Equestrian obituaries - July 2009

Leslie John Stevens LVO, MBE, Actor, theatre producer and director of Britain's Horse of the Year Show, has passed away at the age of 97.

Major Leslie "John" Stevens, a Lieutenant of The Victorian Order and Member of the British Empire, a successful theatre producer in London and life long equestrian organizer, died peacefully in his home in Hardington Mandeville, Somerset on Saturday June 27.

Although John had a successful career in the theatre as an actor, a producer as well as a musician, he was a horseman at heart, John organized and ran the local Garth Pony Club based in Winkfield Windsor, which was attended by Princess Anne. In the mid-sixties he became involved with eventing and took over the Crookham Horse Trials from Peggy Maxwell. He was the first organiser to arrange sponsorship, from Martini, for a horse trial. He was also a BHS Steward and commentator up until his seventies.

In 1963 he was one of the commentators at Burghley Horse Trials a job he continued to do for many years as well as judging the Pony Club Team Jumping. He retired from Burghley in 1987 and became a Vice President in 2004.

In 1968, he helped Prince Philip formulate new rules for the modern Horse Driving Trials. In 1986 ran the World Driving Trials at Ascot Racecourse and was a well known judge and administrator on the four in hand driving circuit in England. In 1976 he was asked by Colonel Mike Ansell to take over as Director of the Horse of The Year Show in Wembley Arena and also The Royal International Horse Show both of which grew under his stewardship to be most prestigious International Show jumping events on the world equestrian circuit.

Steph Coldstream

Stephnie Coldstream, a member with her daughter of the trick riding Lone Rider Stunt Girls team, died in Palmerston North on June 9 at the age of 43. She had been suffering from cancer, but was still riding only days before she died.

The former Nelson woman formed the stunt team with her daughter, Kodi. As well as giving clinics on trick riding, Stephnie was a stunt double for film and television work, and appeared in Racing Stripes in 2004.

One of Stephnie's specialities was roman riding, which has been mastered by very few people. In this, the rider stands on the backs of two horses who are not tied together, and executes a series of movements at different gaits.

A former New Zealand harness racing driver has died in the US after an accident involving a horse-drawn carriage.

Derek Arthur Heckler, 58, suffered a cracked skull when he fell from the carriage he was driving in San Francisco on about June 9. He died on June 23 after being in a coma for two weeks.

Heckler had been a carriage horse driver for about three years, and had grown up in Hamilton and lived in Auckland before moving to San Francisco. He is survived by his wife, four children, and five grandchildren. A memorial service was to be held in San Francisco before Heckler's body was returned home for a funeral in Warkworth.

Long-time Canadian equestrian mentor, official, volunteer and past-president, Alfred "Alf" Fletcher, has died at the age of 77. A member of Equine Canada for many years, Alf was an Equine Canada (EC) Senior National and FEI steward. He was accredited as a FEI-X steward for the disciplines of Jumper and Dressage, and he was a Senior Steward for all Equine Canada disciplines.

In addition to his stewarding duties, Alf was also a very well respected judge. During his judging career, he was a Senior Judge for hunter, jumper and western disciplines, and he also judged hunt seat, saddle seat and stock seat equation. His versatility was evident as he also was a Recorded Judge for several breed sports.

As a volunteer, Alf was a former president of Equine Canada. From 1997 to 2000, Alf also dedicated himself to the successful restructuring Equine Canada. He possessed a commitment and vision for a strong and viable equestrian industry in Canada when he assisted in the revamping of the national federation. In 2001, Alf was named as Equine Canada's Volunteer of the Year.