3 minute read
BETTY OARE: Equestrian’s Grande Dame
BETTY OARE: Equestrian’s Grande Dame
Story and Photos By Anita L. Sherman
It’s early morning at EMO Stables in Warrenton. The horses are anxious to get out. “I’m the exercise girl,” Betty Oare said with a laugh, taking a break after already riding three of them. One of the stable’s newest additions, Leo, was a bit skittish. “Oh, he saw a shadow or something,” she said, “but he’ll be fine.”
Oare likes to ride every day. “It’s great cardio,” she said. “Riding is the best exercise.”
At 80, Betty Oare is an icon in the equestrian world.
“I think I was about five,” recalling when she first mounted a horse. She grew up in Tryon, North Carolina riding and loving horses. She trained with her father, J. Arthur Reynolds.
She’s been lauded in the horse world for decades competing and winning countless ribbons and trophies. Fauquier County has been home for more than 55 years, moving to Virginia in 1965 with her husband, Ernie, who shares her passion for horses.
“We’re a couple,” she said. “We’re in this together. We wanted to be close to the horse community here.”
Her prized horse these days is an Oldenburg officially named Sidenote, but goes by the name Ted. He’s a big horse, and Oare looks up to him.
About five years ago, she was looking for a hunting horse. She called her friend, the late Sally Lamb, also a beloved and respected leader in Virginia’s horse community.
“She had a keen eye for fitting a horse and rider together,” said Oare, recalling her mentor telling her “if we can catch him, you can ride him.”
Oare took Sidenote out hill-topping several times, then started jumping him. “He just kept jumping better and better,” she said. Then she started taking him to the show rings. They were developing a good rapport, and Lamb was right. They were a good match.
Oare has had several horses during her decades of riding but some truly stand out.
“I was 14 when I lost The Saint,” she said. “He was a Buckskin…I was devastated and very depressed. My mother said, ‘we can get another horse, but we can’t get another you.’
“So, I had The Saint and now Sidenote, who seems to be heaven sent. We do it together. He takes very good care of me.”
Oare also was extremely close with her older brother, J. Arthur “Bucky” Reynolds II, who died in 2017.
“He was a great horseman,” she said. “We shared the same passion for horses and riding.”
Sue Bopp, a long-time friend and admirer, said, “Her whole family is iconic. I got my first horse from her father (and) her brother was my coach. She is simply amazing. She’s showing. She’s winning. She’s continuing her passion. She’s so full of energy and inspiring.”
Another fan is Don Stewart, a Hall of Fame trainer and nationally recognized judge from Ocala, Florida.
“You’d have to be against motherhood and safety on the highways if you don’t like Betty Oare,” he said. “I’ve never known someone so enthusiastic and driven and I’ve known her for 58 years. She’s been a champion on all levels.”
On Nov. 6, Oare and Sidenote took fourth place in the $10,000 Adult Amateur Hunter Classic at the National Horse Show held in Lexington, Kentucky.
Amy Petty, a Warrenton friend and neighbor, perhaps best summed up Betty Oare.
“She’s something else.”
