THE VEEPS: Shelby Bonnie & Betsee Parker Help Guide Upperville

It’s an Upperville Ring of Honor for Betsee Parker

Betsee Parker

Photo by Middleburg Photo

By Leonard Shapiro

Is it any wonder Betsee Parker, the Middleburg philanthropist, preservationist and conservationist, has a particular passion for the Upperville Colt and Horse Show?

As a junior rider, she’s competed in the oldest horse show in America. As an owner, her horses, including Way Cool and Ovation, have won multiple grand championships and countless titles over the years. Same for her championship ponies: Elation and Vanity Fair.

She’s served on Upperville’s board of directors for a dozen years and now is a vice president along with Shelby Bonnie. She’s been a generous contributor to the show, and this year donated three large trees planted on the hunter side to replace other weather damaged oaks inside the historic competition rings.

Oh yes, she also met her late husband, Irwin Uran, the father of their 17-year-old daughter Rosie, at an Upperville ringside tailgate party.

And so, is it also any wonder her fellow board members have honored Parker by voting to name the main hunter ring as “The Parker Ring?”

During a recent virtual board session, one of the committee members made the ring-naming suggestion and Horse Show President Joe Fargis announced they would vote on it right then and there.

There was nothing virtual about the decision. It was quickly approved, for all the right reasons.

“She has been a very valuable board member and participant,” Fargis said. “She’s been extremely generous with her time and so much more. And she’s been a great friend and supporter of the horse show and the community for a long time.”

Parker said she was totally surprised, and greatly honored.

“I never imagined as a junior rider from Minnesota that something like this could happen,” Parker told Country ZEST. “Any time I showed a pony at Upperville, I was just in awe of the place. I’m humbled that my peers in the horse show world and the committee would do this. It is very special.”

Just as special, it’s the only named ring at Upperville. She’s also believed to be the first woman to have a show ring named for her on the major show circuit.

“If any of the Upperville rings should be named, it ought to be for Colonel Dulany,” Parker said, referring to Colonel Richard Henry Dulany, who founded the show in 1853. “It’s just a great honor.”

Parker is no stranger to such things. She’s an ordained Episcopal minister and has a Masters from the Harvard Divinity School. Living in Manhattan in 2001, she was among the first responders at the World Trade Center on 9/11, working primarily with the Chief Medical Examiner of New York to help identify victims. She was later honored for her service.

She’s a decorated member of the United Nations, serving in multiple capacities, with an emphasis toward sustainable development and climate-change issues in Africa. She’s also been a keynote speaker on sustainable development at the Vatican.

In Middleburg, her Huntland Farm is home to many of her retired world-class show horses and ponies. She’s also the proud owner of a 15th century castle, Ackergill Tower on the rugged northeast coast of Scotland, converting it from a luxury hotel into her private home. The castle once was a garrison for Oliver Cromwell’s troops.

Still, Middleburg remains her main residence, and the Upperville Horse Show remains one of her main passions.

“It’s just a wonderful show,” she said. “I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”