On September 27, 2024, wind and flooding from Hurricane Helene devastated the western Appalachian area of North Carolina, including the town of Asheville, which is home to Biltmore, a majestic house and historic property dating back to 1895. Several rivers in the region overflowed and the subsequent destruction led Helene to become the costliest natural disaster in North Carolina history.

The 8,000-acre Biltmore estate hosts two endurance rides each year: a spring ride in May and a fall ride in September. While the spring event had to be cancelled earlier this year due to ongoing recovery efforts, the Biltmore Fall Endurance Ride to Benefit Hope for Horses will take place around the estate’s stunning trail system on September 20-21. The event features a number of different classes: 30-mile Limited Distance, 50-mile, 65-mile, and 75-mile Endurance Rides, plus FEI divisions (2* Open, 1* Open and Junior/Young Rider). 

“Our primary facility and a lot of our pastures are right alongside the French Broad River in Asheville, so we had significant flooding after Helene, worse than I've ever seen, and certainly worse than the area had seen in over a hundred years,” said Elizabeth McLean, Director of the Biltmore Equestrian CenterActivities at Biltmore. “We were under more than 20 feet of water in some locations.”

There was heavy rainfall throughout the week before the brunt of Helene hit the area, then the hurricane pummeled western North Carolina, ultimately leading to 108 deaths across the state.

Fortunately, no lives were lost at Biltmore despite the property suffering significant damage. “We lost all of our fencing along the river, our outdoor arena, quite a few horse trailers — which we had moved to higher ground, but it wasn't high enough because we got much more flooding than we had thought,” McLean said. “All of our fields along the river were covered in river sand and silt, so that all had to be scraped back and we had to plant everything fresh. We're just now getting to the point of putting our fences back up and the grass has been reestablished so that we can start grazing those areas again.”

 

There were 55 horses at the Biltmore Equestrian Center at the time of Hurricane Helene, all of whom were safely moved to a property up the hill out of harm’s way, with staff staying with them 24/7 to monitor their welfare until the storm passed.

Parts of the estate were cut off from each other due to downed power lines, trees blocking paved roads, and lack of cell phone service. “The biggest challenge was that the infrastructure of the whole town crashed,” McLean explained. “The electricity went out during the storm, then we lost all city water (which the estate runs on), and the cell phone towers went down, so we had no communication with anybody from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening.”

The team at the horse barn had access to a freshwater creek that had not been contaminated by flood water, so they could give the horses fresh water via a “bucket brigade,” McLean said.

“Once the road opened on Sunday night, we were able to access the historic reservoir on the main part of Biltmore, and also got generators and wells online,” she added. “It was quite the process over a two week-period immediately following the storm as we worked to get power and water back, as so many areas up there were horrifically impacted.” 

After the initial danger of the hurricane had passed, the process of long-term repair began. Now, 11 months after the storm, the grass at the estate is finally back to a level that will sustain grazing, downed or compromised trees have been removed, and the venue is ready to host equestrian competitions again.

“The French Broad River was 25 to 30 feet above its normal level, which flooded the area where a lot of the equestrian activities are held, and flooded all the fields where the trailers park during endurance rides,” said Stagg Newman, a veteran endurance rider and co-trail designer of the Biltmore endurance competitions. “They've now gone through three plantings — winter wheat and then summer grass — to get all the fields back to great shape for trailers, and they've re-established the paddocks for visitors. We can get all the trailers in for the camping area, and we've had enough time to establish the full trail system on one side of the river and adequate trails for the ride route.”

 

The estate hired a professional team to rebuild the trail system, take down damaged trees, and clear the impacted area with logging trucks. Most of the trees were sold for lumber and the trails were then assessed from a safety perspective.

“There is one section of about 30 acres that had tornadic activity that we still haven't opened yet, but we are very close,” McLean said. “It was a very dense pine forest, and the trees looked like matchsticks immediately following the storm. It's a clear hillside now and it is crazy looking ... there is nothing left.”

Newman and his wife, Cheryl, have worked with the estate to reroute the trails in some areas. “One of the challenges is there are places where people never knew how close the trail came to touching itself as it was blocked by the woods, which are no longer there — all of a sudden it's clear,” said Newman. The estate and the ride organizers have “made a tremendous effort to get the trails reopened and clearly marked with arrows and Xs, rather than ribbons.”

The Biltmore Fall Endurance Ride utilizes trails throughout the breathtaking property, however only a limited set of the west side of the estate cannot be utilized at this time due to ongoing recovery. Riders will still enjoy riding through the vineyards and around the lake, and seeing beautiful mountain vistas, however.

“The estate is divided by the French Broad River and the west range is all agricultural land,” McLean explained. “The vineyards are over there, and it's the primary location for the cattle program, and sheep and swine production. It's beautiful farmland and has sweeping views of western North Carolina.

“The east side is in great shape, so that part will be very similar to what competitors have seen in the past.”

How Fleet of Angels Aided Hurricane Helene Recovery

Fleet of Angels, a national non-profit agency that provides food and supplies for horses following natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes and flooding, was instrumental in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

“Fleet of Angels and The Sanctuary at Red Bell Run in N.C., our partner for that disaster event, provided feed, vet care funding, repair materials, and much more for over 8,000 horses that were affected by Hurricane Helene,” said Elaine Nash, founder and executive director of Fleet of Angels. “We started providing emergency services on September 28, 2024, the day after the hurricane struck, assisting horses in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, and Georgia. Initially, emergency hay bank services for horses were run out of Tryon International Equestrian Center with Mary Adams, owner of The Sanctuary at Red Bell Run, handling the on-the-ground aspect of that effort.”

When Tryon needed their equine facilities opened back up for incoming horse shows, the hay bank operation was moved to Adams’ facility, Red Bell Run in Columbus, N.C. That soon became the main hub for distributing feed and supplies to horse owners and small rescues in North Carolina and other states, and Fleet of Angels facilitated the shipping of hundreds of loads of hay and supplies to the areas hit by Helene.

“Mary Adams did an incredible job at accepting the many thousands of tons of hay, grain, tack, blankets, emergency heaters, etc., as well as pallets of human supplies, and then organizing the distribution of them to hundreds of people through pick-up days at RBR, with personal delivery to the hardest-hit areas,” Nash recalled. “Thousands of Fleet of Angels' individual donors, many trusts, funds, foundations, organizations (like US Equestrian), other nonprofits, large companies, small companies, and more all helped fund the effort.

“Hurricane Helene was a massive catastrophe that affected thousands of horses and their humans, so a massive effort by many was required to help them through the worst time of their lives. We will continue to do all we can for them in the foreseeable future.”

The USEF Equine Disaster Relief Fund was created after Hurricane Katrina and Rita to help equine affected by natural disasters. It is funded completely by donations received for that purpose. Any grants taken out of the Equine Disaster Relief Fund are to be used only to help in the recovery of equine animals after a disaster. Money donated to the Equine Disaster Relief Fund is used to prepare for disasters and assists equines of any breed who are victims of disasters including but not restricted to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, and fires. To donate to the fund, please visit usef.org/donate.