Featured Article (October 2004)

Ten Questions for John F. R. Scott, III - Executive Director of the Virginia Horse Center

The Virginia Horse Center was created by the Virginia State legislature in 1984 to preserve and strengthen the Commonwealth’s heritage of horses and horsemanship and to foster growth of the horse industry in the Commonwealth. The Virginia Horse Center is owned and operated by the Virginia Equine Center Foundation, a quasi-public body. While the members of its governing board are appointed by the Governor, the Virginia Horse Center is not a State agency. The Commonwealth provides no operating support. Operating expenses must be paid for through earned revenues from facility rentals, events, and sponsorships, as well as by gifts and grants from the private sector. The Virginia Horse Center Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization, was established to encourage private sector support.

Economically, the Virginia Horse Center benefits the entire horse industry by helping to maintain and increase the present level of production and use of horses and ponies, showcasing the marvelous array of breeds and riding disciplines to the public and providing an excellent home base for many of Virginia’s finest shows, sales, and clinics.

The Virginia Horse Center is a 600-acre state-of-the-art environment for horse shows and other livestock events. There are currently eight barns to accommodate 750 horses in permanent stabling, and approximately 1200 horses indoors in permanent and temporary stabling and a 4,000 seat indoor coliseum. The Virginia Horse Center has twelve show rings, including the 150’ x 300’ indoor Waldron Arena in the Howard P. Anderson Coliseum. There is a five mile cross country course, and when the Oak Hill Development is completed there will be a steeplechase course, a steeplechase timber, and a carriage driving course as well.

After the death of former executive director Robert M. "Bob" Reel, Scott was appointed acting director. In September 2003 with the unanimous support of the Virginia Equine Center Foundation and the Virginia Horse Center Foundation, Scott was appointed executive director. Prior to this appointment Scott was the center’s business manager and has been involved in every facet of the operation of the center for the last twelve years.

How would you describe your past year as the Director of the Virginia Horse Center?

Extremely busy! We’ve been dealing with cutbacks in state funding, instituted a ten-year private fund-raising campaign, formed the Friends of the Virginia Horse Center program, and expanded retail operations, but equine operations still need to be the number one priority. A record number of exhibitors have visited the Horse Center during this show year, and our staff has done an outstanding job serving their needs. I’m sure few people dreamed twenty years ago, when the site was selected for the Virginia Horse Center, that the operation would grow so quickly with such a far-reaching impact in the horse industry.

What was the outcome of the legislature’s actions this year regarding the Horse Center?

We see this year’s outcome cautiously optimistic. The Center received the amount of funding that we requested, $890,000, which is still about $350,000 short of the average annual debt service payment on the construction bonds. However, with the bi-partisan help of many legislators on both the state and locals levels, there was also a 2% transient occupancy tax passed locally to help offset the difference in the annual debt service payment.

We believe a good deal of progress has been made educating legislators about the sound investment they have in the Horse Center. We know conservatively that sales tax dollars generated each year from the Center’s show activities are at least three times the amount of each year’s debt service payment. We still know that the balance of the current shortfall needs to be made up from both the new 2% local lodging tax, and private funds raised by the Virginia Horse Center Foundation in a ten-year capital giving campaign, "Guaranteeing Our Future."

What programs has the Center instituted to raise funds for the Center?

We have instituted a ten-year development plan, "Guaranteeing Our Future," which includes a corporate giving and sponsorship program, the Robert M. Reel Memorial Campaign, grant writing, the Friends of the Virginia Horse Center program, expanded retail operations and the annual giving fund.
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Have horse show activities continued to grow this current year?

In fifteen years of business, the Center has never had a down year, and this year is no exception. In fact, one of our biggest challenges right now is to fit every show that wants to come here into our already jam packed schedule. Many of the traditional shows are growing, returning each year, and telling us that the Virginia Horse Center is THE finest facility of its kind in the nation. We’re very proud to hear that said by so many different breed and discipline groups from all over the U.S.

Is the private foundation involved in any horse show programs, as well as the "Friends of the Virginia Horse Center"?

Yes, in addition to conducting the ongoing "Oak Hill Campaign" and "The Friends," the foundation sponsors two major events each year – the Bonnie Blue National each May, and this October 7-10, we will host the second annual Oak Hill Combined Driving Event, during which world-class carriage drivers will compete in dressage, cross country marathon, and cones. There will also be a first rate pleasure driving show that same weekend, combined with the Symphony of Horses and Carriages exhibition on Friday night. This will be one of the most colorful weekends of the year! Not only that, but that same weekend will be right in the middle of the Horse Center Foundation’s inaugural month long equine art show, which begins on Friday, October 1 and runs through Sunday, November 7 and serves as a fundraiser for the Horse Center.

What national attention is the Horse Center receiving?

We frequently receive calls to host national events. This past August the Center was home to the USEF National Pony Finals, managed by Leslie Brown. The young competitors and their families came from all over the U.S., and most had never been to Lexington, VA before. They were astounded by the facility and the professionalism of the show staff. We are also trying to work something out with three other national events, as we speak, which will remain anonymous for the time being. The U.S. Pony Club returns next year in August, and also, we’ve received word that the World Percheron Congress has decided to return here in 2006, which is an unprecedented move on their part. They discovered the Virginia Horse Center in 2002, and they rotate the draft horse competition each year among three nations. We’re told that they have never before returned to the same venue to compete, but after experiencing this facility only two years ago, now the Virginia Horse Center has the distinct honor to be the first repeat host of this awesome event.

How many events do you have scheduled for this year?

Ninety – encompassing a broad spectrum of events. Horse shows of all breeds and disciplines, eventing clinics, a Pat Parelli demonstration, the Rockbridge Regional Fair, a Ricky Skaggs concert, two high school cross country meets, three rodeos, the Professional Bull Riders U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. Challenger Tour and the Midnight Rockbridge New Year’s Community Celebration.
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What would you like to ask Virginia horse owners and Virginia equine organizations to do to help the center meet its obligations and stay open?

What we are asking Virginians, who understand what the Horse Center is and why it was created, is to rise to the occasion by reminding our state legislators that they have a very sound investment in the Horse Center. Its operations annually return three dollars for every one dollar that has been appropriated for construction debt service. But also, understand that there is a real concern among thousands of horse lovers that beautiful undeveloped sites like the Virginia Horse Center, where athletes and pleasure show competitors alike can still vacation, compete, and pursue their dreams, are becoming fewer and further between. The Horse Center really is the whole package, and it is accessible to riders of all levels, from 4-H to therapeutic riders to Olympians.

We ask that everyone who wishes to see the Center continue to thrive both support the "Friends of the Virginia Horse Center" and contact their legislators to remind them what a treasure they have here in the Shenandoah Valley. All of this information can be found on our website, www.horsecenter.org.

Where do you see the Virginia Horse Center in the next ten years?

Lord willing, it will be doing exactly what we’ve just described here. It would be wonderful if the construction debt was retired, the land preserved for horse show activities, and new people will still be coming from all over the country to see what Virginians first dreamed twenty years ago and then had the wisdom to build.