24 SIDELINES JUNE 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Rebecca Walton
Collin F. McNeil, co-owner of Callan Solem Show Stables, was
recently elected to the Board of Directors for the Lake Placid Horse
Shows. Collin and his family are dedicated equestrians, attending
the Lake Placid Horse Shows for many years as exhibitors and
spectators. Collin’s involvement with the equestrian community
is extensive. Having been named a Master of Foxhounds for
the Radnor Hunt in Malvern, PA in 2011, he also serves on the
Boards of the Radnor Hounds Foundation, the Pickering Hunt
Foundation, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show and the
Devon Horse Show. In addition to his equestrian activities, Collin
has had a prolifc and varied career as a writer and journalist,
business executive and motion picture producer. Collin hopes
to use his experience to assist the Lake Placid Horse Show with
strategic planning; helping it to further strengthen its reputation as
one of the best horse shows in the country.
You were recently named to the Board of Directors for Lake
Placid, what are you looking forward to most in this new role?
Becoming closer to Richard Feldman and his wife Diana as they
really are the champions of the horse show. One of the things they
do is make you feel like you’re a member of their extended family.
To the extent that I can work more closely with them, from a social
perspective it’s a delight. From the horse show perspective, I
have always enjoyed the Lake Placid Horse Shows and there is
a particularly positive atmosphere there that is partially due to the
Feldmans and the way they run the show; but also because it
takes place in the frst half of the summer. The season has just
started and people are excited to be out in the fresh mountain air.
Where do you think you can most utilize your skills on the
Lake Placid Board?
I like to think that I am a worldly person and because of my
experience I know a lot of people, I’ve traveled extensively, I’ve
seen the way other shows operate and I’ve been exposed to
the way other kinds of athletic events are put together. I have a
marketing and communications background, so if I am asked to
do so, I can help further with the marketing and positioning of the
show as one of the best in the country, if not North America.
How would you like to see Lake Placid grow?
One is the grand prix events. I’d like to see them viewed as
among the best in North America. I’d like to help the show boost
the prize money, so that it’s diffcult for the best riders to go
anywhere else during the frst weeks of the summer. The other
key event is the hunter derby. I’d like to see purses increase there
to attract even more accomplished riders to Lake Placid.
How has your partnership with Grand Prix rider Callan Solem
changed your view of equestrian competitions?
I have always known that it was a tough sport; but once my
wife started show jumping I realized pretty quickly that it’s not
only a very technical sport; but also very physically challenging.
It wasn’t too many years into her career as an adult jumper that
she broke her back. To watch my wife fght back from the injury
Collin McNeil
Photos by Rebecca Walton/Phelps Media Group
to the point where she has become an even better rider under
Callan’s tutelage has been very remarkable. The amount of work
that Callan puts into her training and preparation is amazing and
impressive.
As an avid foxhunter, would you like to see horses and
hounds at Lake Placid?
The Radnor Hunt parades hounds frequently at Devon and at
the Brandywine Valley Association races. People really love to
see that. I think the closest foxhunt to Lake Placid is in Burlington,
Vermont. So it would be nice to get the huntsman there to bring
hounds to Lake Placid for the day and show people the spectacle
of the horses and hounds.
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At Lake Placid