The horsey set focuses on books, trees, dogs, and ponies (of course).

By Vicky Moon

Evelyn Keyes, Coleman Jackson, and Gail Clark were guests at the closing night of the Washington International Horse Show. (Photo by Vicky Moon)

A NIGHT IN TOWN

Hunt Country residents gathered in the Acela Club, high above the dirt-covered floor of the Verizon Center, for a casino-themed party during the final evening of the Washington International Horse Show. Kris Gali was on the arm of Bob Foosaner watching the action as 17-year-old equestrian Jessica Springsteen, daughter of rock star Bruce Springsteen, chatted away quietly with a young man nearby. At another white-linenclad table, competitor Alison Firestone Robitalle of Upperville studied the jumps as they were set  for finals. Alison is the daughter of Diana and Bert Firestone who owned and raced the late Genuine Risk, winner of the 1980 Kentucky Derby.

Several guests reported Academy Award winner/ filmmaker Steven Spielberg was in the building because his daughter, Destry Spielberg, was one of the many young riders in the pony classes. All the while, the blond and beautiful show president Juliet Weber Reid (a great granddaughter of Campbell’s Soup tycoon Dr. John T. Dorrance) never skipped a beat while smiling and greeting all who entered.

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Brides and grooms, estimable estates, and the very best autumn benefits in Hunt Country.

By Vicky Moon

The recent groundbreaking for the $4.4 million 13,000-square foot National Sporting Art Museum. Turner Reuter, Jacqueline Ohrstrom, Clarke Ohrstrom, Manuel Johnson, Charles Akre, Jacqueline Mars, and Betsee Parker at the 1804 Federal brick Vine Hillon the west edge of Middleburg. The center will open in 2011 with “Afield in America: Four Hundred Years of Animal and Sporting Art, 1585- 1985.”(Photo courtesy of the Sporting Library by Dee Dee Hubbard)

NUPTIALS OF NOTE

Julie Martin and Charley Matheson tied the knot recently after a long courtship. The bride’s mother, Diane Martin, and her sisters Mia Glickman and Suzanne Cooke, were in attendance as well as the bridegroom’s brothers and sister, friends, and other family members at an elegant reception at the couple’s home, “RoseBank.” The newlyweds, who share a love of horses, have been documenting their fox hunting forays, with Julie carrying a video camera on horseback –quite a feat while galloping over hill and dale.

Richmond native Janie Covington and Andrew Motion, a local gentleman/ estate agent with Sheridan-MacMahon Ltd., have announced their engagement and will soon join the Mathesons as prominent Hunt Country newlyweds.

REAL ESTATE NEWS

“The Oaks,” the 215-acre estate formerly owned by philanthropist and environmentalist Joan Irvine Smith (as in the Irvine Museum, University of California/Irvine, etc.) has been sold. Some will recall that Smith’s late former husband, Cappy Smith, was a legendary dashing horseman and a master of the Orange County Hunt.

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