsula, foxhunters developed a special hound called the Penn-Marydel, well-suited to the land and wetlands … Continue reading

  • Pocomoke River State Park

    Public Access Riding Trails

    Under the direction of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Pocomoke River State Park makes up an impressive part of the Pocomoke State Forest’s 17,676 acres. Open to the public, this preserve stretches on both sides of the Pocomoke … Continue reading

  • Holly Ridge Farm

    Experience Horses Up Close & Personal

    What have you dreamed about horses since you first read Misty of Chincoteague or saw the movie The Black Stallion? Whatever it is, you can probably make it happen at Holly Ridge Farm, not far from Ocean City. Take lessons … Continue reading