Leslie Helm/Real Estate For Trail Riders

I have two cabins listed, right across the street from each other, at 224 Indian Rock Trail and 225 Indian Rock Trail. What are the chances that BOTH would be under contract in this sorry market, and due to close within the next two weeks??!!

It sure feels good for me to see those "Pending" signs and it has been a real positive for visitors to the Big South Fork who came here for the fabulous trail riding during October, our best fall month, because Indian Rock Trail is directly across from True West, one of the area's best-known horse campgrounds.

For information about Big South Fork real estate or horse properties in Jamestown, Tennessee, go to http:www.trailridersrealestate.com

There's also a lot of information about the area at Tennessee Recreational Properties' website.

Trail riders from all over the country know that the Big South Fork National Park in Jamestown, Tennessee is called, "The Trail Riding Capital Of The Southeast, boasting the best riding east of the Mississippi on 180+ miles of trails. What they may NOT know is that there are another 130 miles of spectacular trails, south of town, at East Fork Stables, which are beautifully marked and maintained.

East Fork encompasses 12,000 acres, privately owned, and has 150 stalls as well as areas for picketing and pasture. In addition to the campsites, there are cabins ranging from primitive to deluxe, and everything you might need for a comfortable stay. There's a tack shop and and RV shop; you can get ice, propane, firewood, hay and shavings. You can arrange a guided ride. There's an on-call vet and farrier. There's even a photographer!

Their specialty is the always enjoyable annual events such as the Spring Wildflower Ride, Spring Fling, Fall Golden Leaf and Indian Summer Rides, as well as the annual Pig Roast and the Chili Cook-Off. They book one riding club after another, with meals on or off the trail, bonfires and bluegrass for entertainment. One day it's foxhunting, another day it's Civil War reenactments.

Everyone who comes to East Fork can't wait to come back! And, for local riders, there's a yearly pass for $75 or a day pass for $10 so no one needs to miss out on the fun!

For information about Big South Fork real estate or horse properties in Jamestown, Tennessee, go to www.trailridersrealestate.com

There's also a lot of information about the are on Tennessee Recreational Properties' website.

When you live here at the Big South Fork, it's inevitable that you will be going to Nashville at some point, for one reason or another. You may want to take a drive through the campus of Vanderbilt University, known as "The Harvard of The South."

Vanderbilt was founded in 1873 with a million-dollar endowment from "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, a New York entrepreneur who made his fortune in shipping and, later, in railroads. Although he was, at the time of his death, the wealthiest man in America, he is not a noted philanthropist. He initially intended to locate the university named in his honor on Staten Island where he was born and eventually buried. Instead, in choosing Tennessee, although he himself had never been to the south, Vanderbilt intended that his gift would help to heal the deep division caused by the Civil War.

Today, Vanderbilt is ranked 17th among colleges in the United States with four undergraduate schools and six graduate schools. Vanderbilt admissions are highly selective; in 2010, only 16.3% of undergraduate applicants were accepted. There are approximately 12,000 students on the 330-acre campus, located only a mile and a half from downtown Nashville.

The oldest part of the Vanderbilt campus is known for its abundance of green space and was designated a national arboretum in 1988, with over 300 species of trees and shrubs including one of every specie of tree that is indigenous to the state of Tennessee.

Vanderbilt is the largest private employer in Middle Tennessee and the state's second-largest employer overall, after FedEx.

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the only Level I Trauma Center in Middle Tennessee.

Vanderbilt's athletic teams are are called the Commodores in honor of the university's benefactor.

I'm proud to say that I hold a postgraduate degree from Vanderbilt, although my coursework was completed through the overseas program, thanks to the G.I. Bill, while I was an Air Force officer stationed at RAF Alconbury and I have only just now begun to appreciate my alma mater's magnificent campus.

For information about Big South Fork real estate or horse properties in Jamestown, Tennessee, go to www.trailridersrealestate.com

There's also a lot of information about the area on Tennessee Recreational Properties' website.

Fall is a favorite time of year for trail riding and nowhere more so than here in Jamestown, Tennessee, in Big South Fork National Park. With daytime temperatures in the 70's, riders enjoy those mellow fall days when the woods are a medley of reds and golds.

But riders are the only ones who get out there in the fall; riders must always be alert for ground nests of yellow jackets which commonly build nests below ground in old rodent burrows or other cavities such as rotten tree stumps or fallen logs, fence post bases or river banks and the edges of forested land. They are common in banks of dirt along the edges of the trail. The problem with ground nests is that you don't know they're there until you're on top of them and by then, it's too late! During "bee season" riders can minimize the risk of disturbing a ground nest by staying in the middle of the trail.

