READERS of a certain age will remember Ruth Rogers with great affection. She was very much part of my youth and my early days going racing, though she moved away from that area and, consequently, out of many racing people’s radar.

Thankfully, I reconnected with Ruth through my role at The Irish Field and for many years now she has been a champion of the Connemara pony in this paper, and a hugely popular contributor to the Irish Horse World and to our Dublin Horse Show magazine. Her death late on Tuesday night has left us feeling numb and saddened.