Farewell to top pony breeder, producer, mentor and friend who was known for her ‘brilliant eye’
Obituary
By Tom Best
Cecilia Debonnaire Ruchwaldy (née Temple), the much-loved and respected producer and breeder died on 1 June, aged 78.
Better known to the equestrian community as Babs, she was born on 16 February 1947 at Wennington, Lancaster. It was her parents’ love of horses and hunting with the Vale of Lune Harriers that would fashion her future. In 1960 the Temples moved to Yealand Hall, in Yealand Redmayne, Lancashire, where Babs would always call home.
With ardent hunting parentage, it was no wonder that during their formative years, the Temple children rode ponies to hounds and were regulars on the northern show circuit where Babs won extensively with her Irish-bred ponies of which, Gypsy, was her favourite.
After leaving school Babs attended the Harris College of Art at Preston. She left studies to concentrate on looking after her parents’ hunters and pointers, and latterly mules and a zonkey, which her father Sir Ernest Sanderson Temple famously drove.
Babs bred riding ponies under the Yealand prefix, which she took over from her mother Lady June Debonnaire. She produced ponies to the highest level and was in demand to produce for others, especially in ridden classes where they won extensively at county level and regularly appeared at the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS).
Babs crossed mares with thoroughbred or Arab blood with her pony stallions, which were descendants of Bwlch Valentino. With the emergence of the hunter type, the Yealand ponies came into their own and became a model for the future. Wembley winners included Yealand Praise and Yealand Presbytery; Yealand Chapter won the supreme pony championship at the Royal International, and Yealand Angelina was the 2007 HOYS show hunter of the year, to name just a few.
Acknowledged by her contemporaries as well as fellow judges and friends, Babs had a naturally brilliant eye for a pony and was in demand as a judge the length and breadth of the country as well as overseas. It was a privilege to stand by her side at a ring while the judging was in process to hear her assessment of the ponies being judged. Constructively critical, but always positive, never overly harsh nor vindictive, and full of praise for the ponies that filled her knowledgeable eye. She could spot the potential of young ponies as demonstrated by the purchase of Crawel Swansong and Dyffryngwy Sir Picasso at the Welsh sales – both went on to great things in the show ring including at Olympia, where Picasso reigned supreme in 2019.
Babs belonged to the “old school” with traditional values expected of equines and people. Never one to blow her own trumpet, she was quiet and unassuming but great company.
In 1978 she married Anthony Ruchwaldy, whose son, James, Babs treated as her own and remained supportive of him after her marriage ended. She had a wonderful way with young people and took many riders under her wing, one of them Emma Burrow. Babs would be her life-long mentor, trainer and close friend, and the person to whom Babs entrusted her mares when she gave up breeding.
It goes without saying that Babs has been the most outstanding breeder of show hunter ponies and produced a model in type that current breeders would do well to emulate. Her considerable contribution to pony breeding continues now through Emma’s own prefix, Lindeth, full of Yealand breeding, which has already come to the top at HOYS, something of which Babs was very proud.
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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.