HISTORY

Aiken’s equestrian history traces back to the end of the 19th century, when thanks to the mild climate and naturally healing Coker Springs, Aiken had a reputation as a health resort. Northerners traveled to Aiken for our mild winters, and Charleston residents came in the summer to flee the humidity and malaria. By the 1880s, numerous wealthy northern “tourists” had adopted Aiken as their winter home, establishing Aiken as the original “Winter Colony.” Each fall, trains brought colonists and their horses to Aiken. They appreciated the weather and raved about our sandy soil, which never froze and had no rocks to bruise their horses’ hooves.