‘A great loss to the equine community’: farewell to tireless campaigner for equestrians
John Featherstone, who gave 50 years of volunteering for equestrian rights of way has died aged 88
British Horse Society (BHS) county bridleway officer for Hertfordshire John Featherstone has passed away aged 88.
John had been the county bridleway officer since 1974; before that, he was BHS bridleway officer for the London Borough of Harrow.
He devoted many hours of his time to horse riders and horse-drawn carriage drivers.
In 2000, he received his BHS award of merit from the Princess Royal.
The citation said: “John Featherstone has been a valued access and bridleways officer for the British Horse Society for over 25 years. John’s bridleways work started in part of Greater London, but more recently he has been the BHS Hertfordshire access officer. He has tirelessly travelled miles across the county, gathering vital evidence on the use of bridleways and conducting extensive research into public records, which has taken hours, frequently days, and sometimes weeks of his time and effort.
“Both horse and rider have benefited from his enormous determination and selfless dedication. John’s performance at public inquiries has always given great credit to the society, which has benefited from his expertise.”
In 2024, he received his BHS 50-year long-service certificate at Newbury racecourse.
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Not only was John instrumental in improving the rights-of-way network within Hertfordshire, but he also enhanced road safety by arranging the provision of signalled pegasus road crossing points on major roads, as well as horse warning signs.
He will be a great loss to the equine community in Hertfordshire and to the BHS Hertfordshire access and road safety team, who will greatly miss him for his valuable input and the advice and guidance he gave over many years.
He was one in a million and will be very hard to replace.
He leaves his wife Susanne, a great supporter of his BHS work.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.