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Melvin Warner Has a Special Touch With Horses
Melvin Warner Has a Special Touch With Horses
Story and photos by Tiffany Dillon Keen
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Jeff Warner with his father Dude Warner.
Melvin Warner, known as “Dude” to
one and all, turned 101 years old on November 14. To say he’s seen it all around these pretty parts of the Virginia Piedmont would be the understatement of the century-plus one he’s been living in the Middleburg area.
Born in Loudoun County at Newstead farm in Upperville in 1920, he was one of five children of Baron Warner and Elizabeth Page. He started riding horses sitting behind his father and holding on at age seven while his dad followed the hunt on horseback.
During World War II, Mr. Warner served in the Army Quartermasters Corps, seeing action at various times in France, Germany, England and Switzerland from 1942-1945. He was cited for bravery and at one point, was listed as missing in action before eventually rejoining his unit.
Not long after he returned from Europe, Mr. Warner began working as a groom in 1947 for the late Mrs. Theo Ayer Randolph and her late husband, Dr. A. C. Randolph. The Randolphs lived at Oakley, adjacent to the Upperville Horse Show grounds.
An accomplished horsewoman, Mrs. Randolph was considered a grand sportswoman and served as president of the Upperville Colt & Horse Show, Master of the Piedmont Fox Hounds, and bred many
award-winning show horses.
Mr. Warner, who still works for the Randolphs grandson, Shelby Bonnie, began exercising horses in the hunter barn for Mrs. Randolph. They hunted
on Tuesday and Friday with Piedmont as well as Middleburg and Orange County, sometimes going out five to seven times a week.
He often would hilltop green horses off the track to give them experience and teach them how to jump and stay quiet in the hunt field. He occasionally even whipped in. Whenever a new huntsman came along, Mrs. Randolph asked Mr. Warner to show him where the good draws were located and help him navigate new territory.
A mantle full of memories.
“I bet I covered more than 40,000 miles hunting around here,” he once said.
Mr. Warner also worked with Mrs. Randolph’s show horses. He exercised them, kept them beautifully turned out, and led them up to the ring, where the rider would then take over.
In the 1950s, most of the local stables had Black grooms. “They did everything but ride in the ring,” he said, adding that when he accompanied Mrs. Randolph to horse shows up north, Black grooms were able to ride and compete.
However, Black grooms at Upperville would stay in stables with the horses during the event. White grooms from out of town were put up in nearby motels.
The biggest change he’s seen in the area horse business came after desegregation in the 1960s, when African-Americans had the opportunity to attend high school locally. When young Blacks finished high school or college, they did not want to come back and work with horses.
“There were better opportunities and better jobs for them in the world,” he said. Many moved way, often replaced by Hispanics who had immigrated to the U.S.
Mr. Warner and his late wife, Sarah, who died in 2001, had seven children—five sons and two daughters. In addition to his family and working with horses, he also had a great passion for his faith, and for baseball.
He has served as a deacon at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church on Delaplane Grade Road in Upperville and in addition to “Dude,” is also known to many as “Deacon.” He retired from caring for horses in 1976, and became more involved with the church. These days, his home at Oakley remains packed with photographs and other mementoes from a life clearly well-lived.
Said his son, Jeff Warner, “Dad and I give thanks to God and Jesus Christ for all He has done for us. Thank you for having a desire to put in writing a piece of his life. Many words are spoken every day and soon forgotten, or it may change from mouth to mouth. But the written word is history (or his story).”
