‘She put her heart and soul into helping others’: farewell to passionate rider and trainer
Obituary
Judge, trainer and organiser Grizel Sackville-Hamilton, who put her heart into helping other riders has died at the age of 99.
Grizel had a strict upbringing. Her love of horses came from her father, Colonel Cecil Alexander Boyle. Her early years were spent in British India, riding her beloved chestnut pony Jimmy to school each day, and honing her equestrian skills.
Her father died when she was 16. Back in Britain, Grizel found a wartime role in the radar units, directing British and misdirecting German planes, including weather information and landing destinations, a far cry from her childhood dreams of becoming a doctor.
Although she was privileged, life was hard, which helped build her strength of character and determination to strive always to do the right thing, and help those in need.
Grizel married her soulmate James, Lt Col James Barclay Sackville-Hamilton, in 1947, after several nudging parental family gatherings. Much of her life was army-based, and led to extensive travelling, though Grizel enjoyed her years of equestrian training in Europe with her horse Mona Lisa.
Always keen to work towards list one as a British Dressage judge, Grizel was respected and admired for her fairness in providing a level playing field, whoever was in the arena, and never afraid to use the full range of marks on offer.
Grizel was presented with a British Riding Clubs (BRC) life president’s award in 2003 by the Princess Royal, for recognition of outstanding service to the riding clubs movement, having first joined in 1970. Grizel served on the BRC national executive committee. She was a riding club master judge, and Riding for the Disabled Association regional instructor.
She put heart and soul into helping local riding club members achieve goals they could only have dreamed about, travelling the length and breadth of the country, with quadrille teams and university riding clubs, among others. Nothing was ever too much trouble.
Grizel ran Northern Horse Show Dressage for many years, running as many as seven arenas over the two-day show. This raised many thousands of pounds for local charities, providing items such as an electric wheelchair for a disabled girl, a large animal sling for use by vets and the fire service, and even paying the rates for an animal rescue charity.
Grizel was devoted to her husband and her four children, who were all taught to ride on Hamish, a cheeky Shetland. The family finally settled in Acklam, North Yorkshire, when James retired in 1970.
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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.