Tributes have been paid to “one of many best items the game of dressage has ever acquired”, after five-star worldwide choose Stephen Clarke died on the age of 73.
Stephen, whose life was entwined with horses from an early age, was one of many world’s most revered dressage judges, serving on the Olympics, European and World Championships and World Cup Finals. He was president of the Worldwide Dressage Officers Membership (IDOC), the FEI choose normal and member of the FEI dressage committee, and a Fellow of the British Horse Society.
“It’s with profound disappointment, and but with an equally profound sense of gratitude, that we share the information of the passing of our pricey good friend, colleague and former IDOC president, Stephen Clarke,” the IDOC stated in a tribute.
“Stephen was, fairly merely, one of many best items the game of dressage has ever acquired. His passing leaves a stillness in our world that can take a very long time to fill – and but, if we hear fastidiously, we will nonetheless hear his voice: heat, measured, typically splendidly witty, and all the time pointing us towards what is true and good on this sport all of us love.”
Stephen was born right into a non-horsey household in north Wales. The farm subsequent door had ponies and the deal was, if he may keep on lengthy sufficient, he may take them to reveals. He grew up with the Flint and Denbigh department of the Pony Membership, the place, he has informed H&H, it was drummed into everybody that any errors have been all the time the rider’s fault; “I can nonetheless hear ringing in my ears, ‘sit nonetheless and by no means pull again’,” he stated.
After early success in showjumping and eventing, Stephen gained 5 nationwide championship dressage titles. He represented Britain in worldwide competitors, together with on the 1980 Alternate Olympics with Ulysses, and he and Becket have been the reserve mixture for the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
Stephen began judging in his early 20s, having grow to be, as he put it, “fed up with everybody moaning concerning the judging”.
“A characteristically Stephen resolution to an issue,” the IDOC tribute stated. “Moderately than complain, step ahead and be a part of the reply.”
Stephen was president of the bottom jury on the London Olympics in 2012, which he stated was one of many proudest moments of his life; he additionally stated that to be on the judges’ panel when Totilas and Valegro broke world data was “past thrilling”.
“The privilege of awarding 10s for actions the place you simply can’t think about the way it could possibly be higher – that was the enjoyment Stephen delivered to his work each single time he sat behind the judging board,” the IDOC stated.
“He by no means shied from the tough calls both. On the World Equestrian Video games in Kentucky, he made one of many hardest calls in a world championship – the disqualification of Adelinde Cornelissen when her horse bled from the mouth. It was right, it was brave, and it was totally Stephen. He understood that integrity in judging is just not a comfort — it’s the basis upon which the game rests.”
Stephen formed the way forward for his sport, as choose normal and on the committee; he was instrumental in creating the FEI judges’ ebook.
“His efforts earned great respect for dressage judges worldwide and contributed significantly to the status and profile of the game,” the IDOC stated. “His objective, as he all the time stated, was to make sure younger judges have the chance to develop their training and abilities.
“And he meant it – not as a press release of coverage, however as a private mission. He took time with each younger official who crossed his path. He remembered names. He remembered horses. He remembered what it felt prefer to be new to this world, and he made certain nobody felt alone in it.
“As president of IDOC, Stephen introduced the identical qualities to our organisation that he delivered to every little thing: readability of thought, generosity of spirit, and an unwavering dedication to doing issues correctly. He labored alongside colleagues together with Maribel Alonso, Katrina Wüst and Hans-Christian Matthiesen within the training working group, and his affect on the way in which we prepare and help officers throughout the globe can’t be overstated. IDOC is a greater, stronger, extra purposeful organisation as a result of Stephen Clarke led it.”
Stephen ran a working pupils scheme at Cotton Equestrian Centre in Cheshire; a lot of those that educated with him have gone on to profitable careers, of which Stephen was quietly proud.
“He was fast to giggle, faster nonetheless to hear,” the IDOC stated. “In any dialogue – whether or not a couple of single motion in a check, the longer term route of FEI judging coverage, or the state of the game over a glass of wine after an extended competitors day – Stephen introduced the identical qualities: a transparent thoughts, an open coronary heart and precisely the fitting phrases at precisely the fitting second. Many people will carry particular issues he stated to us, privately, at simply the fitting time, for the remainder of our lives.
“In his closing years, sickness slowed him bodily, however by no means in spirit. He remained in shut contact with many in his circle, beneficiant together with his time, his heat, and his ideas, proper to the top. That, too, was totally Stephen.
“We are going to miss him on the area. We are going to miss him within the seminar rooms. We are going to miss him on the desk after an extended day, when the very best conversations all the time appeared to occur. We are going to miss his laughter, his precision, and his extraordinary potential to make everybody round him really feel each valued and challenged to be higher.
“The game of dressage is immeasurably richer for every little thing Stephen Clarke gave it over so many a long time. We’re immeasurably richer for having identified him. Our ideas go to Julian Sebire, Stephen’s associate for greater than 40 years.
“Stephen – thanks. It was a privilege and an honour.”
A nationwide treasure
British Dressage chair Jill Day, a detailed good friend of Stephen’s, stated he was a nationwide treasure.
“There is no such thing as a yet another deserving of that title,” she stated. “When you think about the legacy he has left behind – wow, what a legacy that’s.
“Nonetheless, once I consider Stephen, none of these issues are the primary issues that spring to thoughts. I simply see that twinkle in his eye and that infectious giggle. I see a tremendous good friend, all the time there should you wanted him and all the time with very trustworthy and simple recommendation. There’ll by no means be one other that has finished a lot for our sport and stayed so humble.
“His final phrases to me have been ‘Please, don’t be unhappy’. This would be the first time I’ve not been in a position to observe his recommendation. Relaxation in peace, pricey good friend.”
The FEI agreed that for all Stephen’s big achievements, he’ll most be remembered for who he was.
“Stephen Clarke was a kind of uncommon people who made everybody round him higher, and the extraordinary outpouring of tributes since his passing stands as a testomony to each his deep love for the game and his regard for these inside it,” stated FEI dressage director Ronan Murphy stated.
“Stephen was a real gentleman in each sense of the phrase. Honest, considerate and quietly smart, he by no means sought the highlight, but his presence and affect could be felt all through our sport to today. Now we have misplaced not solely certainly one of dressage’s best judges, but additionally certainly one of its kindest and most revered figures.”
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Charlotte Dujardin driving Valegro winner of the grand prix freestyle at The London Worldwide Horse Present at Olympia in 2014.
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Stephen Clarke judging on the European Championships.
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H&H information editor
Eleanor is an skilled journalist who spent over eight years working for native and nationwide newspapers earlier than becoming a member of H&H as information editor in March 2016. Keen about equine welfare and exposing the reality, Eleanor has reported on all facets of the trade, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage guidelines to mules. Her sport of alternative is showjumping, through which she competes her personal horses, and he or she additionally enjoys reporting at native leaping reveals by way of to worldwide championships.
