Manor offers more than meets eye
By ROGER ADKINS, radkins@newsandsentinel.comWAVERLY - Meredith Manor is one of the most respected institutions for equestrian studies in the world, but many residents don't realize it's in Wood County.
"When I go out to buy maintenance equipment, I've had people say, "Oh, yeah, for that horse place out there," said Ron Meredith, president and founder of the school.
The individuals who are aware of Meredith Manner think of it as a business, not a school.
"The biggest thing I see is the general public thinks of us as a big horse business and actually we're a little school," Meredith said.
Meredith founded the school in 1963 with six students. The first resident students were accepted in 1966. In 1968, the school was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Services and the first riding master course was introduced that year. Meredith Manor was accredited by the National Association of Trade and Technical Schools and U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1971. The school has offered college affiliate programs since 1973.
"We were the first accredited trade school of any type in West Virginia and we were the first accredited school in the horse industry when that happened," Meredith said.
The school offers six levels in its riding master program, an equine science master program and a farrier program. Program lengths are from 12 weeks to 18 months, said Dirk Bosgraf, marketing director for the school.
The school has seven barns, six indoor arenas, a cafeteria, dorms, a farrier shop, a main office, an accounting office, maintenance buildings and other facilities. It employs 28 people, including 10 instructors.
Several exciting projects have been taking place at Meredith Manor in the past couple of years, Bosgraf said.
"One we finished a year and a half ago was a new building for the farrier school," he said.
Meredith said one end of a barn was remodeled to accommodate the shoeing of as many as 10 horses at a time. The space includes forges, benches, anvils and other equipment where students, under the direction of instructor John Crothers, can work on their forging skills.
"We went from being able to do two horses at once to being able to do about 10. It's brought in a lot of students just for shoeing, whereas before it was just one of the career areas for a lot of the students," Meredith said.
Bosgraf said Crothers is a master farrier and a great benefit to the school.
"He's been here for about two years now. Since we brought him in and added the new shop, we have an average of 12 students in the course at a time, whereas before we would have one or two," he said.
During the summer, which is the slowest period for the school, an average of 80 students are learning on campus. During busier times of the year, about 100 students are enrolled in programs at the school. The increase in enrollment prompted school officials to purchase several large cargo trailers to convert into additional dormitories. Each trailer has a bathroom, kitchenette and bunk beds, and can house two students.
Meredith Manor is home to about 145 horses, Meredith said. There is emphasis on constantly bringing in new horses so students learn as much as possible about training, he said.
"People send us horses from all over the United States. Generally, we constantly change the horses. That's what the kids need to learn on. Horses that are already trained are not the thing to learn to train on," he said.
One of the school's current students, Jason Amaroso, hails from Trinidad and recently completed the farrier program at Meredith Manor. He is continuing his education in other areas. Amaroso is an officer with the mounted police in Trinidad and his department agreed to pay his tuition because of the school's accreditation.
When he returns home, Amaroso will be the department's farrier.
"I was interested in a farrier course and my mom lives in New York so she started checking out schools. We learned that Meredith Manor was one of the best equestrian schools in America," Amaroso said. "John teaches you everything from start to finish. You don't need to know anything when you come in."
International students are common at Meredith Manor. Students have come from Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Israel and many other places.
In addition, the student body at the school is composed of mostly out-of-state students, Bosgraf said.
Meredith said the school's purpose is to train people to excel in the modern horse industry.
"The bottom line is truly handling horses - knowing exactly what to do with them to teach them how to pay attention to you so you can communicate with them and getting away from the old concepts of breaking horses - is what it takes in this day and age to really make it. That's what we teach," Meredith said.
