Farewell to event organiser remembered for her ‘immense contribution’ to the sport
Pattie Biden, the former rider and event organiser, died on 1 October, aged 74.
By Jan Cottam
Pattie Biden, the former rider and event organiser, died on 1 October, aged 74.
Pattie was a vivacious individual who devoted her life to eventing. She was brought up in Hertfordshire where, supported by non-horsey parents, she and her twin sister Carol learnt to ride. Pattie was bitten by the horsey bug and decided she wanted to go eventing.
After leaving school Pattie went to train with Alison Oliver, at her yard near Windsor. This was where she met the Princess Royal. They competed in horse trials alongside each other for many years. Pattie rode at Burghley and Badminton, and her best horse was Little Extra.
Pattie started to organise Barnsley Park with a committee of eventing enthusiasts.
When it finished, the princess asked Pattie if she would take the event to Gatcombe Park estate. By this time, Captain Mark Phillips was running “big” Gatcombe in the middle of the season so Pattie organised the first March Gatcombe, at novice level. With the generous sponsorship of Land Rover, an intermediate cross-country course was developed, and an additional Gatcombe event was established in September.
For almost three decades, Pattie was director and organiser of the two Little Gatcombe Horse Trials, the Princess Royal designing the cross-country courses. Competitors at the March event used the same distinctive bib numbers as Burghley and the September event, latterly sponsored by Whatley Manor Hotel, grew to become an international. Both events were always heavily oversubscribed.
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After staging around 50 events, Gatcombe Horse Trials ended in 2019.
During her time as an organiser, with a small group of others, Pattie set up the British Eventing Organisers’ Association, which remains an important group for organisers. She was also a much respected British Eventing steward and the regional director for the south and west of England.
Pattie was an inventive, strong, kind and generous individual. She was hard-working, always immaculately turned out and had a great attention to detail. As an event approached, in the evenings she was often found with her sister Carol, painting white sticks for the cross-country tracks; she never stopped.
Towards the end of her life, she faced some difficult challenges but she will always be remembered for her immense contribution to eventing and her infectious smile.
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.