It was with great sadness that British Dressage learned of the passing of retired list 1 judge Gill Drew after a short illness on 03 December. Gill leaves behind a family as dedicated and supportive of our sport as she was.
Gill’s niece Pippa, who runs the Hammerwood Stud, paid tribute to her Aunt, a stalwart of the BD Southern region; Gill was without doubt the most genuine and kindest person that I will ever have the privilege to know and love. She lived her life for horses, her passion and dedication was second to none and was contagious. She gave the bug to myself, my daughter and son which has given us the most amazing life for which I will always be grateful to Gill.
The horses that Gill owned and cared for are the luckiest alive. Not only was she a walking Manual of Horsemanship, she had the highest standards of care and always put the horses well-being in front of her own. Many of her liveries stayed with her for decades and have remained life-long close friends.
Gill taught me everything I know about horses and riding; she was my loyal and, often only, supporter and would regularly drive hundreds of miles around the country to offer words of wisdom. I can't say that I always responded well to her words of wisdom - especially 'sit up' and 'hold on' springs to mind whenever I was clinging on for dear life when some equine was clearly more suited to being in the wild west than being a dressage horse.
Gill's training and support and contributed to each and every one of my 140 affiliated test wins and I hope will continue to do so for me and my son and daughter in the future. When Gill retired from competitive riding in 2003, she trusted me with her advanced horse Gazel whom I took to the Nationals at PSG. Gill and Gazel then enjoyed semi-retirement together with Gazel competing successfully with the para riders for six years, including with Sophie Christiansen.
I hope that Tom, Fi and I, and my home bred horses that she has taken such a keen interest in will make her proud. She will leave a huge hole in my life and will be greatly missed by us all.
BD Regional Development Officer for the Southern Region Sharon Walker added; “Gill was so well respected and admired by all that new her as a kind, generous and hugely knowledgeable horse woman of the first order.”
Funeral details are unknown as yet but a celebration of Gill’s life it planned. Any info we have will be passed on. The family hope to set up a trophy in her memory aimed at grassroots achivement which was her passion.