'You don't take from community, you give'

Thomas Seay comes from humble stock.

“We were poor mountain people growing up,” he said. “Both sides of my family were rural, hard working people.”

Seay, who has graced TV sets in several countries and traversed the United States on horseback several times, grew up on a farm in the backwoods of Spotsylvania County, and it was there he learned about life and the importance of a community.

“You become a part of a community to make it better,” Seay said. “You don’t take from the community, you give.”

That philosophy led the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors to recognize Seay March 2 as one of the recipients of the annual Culpeper Colonel Awards.

“That was a nice surprise,” Seay said. “I’m quite honored and appreciative and really humbled by it.”

Seay volunteers with the Lignum Ruritan Club and local EMS companies. He is also a member of the joint board of zoning appeals.

Seay hasn’t been as active in the Lignum Ruritan Club as he was in the Chancellor chapter, but he says he plans to get back in the swing of things in the near future.

“The civic community was always in the forefront while I was growing up,” Seay said. “I learned from a young age not to expect the government to come in and do things that we could do for ourselves.”

Seay has been involved in Ruritan Clubs for 41 years. He posted 27 years of perfect attendance in Chancellor, and is a former president and regional governor.

Seay’s civic resume is undeniable, but his true passion lies in the rustic lifestyle and the great outdoors.

“My heart is in farming,” said the owner of Andora Farms on Route 3. “I’ve been around horses all my life. I don’t consider myself a competitor, but I thoroughly enjoy the bond between horse and rider.”

That relationship was the driving force behind Seay’s latest TV special, “Best of America by Horseback,” which will air on RFD-TV this summer and be seen in several European countries.

“We just wanted to show all the beautiful places in America you can ride by horseback,” he said.

Seay has ridden from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, traversed the Baja Desert on horseback and been accompanied by former President Jimmy Carter.

He has led people from 41 states and eight countries on an excursion from Mexico to Canada and consulted on shows such as “The West Wing.”

Seay has probably experienced a couple lifetimes worth of adventures and accomplished many feats along the way, but if you ask him about his greatest accomplishments he’ll tell you they’re the ones that come close to home.

“The thing I’m most proud of is both of my sons serve their communities,” he said. “One is a police officer in Spotsylvania, and the other is a fire marshal.”