Farewell to international all-round competitor Barbara Hammond

Barbara Hammond, who died on 9 November aged 66, was one of the few riders to compete at international level in all three major equestrian disciplines.

Born in Lancs, Bar (née Pearson) rode in the eventing European Championships at Burghley in 1962 aged 19, finishing 12th.

She achieved nine Badminton and six Burghley rides in a 16-year career, her best horse being Eagle Rock whom she also rode at the World Championships in 1974.

Marlay QC completed Burghley in 1965 and went on to be a grade A jumper. Marlay Password took Bar to the Foxhunter final.

She took up dressage in the mid-1970s and rode at the dressage World Championships at Goodwood in 1978.

Ten years later, she was selected to ride at the 1988 Seoul Olympics on Krist. Bar married Christopher Hammond in 1967 and their Dorking home — complete with its monkeys and bears — became one of the top eventing yards in the country.

Bar’s smile and bare feet around the events, together with her enormous encouragement of the young, will be long remembered and missed.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (3 December, ’09)

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