For Wisemans, Upperville Show is a Family Affair
by Sophie Schepps
Alexa Wiseman’s involvement with the Upperville Colt & Horse Show began as a spectator. Growing up in Washington, D.C., her family would make the drive to Upperville and sit on the grassy hill to watch the Grand Prix every year. She began riding at the Rock Creek Park Horse Center and as a pre-teen, switched from spectating to competing.
Wiseman’s equestrian passions spread throughout her family and drew them to Middleburg.
“I began to take competition more seriously through college and my family made the move out to the Middleburg area and began Windsor Farm,” she said. “My passion grew from there.”
Windsor Farm, owned by Wiseman’s parents, Margaret and Francis O’Neill, specializes in boutique breeding, training and sale of Grand Prix horses. For the past several decades, Wiseman’s family has imported and bred some of the finest European Sport Horses, and many have competed around the globe.
Alexa Wiseman competes up to eight horses at a time, many of them her own homebreds, in the Middleburg area and at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. She and her husband, Tom Wiseman, of Middleburg’s Wiseman & Associates, have just purchased a farm in Florida. The whole family, including their three-year-old son William, makes the move down south for much of the winter.
“I try to keep a balance of fox hunting up here and getting some sun down in Florida,” said Tom, also an avid equestrian. Their combined families are landowners in Orange County, Piedmont and Blue Ridge Hunt territories.
Young William already has started his riding career on his pony, Meatball. In true cowboy fashion, he currently rides in a western saddle.
“I just want to keep it fun for him,” said Alexa. “He’s a boy and doesn’t have any interest in getting in the lead line ring. Whenever he asks to ride is when we go to the barn.”
After the birth of her son, Alexa began to focus on the operational side of theUpperville show as member of the board. Her mother Francis also serves on the board and was instrumental in establishing the Friday Night Welcomes Stakes class by raising the money one small donation at a time. The Upperville show runs June 6-12.
This year Alexa is chair of the second annual Great UCHS Barn Charity Challenge. “We have asked all the competitors to clean out their pantries before they come to Upperville and donate to Seven Loaves,” she said. “The barn that can raise the most between their riders, trainers, and supporters will win a free grooming stall.”
Creating programs like this is one reason Wiseman said she’s is proud to be a part ofthe Upperville show each year.
“Upperville has always been more than just a hunter/jumper show with the huge variety of classes and the fact that it’s the oldest horse show, but the facility was outdated,” she said. “Now we are at the same level of the top shows in the world and can draw in top competitors.”
She currently has three horses competing at the Grand Prix level and hopes to qualify for the Jumper Classic held on Sunday, June 12. With Wiseman & Associates as one of the top sponsors of the show, the whole family will be in attendance all week.
“What’s so nice about Upperville is that there is really something for everyone,” said Tom. “Besides the horses, the car show and all the different events all week means that everyone has such a great time.”