I had no idea last October when I was at Morven Park's fall races, that I was shooting the end of an era, the end of a 32 year tradition celebrating Loudoun's history of fine horses and "The Hunt". I thought the crowds were rather thin, despite the day being picture perfect. It came as quite a surprise when I learned there were only six races on the program.

Morven Park staff that I ran into were enthusiastic about the event. They had gone so far as to set up an entertainment area for the children. There was the release of the hounds onto the track so the kids could mingle with them and meet the Hunt Masters. I'm a firm believer that if Loudoun's racing traditions are to continue that the day has to be fun for the kids, creating deep memories for them beyond equine thunder.

I left the day worried, and was not surprised at all to read last month that Morven Park had evaluated the event financially and unfortunately they had to prioritize along a new plan. Sad yes, but I'm also a realist when it comes to making money. I've spent most of my life in the "for-profit" world where the very first lesson is that payrolls have to be made, expenses covered with a bit left over for the stakeholders. If your widgets don't do that, your shingle won't hang out over the street for long.

So, does this say anything about the future of Loudoun's horse industry?

Former Mayor Frank Raflo, author and all around great guy asked the question back in 1988 in his book "Within the Iron Gates Loudoun: Stories Remembered (1925-1975)". In this marvelous 600 page collection of historical stories there is a chapter entitled "Horses, The Survival Of".

Frank's childhood encompassed the time when it was bad to be in the buggy whip business. Cars were replacing horses on the roads, tractors them in the fields. Loudoun was no Detroit, we had been breeding utility horses, raced 'em from time to time. We were good at it, the Upperville Horse just doesn't happen to be the oldest in the nation by accident. The hell-raising exploits of Confederate Cavalrymen Mosby and White were in part, coded in DNA, in both man and beast.

Frank (who passed away in 2006) cites a Times-Mirror stat from 1931 that gave a Loudoun's horse population of 6859. He later cites a 1986 Loudoun economic development report that estimated the population at 8500. He concluded that, while the buggy whip may have gone the way of the way of the..eh..buggy whip, that our horse industry remained strong (my paraphrase).

Back to our question, does this say anything about Loudoun's horse industry today?

While over-development of Loudoun's meadows continues, while wineries continue to proliferate, all would seem to be well, in fact, more than well. The website for Loudoun Department of Economic Development says the county has 15,500 horses. Wow, A bit of a surprise there!

So, the Morven Park Races, while perhaps a bright yellow canary, was not the proverbial canary in the coal mine.

The industry, while almost a entirely for sport now, takes a dozen forms across hundreds of farms large and small. Morven Park will still be using its expansive equine center for competitions and remains the home of the Loudoun Therapuetic Riding Association. The United States Eventing Association and the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center are a stone's throw away. Middleburg and Upperville remain (thankfully) Middleburg and Upperville.

Still, these races were a wonderful fall counterpart to the annual spring races at Oatlands. It would be my hope that as the economy recovers, so might this event too. It's been an intrinsic part of our fabric for 32 years.