These so-called "ground bees" are not bees at all but a type of highly aggressive wasp in the hornet family, although they look a lot like bees with their black and yellow striped bodies. They are particularly dangerous in the fall, when the population of the nest is at its peak. Yellow jackets are highly defensive and will become very antagonistic when their nest is approached. Any vibration or loud noise can provoke this swarming behavior so trail riders must be particularly mindful. As the horse's hooves hit the ground, the vibrations can be felt in the ground nests, getting the yellow jackets stirred up. Usually one or two horses will pass without incident and then the riders and horses behind may suddenly be surrounded by stinging yellow jackets. Wasp venom contains a chemical "alarm pheromone," released into the air, signaling guard wasps to come and sting whomever and whatever gets in their way. You may have noticed that beekeepers always wear white suits; yellow jackets are repelled by light colors and attracted by dark colors so black and bay horses are more likely to be stung than white or light-colored horses. They also gravitate to dark holes like eyes, nostrils, mouth and ears.

Horses that are stung will react violently to the sudden pain, usually by bucking. You will hear your riding companions yelling, "GO! GO! GO! BEES! GO!" and you must be ready to move quickly. Wasps and bees can fly about six to seven miles per hour so humans and horses can outrun them but they will follow relentlessly for quite a distance. Yellow jackets will sting more readily then most and have the capability to sting repeatedly.

They become particularly aggressive in the fall when their natural food supply, nectar and fruit pulp, is becoming scarce. Needing carbohydrates and certain proteins, they are attracted to human food such as sodas, juice, beer, sweets, hotdogs etc. When you're eating lunch on the trail, examine cans and other containers before drinking from them to check for stinging insects that may have flown inside.

Anyone with a known allergy or hypersensitivity should never ride alone since help may be needed to start prompt emergency treatment measures if stung. It is wise to carry or have an identification bracelet or necklace, such as "Medic Alert," to alert others when sudden shock-like (anaphylactic) symptoms or unconsciousness (fainting) occurs after one or more stings.

In any case, riders will want to put something like an "Afterbite" stick or cortisone cream to relieve a painful sting and some Benedryl tablets in their saddle bags. I also spray a product called "Bee Safe" on myself and my horse before a ride during late August and in September and October. It is natural, not chemical; the main ingredient is peppermint, which disrupts the insect's respiratory system. Instinctively, the insect senses danger and flies away. Since bees, wasps and yellow jackets are social insects, they have a unique communication system and they communicate the danger to others.

For information about Big South Fork real estate or horse properties in Jamestown, Tennessee, go to www.trailridersrealestate.com

There's also a lot of information about the area on Tennessee Recreational Properties' website.

Most horse owners buy their feed from a local tack shop, a farmers co-op or a hardware store and it's usually a brand name like Purina or Nutrena. Here in Big South Fork Tennessee, we can go to a real feed mill with a real miller and see the feed made right before our eyes.

It's not easy to find TOP Milling in Oneida, even with a GPS (or especially with a GPS) but, once someone takes you there the first time and shows you the way, you won't want to go anywhere else.

The feed looks and smells so good that you could probably eat a bowl of it yourself, with a little skim milk.

Owner Bob Thompson, an Oneida native, has worked the land all his life, in one way or another. When the Stearns Coal and Lumber company in nearby Stearns, Kentucky was actively harvesting timber from "the Big Survey" or what is now Big South Fork National Park, Bob worked as a sawyer from the time he was 19 until he turned 30. He then worked as a farmer for the next 27 years.

He was approached, in the fall of 1984, to open a feed mill. He bought an old mill in western Kentucky and it took him all the next summer "to haul it over." He had a partner but, as so often happens, his partner lost interest after several years and, in the mid-1990's, Bob had to make a choice to work full time as the miller or close the doors.

Now there are almost no farmers left but business is thriving. His customers, he says, "are people like you, who love their animals." He sells feed for horses, cattle, pigs, goats, chickens, sheep, llamas and even a camel. He diversifies by providing one-stop shopping for other livestock essentials such as horseshoes, supplements, wormer and fencing materials.

He has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of nutrition and customizes the feed from batch to batch, adding higher fat content or more biotin as the animals' needs dictate, and he can make up special recipes for those with food allergies. The secret, he says, is that the feed has to be more pleasing to the humans than to the animals!

For information about Big South Fork real estate or horse properties in Jamestown, Tennessee, go to www.trailridersrealestate.com

There's also a lot of information about the are on Tennessee Recreational Properties' website.