Rosemary Herbert, the revered dressage choose and mentor died peacefully on 20 September 2024, aged 96.
Rosemary, or Roy as she was identified to a lot of her pals, was born on 28 January 1928. Introduced up in Lancashire, she loved driving her pony on the seaside and within the sand dunes at Southport, and going to native gymkhanas and Pony Membership occasions.
After faculty, Rosemary attended Porlock Vale Using College underneath Captain Tony Collings, who was well-known for coaching the 1952 Olympic eventing staff. Rosemary developed her data and driving abilities, and her ardour for dressage was sparked.
She grew to become secretary of the Grafton department of the Pony Membership within the Seventies when she steadily wrote for dressage judges and round this time, determined to grow to be a choose herself. She rapidly moved up the degrees and in 1987 grew to become a Listing One choose.
From right here, she grew to become concerned in pony, junior, younger rider and senior groups, travelling throughout Europe as a chef d’équipe or selector for Britain. A few of her proudest moments have been when Nice Britain received a younger rider silver medal in 1986 and a senior European silver medal in 1993.
She loved mentoring up-and-coming judges, a lot of whom have grow to be revered judges themselves. She was massively revered within the equestrian world, priding herself on her integrity and all the time prepared to share her data and nice wealth of expertise with others.
Rosemary prided herself on her integrity and her daughter Judy Hancock – additionally a dressage choose – remembers her mom’s sound recommendation to all the time choose actually: “She all the time used to say, simply go together with your intestine. Don’t attempt to say what you assume individuals need to hear. If it’s improper, it’s improper. If it’s proper, it’s proper, however simply be true to your self.”
