By Galen C. McBride Rappahannock News Staff Writer Though

By Galen C. McBride

Rappahannock News Staff Writer

Though his partners typically have more legs and tails, horse show champion Ian Silitch of Sperryville considers being a professional horseman “little different from any other kind of self-employed businessman.” To be successful, he suggests, requires “doing your job the best you can,” providing top quality customer service, managing finances intelligently, and maintaining a reputation for honesty, integrity, and dependability. “That’s an axiom that most businesses build on,” said Silitch. “You especially have to be a personable type, able to get along with people, and while you do have to be able to ride well, people skills are more important.

“The horse business is very competitive because you’re catering to a very small percentage of America’s income,” he pointed out. “It takes a mortgage payment per month to keep a horse going.”

Winner of 11 Grand Prix competitions, Silitch was the leading jumper rider at the prestigious Upperville show in 1996 and 1997. He did not compete there in 1998. The day following his interview, Silitch, his student riders, and 27 horses were headed to compete in Roanoke where they would face up to 19 obstacles crammed into an 80 foot by 150 foot ring. The horses would compete at different levels, in different classes. The show offers six different divisions for jumpers and four or five for hunters.

The Grand Prix jumping classes, with their large cash prizes, are generally the peak attraction at horse shows. “It’s the top level of show jumping,” Silitch explained. “The obstacles range from four feet nine inches to five feet three inches and can be six-and-a-half feet wide. Ninety-five percent of shows have water jumps,” often the most intimidating for horses.

In any given show, Silitch