Former U.S. dressage team member Belinda Nairn (Baudin) Wertman died Thursday after a battle with cancer. She would have turned 70 on Friday, June 13.
A respected trainer, the Reddick, Fla., resident was reserve with Alegria on the U.S. squad at the 1984 Olympics and competed on the team with Christopher in the 1988 Games. The native of New Zealand and her husband, Bill Wertman, ran a training, breeding and sales business. She rode and trained for Iron Spring Farm from 2003-2009.
As her friend Monica Drohm wrote on social media, “I could write a book about everything we shared and experienced, our moments of crying and laughing, our similar views on horses and on correct riding, our deepest feelings and so on, the special relationship she had with her dogs and not to forget her donkeys, the dedication she had for her students and her tireless efforts to teach people to ride well.”