Horses played a huge role in her life and the three years that Donna Smith spent in England working and associating with some of the sport’s biggest names were invaluable, says her recent widower, Mike. New Zealand’s equestrian circles and those around the world were left deeply saddened by her sudden death at the Southland Show Jumping Championships held at Gore in February this year.
The time that Smith spent in England during the early parts of the 1970s were very satisfying to her, says Mike and her son, Pete. She worked for David Broome, the retired Welsh Show Jumping champion, and this led to her gaining a role as Groom with the British team at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. She also travelled with a team of horses to many of the United Kingdom’s Grand Prix for the best riders.
She and Mike got married in England in 1973 before moving back to the village her new husband hailed from, Dipton, two years later and continued her success throughout New Zealand on horses as famous as Castle Flight, Ernie Mite, Halden Road, Hombre, and Treemendous.
Her son said that Smith won most of the Major South Island Grand Prix at least once but that his mother was a modest woman who shunned the limelight. He said that after shows he would call her to find out how she’d fared only to be told by her that she’d done alright, but would then find out later on that she’d won the Big Class or Champion Hunter!
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Trent Wilson is OnlineBetting.nz’s resident sports news expert. He draws on his extensive sporting knowledge, his qualification in sports management and his passion for betting to provide the latest, most up to date information on sporting events in New Zealand and across the globe. Trent is a veritable treasure trove of sports information and has been betting online for several years. He prides himself in keeping his readers informed, and in always offering an unbiased standpoint that reflects exactly what’s going on in the sports world.
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