Fred Scott, Jr.
(434) 295-4188

AMERICAN WORK HORSE MUSEUM

When Dr. Andy Swiger, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech and Fred Scott of Bundoran Farm were serving together on the executive committee of the board of the State Fair of Virginia, Andy asked Fred for his advice and help with a nice collection of horse-drawn equipment that had been given to the College by Dr. & Mrs. Henry Buckardt of Leesburg.

Andy Swiger knew that the Bundoran horse teams traveled around the state in parades and on behalf of the Bowman Companies.

Two years later, with the massive help of the draft horse and mule community in Virginia, The American Work Horse Museum was formally opened at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, VA, with Mrs. Buckardt in attendance, along with a hundred or so draft horse and mule owners and enthusiasts.

We were amused by the Dean's response to our request for comments on our farm operations: Andy, a big football fan, commented: "Though suffering the stigma of being a UVA graduate, Fred Scott, in his later years, has wisely chosen to be a staunch supporter and good friend of that great university in the far west now known as Virginia Tech........."

Then, catching himself: "No, no, you wouldn't want that. Let's start all over again....

"Our College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and I personally will be eternally grateful for the leadership role he played in creating the American Work Horse Museum at the Virginia Horse Center. A truly extraordinary commitment of personal time and resources."

(Reading the comments above, you can see why Andy is the Dean while Fred is still worrying about the proper use of the gerund, even though he's not really the worrying type.)

It's a pretty terrific little museum, nothing else in the country is quite like it: fully-functioning and well-kept horse equipment, archival photographs of the machines in use, and all located at the prominent upper grandstand level of one of the major horse show facilities in the country.

The American Work Horse Museum is presented by Virginia Tech, as part of its educational mission. We think that it's worth a visit, and admission is free!

We were glad to help, particularly when the nice notes came in:

From the Virginia Horse Center: "...to acknowledge your outstanding efforts with the museum," said John Scott

From George Chocklatt "...the museum is very popular and...is helping to perpetuate an important part of our heritage."

Dr. Swiger adds: "What a marvelous contribution you have made to history. Virginia Tech and I will always be in the debt of the Wahoo [editor's note: a University of Virginia graduate!] who bailed us out of a tight spot in a most unselfish, effective, even glorious way"

How very nice! Those comments made all the work worthwhile; and it was an honor to be involved.

Contact the Virginia Horse Center or by phone at 540-463-2194,
or write to them at PO Box 1051, Lexington, VA 24450



Would we build another museum? No, thanks, but we'd be glad to discuss it! Contact Us..