OBITUARIES

CAROLINE SILVER

THE author, journalist and equestrian (pictured, above) died in Gloucester on 8 March, aged 83.

Caroline’s love of horses was clear from early childhood when she recalled being given sole charge of a pony and allowed to wander the Warwickshire countryside at will. She went on to become equestrian correspondent for The Sunday Times, covering such events as the 1976 Montreal Olympics, at which Princess Anne represented Great Britain on Goodwill. She wrote for the Daily

Telegraph and Harpers & Queen, as well as working as maths editor and crossword compiler for Scholastic. She wrote more than a dozen books on horses, including Summer with Tommy, about breaking in a pony, as well as several on 1960s music. She was also a model in the 1950s and owned a B&B in Amberley, Gloucestershire.

When she entered her first point-to-point in 1968, she won it – a rare achievement then for a woman. This featured on the cover of the Telegraph magazine with a vivid account of her experience inside. She had not told the trainer she had not raced before – but he had not told her the horse had never had a woman jockey before, or that he had fallen at the second the last time out on that course.

As she got older, she developed a strong affection for cobs and owned a series of “cob characters”, including Toby, a bay Welsh cob bought from a traveller and trained by him with voice commands, rather than traditional aids. Fun to ride, Toby could be unnerving at times, as when he would set off in chase if he spotted a lone cow on the commons.

Caroline lobbied on a range of diverse causes: badger protection, hospices and better, safer bridleways. She was skilled at getting others to take on those causes too, and persuaded Pat Harris of the need for a bridleways group in the Stroud area, which became the successful Mid Cotswold Tracks and Trails Group, achieving a number of practical and policy bridleway improvements.

Her funeral was an apt tribute to Caroline with a carriage drawn by matching greys, Mickey and Tommy, carrying her Somerset willow coffin covered in spring flowers to her village church for burial in the churchyard where her parents lie along with her third husband, Richard “Biffo” Barnes’ ashes.

The carriage was followed by friends and neighbours to celebrate Caroline’s life from model to journalist and author to B&B owner and her gift for friendship and fun.

SIR ROBERT OGDEN

THE Yorkshire racehorse owner, businessman and philanthropist (pictured, below) died on 6 March, aged 86. Born in Bradford, Sir Robert founded the Ogden Group in the late 1950s with his three brothers, working in quarrying, building and mining.

He became interested in racing through his friend and former racehorse trainer Jack Hanson. The pair later co-owned horses together, including Sir Robert’s first major winner Winter Melody, who took the 1978 Imperial Cup.

Sir Robert’s racing and breeding operation at Sicklinghall Stud, founded in the late 1970s, expanded, and in 1997 he was crowned National Hunt champion owner, a success he repeated in 2000 and 2001.

Among his most successful horses were the 2007 Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Voy Por Ustedes, trained by Alan King, the 2007 Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Exotic Dancer trained by Jonjo O’Neill and the Nicky Henderson-trained Marlborough, who gave Sir Robert his first Cheltenham Festival winner, in 2000.

He later switched his interests to the Flat. His winners included 2010 Irish St Leger victor Sans Frontieres, trained by Jeremy Noseda, and his home-bred multiple Group One winner Amazing Maria, trained by David O’Meara.

Sir Robert was known for his generous work in charity, for which he was knighted in

2001. He supported Macmillan Cancer Support for more than 50 years, and played a leading role in transforming cancer care in Yorkshire. In 2000, the Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre opened in Leeds, followed by a centre in Harrogate in 2014 and Northallerton in 2018.

He is survived by his second wife Lady Ana Ogden, his two sons Adam and Robert Alan from his first marriage and four grandchildren.