'Stakes
and
Stakeholders'
draws
reader
behind
the
scenes
Staff
Fauquier
Times-Democrat
A
book
that
gives
the
reader
an
intimate
look
at
the
horse
world
and
its
people
has
just
been
published
by
Upperville
horseman
and
author
Bruce
Smart.
His
new
release,
the
second
in a
planned
three-part
series,
is
entitled
"A
Community
of
the
Horse:
Stakes
and
Stakeholders."
He
will
autograph
copies
of
his
book
at
Locke
Store
in
Millwood
from
5-7
p.m.
next
Thursday,
Dec.
15.
Smart
was
former
Under-Secretary
of
Commerce;
he
now
lives
on
and
works
from
Trappe
Hill
Farm
north
of
Upperville,
a
Thoroughbred
breeding
farm
that
also
raises
Angus
cattle.
The
400-page,
full-color
book
reads
like
an
appreciation
of
horsemanship
and
those
who
practice
it.
Its
first
chapter,
"Breeding
and
Racing
Horses
and
Ponies,"
uses
Farnley
and
Joan
Dunning's
family
as a
quintessential
example.
Family
is
important
at
Berryville's
Audley
Farm,
too,
where
Smart
outlines
the
history
from
colonial
times,
when
George
Washington's
family
lived
at
Audley,
to
the
extended
heirs
of
the
late
Hubertus
Liebrecht
and
present
manager
Dr.
Jens
von
Lepel.
But
more
than
places,
"Stakes
and
Stakeholders"
is
about
people
--
the
rich
and
famous,
the
hardworking
and
diligent,
united
by
their
love
of
the
horse.
Among
prominent
horsemen
plucked
from
the
area
for
Smart's
pages
are
race
trainer
Jimmy
Day,
trainer
of
Claytonville
Farm;
author
Norman
Fine;
veterinarian
Pug
Hart;
and
the
late
William
Bell
Watkins,
longtime
master
of
the
Blue
Ridge
Hunt.
In
addition
to
places
and
people,
"Stakes
and
Stakeholders"
is,
naturally,
about
horses.
Smart
knows
his
subject
from
the
ground
up
at
Trappe
Hill
Farm
and
is a
friend
to
many
of
those
prominent
in
the
field.
Smart
tucks
his
writing
into
a
schedule
of
personal
and
civic
business.
Energy
is
his
stock
in
trade
--
he
retired
as
chairman
and
CEO
of
Continental
Group
in
1985
to
become
Undersecretary
of
Commerce
for
International
Trade
under
Reagan.
When
he
took
serious
retirement
in
1988,
he
served
four
years
as a
senior
fellow
for
and
nine
years
as
director
of
the
World
Resources
Institute,
an
environmental
policy
research
organization.
His
work
as a
conservationist
is
as
important
to
him
as
his
horsemanship.
He
has
been
vice
chairman
of
the
board
of
The
Nature
Conservancy,
and
a
member
of
Loudoun's
zoning
ordinance
working
group
and
tax
equity
committee.
He
recently
wound
up
nine
years
on
the
board
of
the
League
of
Conservation
Voters.
Another
of
his
books,
"Beyond
Compliance:
A
New
Industry
View
of
the
Environment,"
describes
corporate
adaptations
toward,
and
benefits
from,
environmentally
sound
action.
Smart's
civic
contributions
are
national,
as
in
current
membership
on
the
Council
on
Foreign
Relations
and
the
Republican
Main
Street
Partnership,
and
local,
as
in
past
chairman
and
trustee
emeritus
of
Notre
Dame
Academy
and
past
senior
warden
of
Trinity
Church
in
Upperville.
But
"The
Community
of
the
Horse"
makes
clear
that
horses
are
his
passion.
He
is a
director
of
the
Virginia
Thoroughbred
Association
and,
with
wife
Edie,
is
an
avid
steeplechase
fan
and
active
owner;
for
13
years
Edie
Smart
has
been
joint-master
for
the
Fairfax
Hunt.
The
first
book
in
the
series,
"A
Community
of
the
Horse:
Partnerships,"
appeared
in
2003.
Copies
of
that
book
will
also
be
available
at
the
Dec.
15
book-signing.
"A
Community
of
the
Horse:
Stakes
and
Stakeholders"
is
$65,
available
at
Locke
Store
and
by
mail
from
Smart;
call
(540)
554-8302
to
order.
©Times
Community
Newspapers 2006
