‘To finish really is to win’: farewell to gold series rider and equestrian board member
Obituary
Mike Bell, the respected member of the endurance community finished the “endurance ride of life” on 9 June, aged 82.
The sport played a big part of Mr Bell’s life with his horses, Border Isca and Border Pascale. His partnership with them took him from pleasure rides to being a gold series rider in the early days of the Scottish Endurance Riding Club (SERC) border branch.
Mr Bell served as chairman of the border branch and, along with the Endurance Horse and Pony Society and the British Endurance Riding Association (together now Endurance GB), was involved with Hadrian’s Challenge, a competition between branches surrounding Hadrian’s Wall, which ran for 21 years.
When Endurance GB was formed, Mr Bell was SERC’s representative and elected as part of the management board for endurance riders in the north for several years. He adored his horses and they gave him their all, competing in the Golden Horseshoe ride several times. He was man of the month in Horse & Hound one year when he came back after a life-threatening virus, which added to his mobility disabilities.
He managed to combine competing all over Britain with selling Ortho-Flex saddles and equipment, trading as Border Trails Endurance, at the same time. His horse was passed to his adoring “crew’, his wife Sally, while Mr Bell would be off to the tradestand to sell saddles. He also was widely known for his riding holiday business that he ran with Sally in Northumberland in the 1980s.
Endurance riding, helping run events and promoting the sport with information stands for Endurance GB was what kept him going. Disability and ill-health blighted the last few years of his life. The sport of endurance may have changed but his involvement in it, with his enthusiasm and love of horses, will be remembered by his friends from way back. To finish really is to win.
He leaves Sally, son Jameson, and grandson Harrison.
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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.