New to Virginia Equestrian – Meet Betsy Burke Parker, our newest entry
Submitted by: Betsy Burke Parker
Phone:
Email Address: betsy(at)virginiaequestrian.com
Date Added: 2/16/2009
Call it a dream come true – follow the trails of Virginia's horse country to rustle up the equestrian news.
At the same time, you could call it custom-made.
I came to Virginia in 1990, and instantly fell into the Horse and Field Sports Editor position for the Times Community Newspapers, out of their Warrenton office. For almost 20 years, I specialized in horse (and field) sports news from Fauquier and surrounding counties; I got my toes wet in the Commonwealth's 200 years-plus of equestrian tradition, and polished my photography, journalism, reporting, writing and interviewing skills. I won many awards – state, regional, national – for writing, photos and design, and hoped to be there forever.
Then along came the economy.
The serious downturn, hand-in-hand with print media across the globe grasping to find its way in the Internet age, conspired to cut short my career, leaving me adrift. The layoff found me sitting on a pile of unfinished projects, including a burgeoning list of the best of Virginia's equestrians I was working on for a series of feature articles that I was going to call “Living Legends.” It was a series about Virginia's top horsemen and women in a wide range of disciplines. There are so many, stories are vaguely known or forgotten, to report about. It was a project to sink my teeth into.
With the abrupt layoff, I put the list aside and buckled down to seek out freelance horse work and writing work.
Just as quickly, though, I found the perfect vehicle for the the living obituaries, and a whole lot more.
Working hand-in-hand with former co-worker at the Times' Warrenton office, Laurie Smith, I've found a great opportunity. We'll use the Internet to give a wide range of distribution, with lots of room for creativity and unique features such as video clips, audios from interviews with what will be a parade of the best horsemen in the world, and photo galleries that news print can't offer.
Before I begin the series, I'd like to trot out my equestrian and professional resume, a little introduction to set the stage.
I was born in 1966 south of Nashville, Tennessee, in a rural hilly part of middle Tennessee that was home to foxhunt clubs, Tennessee Walking Horse champions, pleasure horses, working quarter horses, show horses, polo horses, draft horses, and some of the best working mules in the country. My mom was a licensed horse show judge, avid foxhunter, riding instructor and (big surprise) a photographer and journalist (lifestyle editor for the daily Nashville Banner, and weekly Review Appeal, as well as correspondent to the Middleburg-based Chronicle of the Horse magazine, among others.) My dad owned and operated a chain of lumber yards and brickyards, as well as training and riding his own steeplechase horses and foxhunting. My dad still lives there (moving from Brentwood – now a tony, built-up, Clifton-style area, 20 miles south to Franklin about 15 years ago) with his wife; my mom lives here on my farm near Flint Hill, working as an author and painter.
I was a graduate B member of the Middle Tennessee Pony Club, part of the Mid-South Region. I was part of the gold medal Mid-South three-day eventing team that won the 1982 National Championships. Riding one of my dad's retired steeplechase horses, I also won individual gold with the best score of the event.
I graduated from Auburn University (I'd thought I wanted to be a veterinarian – silly me – quickly swapped to journalism) in 1987, and worked a few years in the racing industry in Lexington, Kentucky (Walmac Farm, Gainesway, Claiborne, Keeneland) before “following a man” (professional horseman John Branscome, who died in 1997) to Virginia's horse country in 1990.
Since then, I've trained steeplechase horses (three circuit champions), foxhunted with the Old Dominion Hounds, done a bit of horse showing, had a nationally-ranked event horse, bred, trained, taught and more. I operate a horse farm in Rappahannock County, offering lessons, livery, training, etc.
I feel like my horse work perfectly complements my journalism work, tying the two great loves of my life and affording me an opportunity to stay “in” the world about which I write.
To paraphrase my senior English teacher: She'd always say “Write what you know” when steering us towards writing projects. I've taken it one more step – I “Write what I live.”
I look forward to climbing aboard Virginia Equestrian – the Web site has long been my go-to source of horse news from around the Commonwealth.
In conclusion, I'd like to make a request to the readers – please think about your own corner of Virginia, and your own discipline, and contact me with suggestions for the Living Legends series, soon to be reborn on Virginia Equestrian. You can reach me at Betsy@VirginiaEquestrian.com.
A note from Virginia Equestrian: We are so very excited to have Betsy join the Virginia Equestrian team. Her experience and knowledge about the Virginia horse industry is incredible.
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