Interviews, cont'd...

Today I was driving past Walnut Spring and I thought that I'd just stop by for a minute to see if they had checked into my request to board there. Needless to say, I got to meet the owner, Carol Gwin, who is the coach of the Radford Redcoats riding team, as well as the former president of SWVHJA (pronounced by the horse community as 'swavja') for 2004 and 2005, and I am going to move Maddie there just as soon as Farmingdale will allow. I know for some people this must seem like a sudden 360, but in reality, it has nothing to do with Farmingdale. They are, and will continue to be, near and dear to my heart, but it's time for me to move on, to move Madonna to a barn that will help us work toward my Olympic goals. Walnut Spring hosts 5 horse shows per year, all of which are affiliated with the Blue Ridge Horse Force, a prominent power in the mountains of SW Virginia. The barn also hosts 30+ riding teams for Intercollegiate horse shows at least once per semester!

As I listened to Carol tell her story, I realized that there are things there that I can use to further my research. Carol has owned and operated Walnut Spring for over 15 years, and she was born and raised in good old B-burg. She keeps a good working relationship with the owners of most of the other barns in the area, as well as ties to all of the prominent organziations that touch the valley. One of her biggest accomplishments comes with seeing the numbers of people competing in the last SWVHJA show, the season finale. In her opinion, it is a huge, community building event; "I really do think that we had more members active and competing in our SWVHJA finale that the VHSA (Virginia Horse Show Assoc.) did, and that's really saying something."

The more I heard, the more I realized what a valuable source I had in Carol, and that, in her words, "For the most part, SWVHJA ends here, and over at the Tech barn, with T. McDonald." I feel like I have gotten some amazing information, and for once, I really do believe that this was just the most incredible day! I know that it is surprising that I have any interview information up, but this was too good to not post tonight. See everyone in class!