OBITUARIES
JOHN SNOW
THE founder of Field House Equestrian Centre, Marchington, Staffordshire, died on 18 May aged 89 following ill heath.
Born in 1930 at Hall Farm, Marchington, Mr Snow came from a farming background and the family moved to Field House in 1940. He had a love of hunting, and was a member of the Meynell Hunt branch of the Pony Club.
Mr Snow met his wife Marjorie at a gymkhana when he was 16. The couple married in 1955 and started farming life in Fauld, Staffordshire. They had three children, Jenny, Sue and Jill, who had ponies, and in 1971 they moved to Field House after Mr Snow’s father suffered with ill health.
The riding school was founded, and in 1972 Mr Snow built the first indoor school and began hosting unaffiliated competitions. The following year the centre held its first affiliated showjumping competition, and Mr Snow continued to develop Field House into a modern, world-class facility. The centre has proceeded to host other events, including British Dressage and British Show Pony Society shows, and Burghley
Young Event Horse qualifiers.
Mr Snow remained a loyal supporter of the Meynell Hunt and Pony Club branch, and hosted competitions as well as hunt and Pony Club balls in the house.
Olympic dressage rider
Richard Davison, Mr Snow’s friend of 50 years, described him as “somebody who combined vision with practicality”.
“He was a worker who, no matter what the challenges, was the first to roll his sleeves up, make things happen and move forward. He always had his next few projects lined up,” he said.
“As a teenager, after riding, I used to earn some extra money driving tractors and farming for him. He had a massive and friendly character. He loved meeting people and always had a new joke to tell – it was difficult to tell when the punchline was coming as he would be in hysterics from the beginning even though he had told it to half the lorry park already.”
Mr Snow leaves behind Marjorie, Jenny, Sue, Jill, and four grandchildren.
KIM GINGELL
A MUCH-LOVED member of the racing community and instrumental figure in her father’s training operation, Mrs Gingell died on 15 May, aged 43, having been suffering with cancer.
Daughter of Colin and Pauline Tizzard, Mrs Gingell helped her father grow the training business with her brother Joe at Venn Farm, Dorset, and was responsible for looking after the team and horses on the yard. One of the stable’s biggest successes was Cue Card, whose victories included the 2010 Cheltenham Festival Champion Bumper, Cheltenham’s Ryanair Chase in 2014, and the 2015 King George VI Chase.
Mrs Gingell devoted time to her son Freddie’s successful pony racing career, and was involved with the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale branch of the Pony Club, of which she was a member as a child, serving on the committee.
Mrs Gingell was highly respected and well known in the racing community.
Trainer Noel Williams said he had “fond memories” of growing up with Mrs Gingell and Joe in the Blackmore and Sparkford
Vale branch of the Pony Club, and catching up regularly at the races as recently as March.
Jockey Paddy Brennan, who rode Cue Card in the 2015 King George VI Chase, said the loss was “heartbreaking”, while Jonjo O’Neill Jnr, who rode the Tizzardtrained Native River to success at Newbury in February, said his thoughts were with the family, and “will always be with Kim”.
A spokesman for the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale branch of the Pony Club described Mrs Gingell as “enthusiastic and fun-loving”.
“Our Pony Club thoughts are with Freddie, Dave and the whole family,” he said.
Mrs Gingell is survived by husband Dave, son Freddie, father and mother Colin and Pauline, and brother Joe.