DOROTHY Guilford (neé Macnamara) of Newcastle, Co Wicklow and formerly Foxrock, Dublin, died unexpectedly on January 25th, in her 90th year.

Deeply regretted and sadly missed by her loving children Elizabeth, Simon and Susan, her grandchildren Sophie, Rosemary, Hannah, Holly and Patrick, her sisters Hazel and Gillian, extended family and friends.

Dorothy will be remembered as a stalwart of the equestrian community, giving countless hours to the Irish Pony Club (IPC) and the Riding for the Disabled Association of Ireland (RDAI).

Dorothy was D.C of the Bray Pony Club and, with a few likeminded friends, helped introduce equestrianism into Paralympics. In 1994, she judged dressage at the World Paralympic Championships at Hartbury. In 2018, she was honoured by the RDS in acknowledgement of her contribution to equestrianism in Ireland.

Long-standing friend

Writing on Facebook, the IPC said: “The Irish Pony Club community are deeply saddened by the passing of Dorothy Guilford, a true long-standing friend of the club. Dorothy was district commissioner of the Bray branch for many years, a member of the Horse Trials committee, represented area one and was also on the board of the Irish Pony Club. Dorothy had a life of living and giving right to the end. Rest in peace, Dorothy.”

The RDAI’S message of condolence was: “All of us in RDAI Area East will remain eternally grateful to Dorothy for her knowledge, expertise, dedication and commitment to the South Co Dublin group. She made a difference to the lives of so many special children from Sandymount School. She was a very valued volunteer of RDAI for so many years and she will be missed enormously by all of who knew her.”

Good humour

Among dozens of other messages of condolences was this from Tony Ennis: “Dorothy was a remarkable lady in so many ways. Her inspiration, knowledge and good humour spoke for itself. It was always a pleasure to be in her company and a generous host every time I visited. Her knowledge and support of equestrianism was immense and it was always a pleasure to judge with her. Dorothy will be sadly missed.”