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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.96 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Ron and Margaret Southern Interview |
Scope & Content |
Ron and Margaret Southern interview, 1 November 2006. Digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Two videos with a total viewing time of 00:57:50. (The Southerns were interviewed together; the individual answering the question is indicated after the time stamp; Spruce Meadows is abbreviated to SM) 1 of 2: 00:00Chatting with interviewer on Spruce Meadows on topics such as TV, the traffic, the city/country situation and attendance 06:34Introduction for web site 07:16, MargHow did you meet: met while in school, both played on their respective basketball teams, played many other sports 08:03, RonHow did you get involved in horses: Marg was in the first graduating class at the University of Alberta in physical education, she was interested in all sports and had a great interest in parks and recreation; Ron was a businessman; got the business to the stage where they felt it was time to could back into the community; the sport that interested them was show jumping; felt there was much more that could be done from a standpoint of the basic family values; together with their daughters conceived the idea, that was a dream then, called SM today 09:46, MargBefore SM, was there horse jumping in Calgary: there were some good riders in Western Canada and some indoor arenas, some outside jumping; if a rider wanted to become better at this sport had to go to Ontario and Quebec; brought their daughters and other children to compete in the East, difficulty with the humidity for the horses and people; after a few years thought about building something in the West, never dreamed of SM as it is 30 years later, wanted to build something where young riders could train and compete and if good enough could go farther in the sport, including the Olympics, decided we would do something, if they had been involved in another sport might have done something along that line, always loved horses 11:29, RonStill look back on it - it was a highly unlikely sport, a highly unlikely location and an unlikely chance of success, even today the vast majority of the best riders are in the East due to the population, to have a venue where not just people from the Americas but from around the world would come to a venue in the West was very unlikely 12:23, RonHow did you find a place for SM: they checked for farm land availability and finally settled on some land that was a feed grain lot owned by Mrs. Copithorne, whose family were well-known Alberta ranchers; paid $2,000 an acre over a 5 year period at a 5% interest rate; tells great story about negotiating with the former owner; that was the beginning of SM and the dream evolved as they went along 15:50, MargHow did you come up with the name: the family all wanted the word 'meadows' and daughter Linda suggested 'spruce'; the land was on the bald prairie and there were no trees around, Marg had always been involved in planting trees and they planted 180 spruce trees that died from the drought, replaced them with poplar trees that now lined the driveway, now have spruce trees and plant about 85 trees a year, over the 30 years, try to make it look like a park so when people come from the city that they feel they have come into a horse facility but it's a park-like setting 20:13, MargWhat place horse jumping has in Canadian culture: the West is built on the back of the horse, we are also cowboys and rodeo is a big thing here; to introduce show jumping knew it was not going to catch on so easily, Ron had his doubts, but always felt that the horse was the important part, (21:03 Ron) the horse is international and spans the generations and spans the country and continents, people are fascinated by the horse; talks about the shift in family values as people have lost their touch with the land and have become disenchanted with many other aspects of life, how many places can you go where it costs so little, he says "anybody can come over the fence free", SM is international with great sport and excitement, great atmosphere, has this 'Camelot-like' feeling that is hard to explain, the feeling of tranquility and excitement 24:48 MargOn the money aspect: there is good money in the sport now for the athletes, many corporations have come in to help build SM, talks about the circle of sponsorship dollars, TV, media and the fans; (25:22 Ron) talks about the benefits that come off the loop, never thought it would become a tourism destination, talks about the attendance and the fact that SM is broadcast on TV in 108 countries around the world 26:27 Marg & RonBroadcast in Australia, England, Yugoslavia, Bejing, New Delhi 27:28, MargDid you have a rough idea of the plan for SM: they were completely involved in the planning, talks about their first course designer Pamela Crothers who helped design the rings; now have 7 rings that are the equal to any other rings anywhere else in the world and all are given the same care; (28:22 Ron) each has a different ambiance; (Marg) do that with the thought that the young riders dream about riding in the SM International Ring, will keep it that way, talks about the pony ring & the need to have something to look up to 29:19, Rontalks about the tournaments, the way they are set up and being in the top 5 in the world; talks about tournaments, the money and how each ring provides a different experience for the horse and the rider; easy to say that it's like that but thinking about how to get it like that isn't easy 31:37, MargYou built a modest place, was there something early on that made you think that you had something here: don't believe that our expectations were anything to what we have today, built on a good foundation in the sense that we didn't try to build everything at one time, every year tried to do something a little different, a little better than the year before and tried to enhance it; people from other countries who are building a similar facility come, "I think that the secret to the success of SM was that it was build in blocks and then the building blocks continue to be diversified with new ideas. If we had tried to build it all at one time I don't think it would have been a success." 33:12, RonTalks about how his daughter Linda, who is now President of SM, introduced the aspect of the tournaments being held in different rings; there is a team of young and old professionals who learned the business of sport at SM, definitive group of people in this sport in the world; meter out the growth with quality so when you come to see and feel it, you feel there is excellence 36:18, MargOn 3 options to expand, maintain or build another one: can't ever leave things stagnant, not interested in setting up elsewhere, interested in enhancing what they have, only route they can go, talks about the fan experience and not wanting to take that away, know they can't keep it the same, got to go forward, try to think of new ideas that makes it interesting and enticing for people to come; if you are a lover of the sport you are going to come because the top jumpers in the world are here but have to have other things, talks about Calgary as a young city and the ethnic diversity that is great to build on, they add to the whole feeling 38:03, RonThe quality and the excellence of the focus to everything that is done there and try to differentiate it from anything else, growth aspect come from its utiliism; (Marg) talks about the tournament they held for young riders from around the world and how they will be the ambassadors for the sport and SM and will continue to do things like that, (39:47 Ron) when the sport started it was reported on the society page, the concept was elitism and high society, "good sport needs to be a sport of the people" 2 of 2, 00:00 RonTalks about top riders getting sponsorships and doing well and that the majority of the riders don't have anything, those trying to get up in the sport have a great passion for it and intense commitment and are involved at great personal sacrifice 02:11, Marg & RonOn the visit of the Queen: Marg was a lady-in-waiting and travelled with her, she suggested that they hold a competition and call it the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, talks about the day and the Queen as a person; the competition was one of several events being held in Calgary, it was a special day for the fans and the athletes; Ron was with his daughters ready to greet the Queen and talks about the protocol and security around the visit 12:72 MargIt is really about the horse, if you take the horse away SM would be nothing. Itg has to do with the horse and we don't make any excuses about that. 14:00 RonTalks about the coverage by the European media; talks about the daily programmes and newspaper available for the fans |
Date |
2006/11/01 |
People |
Southern, Margaret Southern, Ron Southern, Nancy Southern, Linda |
Search Terms |
Interview Show Jumping Equestrian Margaret Southern Ron Southern Spruce Meadows FEI Federation Equestre Internationale Masters Tournament |