Hoppin’ Fox sits on a small farm in Fort Defiance, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. We’ve had the farm since 2012, and over the years we’ve added an arena, rehabbed the barn, updated the sheds, renovated the old farmhouse, and built a new house up the hill.

The farm is 65 acres. We maintain riding trails around the property: between the pastures, through some woods, past a frog pond, and into a native garden.

It’s a working piece of land, not a showpiece: good fence lines, older farm structures kept in useful repair, and enough open pasture and trail to make it feel bigger than it is. Fences get walked and mended on a regular schedule, not just when something gets out.