Final farewell to ‘fearless and passionate’ horsewoman
Mrs Ann Catherine Ensten, the fearless and passionate horsewoman died peacefully at Hillcroft House Nursing Home, Stowmarket, Suffolk, on 29 September, aged 89.
Born on 21 October 1932 at Sarratt, near Rickmansworth, she was the daughter of Olympic sprinter Guy Montagu Butler and Catherine Edith Dalzell Sherer, a high diver. She was raised with her sisters in Westland Green, Hertfordshire, and it was unsurprising, given her parents’ sporting prowess, that she became very keen on sport, especially horses.
Mrs Ensten acquired a motorbike with a sidecar for her faithful collie, Wilkie, and the pair were a frequent sight travelling to her work with horses. In her early 20s an opportunity arose for her to travel to Ireland to develop her skills at the riding school run by Lt Col Joseph Hume Dudgeon, a successful international showjumper. For some six months under his watchful eye Mrs Ensten trained and rode his young hunters, and it was Colonel Dudgeon who recognised her potential as a race rider.
On her return to the UK Mrs Ensten was very active, taking on animals that wouldn’t perform for others, and turning several of them into winners. One of her contemporaries said that she had a magic touch and, in whatever she chose to do, she did it kindly and in a self-deprecating way. In those days ladies’ races were hard fought, and she was one of the best.
She met Lionel and they married in 1957. Mrs Ensten became an integral partner in their stud Elbow Lane Farm in Hertford Heath, with racehorses, showjumpers, hunters and show horses, dogs and cattle. Their children Nick and Brigit were born there.
Following the sale of the stud, the couple moved to Bury St Edmunds to train point-to-pointers for Paul Rackham, with considerable success. After her divorce Mrs Ensten moved to Joe Turner’s estate and worked for Mr and Mrs Stearn, then for Robert Bothway near Norwich.
In the late 1970s she purchased Sunnyside Farm, near Huntingdon. There she spent many happy years doing what she loved, producing horses, eventing with Brigit and Rebecca Gibbs, breeding sheep and dogs, and enjoying the company of her nieces and grandchildren. In 2002 she retired to Suffolk.
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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.