Linda Meyerriecks
Virginia Horse Country

Every time I drive over the rolling hills of western Loudoun County in Virginia, I realize how special this area is. Soft light in the early morning is the best, perhaps with fog hugging the trees and the brown fences that surround foals kicking up their heels. On weekend mornings, horns and hounds can be heard as the hunt appears out of nowhere.

Once I took a drive in a wooden horse cart with a friend, and for two hours we drove over dirt roads, through woods and meadows, and across streams, with only the sound of her Morgan’s hoofbeats. Incredible vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains and rolling foothills came filled with vineyards and Christmas trees. Homes and farms dotted the landscape as they have since the beginnings of America.

And now overdevelopment is threatening this delicate balance of man and nature. Buffalo and American Indians once roamed here. An Indian mound can still be seen just off the main highway south of Leesburg.

Some places should be preserved yet shared. And I have never felt such pride in sharing the beauty of the land as I do here.

Linda Meyerriecks is a photo editor at TRAVELER.