MY first recollections of Dorothy (Guilford) were through the Irish Pony Club and then the early days of the Irish Pony Society, writes Rachel Bennett.

I thought her a very forthright person, who didn’t suffer fools gladly, but, as I got to know her better, I found she was so very helpful to everyone, and if she couldn’t help herself, she would always know someone who could, no matter what the problem was. Dorothy knew everyone in the horse world, the length and breadth of the country.

For 20-odd years during the 1980s and 90s, I was producing quite a number of ponies for all categories of IPS classes and coaching their riders. I was always delighted when arriving at a show to find Dorothy judging. You knew your pony would get fair judgment on the day if it was good enough, even if it was a four-year-old.

I remember having a lovely four-year-old show hunter pony for a client making his debut under saddle at a big IPS show in Kilkenny in the 90s. Despite strong competition, Dorothy made him champion that day and, after a brilliant short career here in Ireland, he was bought by British champion jockey Pat Eddery for his daughter.

The Dublin Horse Show was another great meeting place every year. Dorothy would attend most days and was in her element watching classes and catching up with everyone. Pride of place would always be where any members of her family were competing. In more recent years, she especially loved watching the hunter championship in the Main Arena, which I also loved. We would choose our winners and then see how close we were to the final result.

Wonderful judge

Dorothy was a wonderful judge and I was lucky to judge with her a number of times. Two occasions that stand out were judging working hunter ponies at Balmoral and the working hunter and high performance classes at a very wet Clifden in 2018. I was driving on that trip west and, on the way home, I took her to Kylemore Abbey, which she hadn’t seen for years. It is also one of my favourite places, and the walled garden gets better every time you go. Another regular outing was Adams’ annual sale at Townley Hall near Drogheda every October. I would drive her up for the Sunday viewing before the sale, and afterwards we would go and have lunch in Skerries at the Stoop Your Head pub. I would drive her car on this jaunt, as Charlie and Milly the dogs would come with us. In 2017 Dorothy devised a new competition for the IPS to test young riders and their ponies purely on performance and so the Sports Pony Challenge was born. I thought the idea of this three-phase competition was a wonderful concept as it was based purely on performance and therefore would hopefully appeal to riders outside the IPS.

In the years that followed the SPC grew, a Connemara class was added and then a Novice and Novice Connemara. Children who rode in the first few years of the SPC are now competing for Ireland in eventing and in racing. Dorothy has left us a wonderful legacy during her many years of involvement in the IPS – she was on the Council right up to her passing – but I believe her greatest legacy is the SPC.

Dorothy loved all sport involving horses. She loved racing, especially National Hunt, and, in her earlier years, with her husband Ronnie and close friends David and Jean Pim, she never missed the annual Cheltenham Festival. In more recent times, she and I would have racing lunches during Cheltenham and Royal Ascot.

She also loved music and we enjoyed trips to musical evenings in interesting venues including churches. An annual event was the Carols By Candlelight in St Stephen’s (The Pepper Canister) Church on Mount Street in Dublin. My sister Philippa would bring her up for this every December and they would come and have supper in Sandymount on the way home. Dorothy was like an icon to me for nearly 50 years and she continued to be a leading example for me right up to her passing. While she was a wonderful judge of a horse or pony, she was also a very astute judge of people, always helping and encouraging, especially with the younger generation.

I have had many friends, old clients and acquaintances, but less than a handful of close friends in my life and Dorothy was one of those. She was a unique lady I was so very proud and honoured to call my friend.