Between the celebration of Christmas and new year’s eve champagne toasts, let’s take a few minutes to think about the people and horses who sadly left us over the last 12 months. They deserve our attention in a final salute, recalling their achievements and what they contributed to our world.
At the end of 2025, dressage lost several superstars, horses whose names bring instant recognition.
The U.S. dressage community mourned the death of Laura Graves’ Verdades at age 23 this month. Laura brought Diddy up from an unruly foal to a champion who teamed with her to be the only world number one-ranked combination ever in dressage for this country.
Along the way, the two triumphed over some devastating setbacks, but dedication to correct training set a fine example of what could be achieved with determination and love, as well as the help and advice of strong supporters.
Britain’s dressage duo of Valegro and Uthopia, in the same age demographic as Verdades, departed in November. Under the guidance of Carl Hester, the two horses helped put Britain squarely at the top of the global dressage hierarchy for the first time at the 2012 London Olympics. (Another member of the gold medal team, Mistral Højris, died at age 30 in March).
Carl rode Uti in front of a home crowd at those Games, while Charlotte Dujardin guided Valegro. The two horses were close companions, and Carl wanted them to end their lives that way rather than being separated when their health deteriorated.
Valegro and Uthopia
Influential show jumping stallion Indoctro died in April at the age of 35 after siring 4,335 horses registered with KWPN. The Holsteiner by Capitol out of a Caletto II mare had dressage offspring to his credit as well.
Also in what poet T.S. Eliot called the cruelest month, we lost Authentic at the age of 30. Beezie Madden’s mount,was her partner in taking two Olympic team gold medals in 2004 and 2008 for the U.S., as well as an individual bronze at the Games and double silver at the world championships. Bud was retired in 2009 and lived happily with Beezie and her husband, John, at their upstate New York farm.
Beezie Madden and Authentic at the 2008 Olympics.
And now we will reminisce, month by month, about the people who departed this year. We did individual obituaries about them as the year progressed, but you really understand the scope of the loss by seeing their names all in one place, for the same sad reason.
January: Stylish and effective show jumper and hunter rider Terry Rudd, driver Muffy Seaton and Paul Cronin. Paul was director of the riding program at Sweet Briar College from 1967 through 2002, but he also contributed to horsemanship in a wider perspective as an author. His 2004 volume, “Schooling and Riding the Sport Horse,” is a classic that covers the American forward seat riding system.
March: Michelle Bloch, a gifted writer who was a mainstay of the Capital Challenge Horse Show; announcer Mike Moran, three-time endurance world champion Becky Hart, hunter rider and judge Brian Flynn and dressage trainer Vera Kessels.
April: Dr. Allen Leslie, 84, an FEI veterinary official and the U.S. Eventing Team veterinarian at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. A lifetime rider, he completed the Tevis Cup endurance ride, competed in point-to-points and fox hunted.
Dressage trainer and author Charles de Kunffy, 88. His outstanding book, “Dressage Principles Illuminated,” is a distillation of the classical horsemanship tradition.
Lois Walter, a founder of Beval Saddlery who was always a guiding force and a welcoming presence there.
Lana DuPont Wright, 85, the first woman to compete in eventing at the Olympics. She also was involved with endurance and driving, while serving as co-president of the Fair Hill International event.
Eclectic horsewoman Lana DuPont Wright.
Trakehner breeder Tim Holekamp, whose Windfall and Tsetserleg were part of many U.S. eventing teams. He was very involved with the U.S. Eventing Association’s Young Event Horse program.
June: Hunter breeder Diana Dodge, international dressage competitor Belinda Nairn Wertman and Mary Alice Malone, 75. A pioneer in the importation of European warmbloods to the U.S., Mary Alice amassed an enormous record of success in a half-century of her efforts at Iron Spring Farm in Pennsylvania. Her horses took many honors internationally, and were seen everywhere from the Olympics and World Cup Finals to the Paralympics and driving championships.
In thoroughbred racing, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, 89.
July: Cecile Hetzel Dunn, 89, who was involved with Arabians, Friesians, Andalusians and saddlebreds, spent decades working as a licensed official and volunteering with a variety of governing bodies. She was a mainstay of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s board of directors.
Cecile Dunn accepted the USEF’s Lifetime Achievement Award from David O’Connor.
August: Mary Anne McPhail, 92, who was instrumental in creating the Florida dressage circuit that contributed to the discipline’s unprecedented growth in the U.S. She was devoted to the Dressage Foundation, where she was a volunteer committee member for more than 20 years, With her husband, Mary Anne established the Mary Anne and Walter McPhail Judge Education Fund to provide support for the U.S. Dressage Federation’s judge education initiative.
Mary Anne McPhail.
Linda Andrisani, an influential trainer and hunter judge who also was known for her fashion sense.
In thoroughbred racing, Ron Turcotte, 84, the jockey who guided Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973.
September: Coaching stalwart Dr. Donald Rosato.
October: Lu Thomas, 79, a trainer and rider who worked as a team with her husband, Butch, and was a key figure in the California horse hunter/jumper industry.
December: Adrienne Cotter, former executive vice president of the American Horse Shows Association.
Judith Hennessy, 89, the first woman to groom for the U.S. Equestrian Team, who went on to be a mentor for youth in 4-H programs. She shared her extensive horse care knowledge with the 4-H members to insure they knew how to take care of their animals the right way.