Artist and horsewoman Tiffany Teeter died when her car and a truck pulling a trailer collided Aug. 29 in Southern Pines, N.C. She was 82.
Her many friends are swapping Tiffany stories as they remember an unforgettable character with a golden heart. She was always a live wire, telling tales of Studio 54 from her younger days, and had connections with many famous horses. They included the great Idle Dice, once ridden by her ex-husband, Bernie Traurig, and Sloopy, guided by Neal Shapiro to team silver and individual bronze at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Tiffany Teeter with her beloved Lucas terrier, Snippet. (Photo by Anne Claire Christiaen)
A breeder of rare Lucas terriers, she once sold a dog to the great opera singer Pavarotti, according to Allie Conrad, who spent a lot of time with Tiffany. Allie noted Tiffany was always volunteering at the Carolina Horse Park, whether for hunters, eventing or whatever was happening.
“If you had a modicum of respect for her, she would do anything in the world for you,” said Allie, noting she was good at matching up people with horses.
“She loved making deals, and horse-selling was the best kind of deal around.
“She had so much knowledge. Sitting and watching her ringside was an education. If you could soak it in, it was amazing,” said Allie, who mentioned one of the things Tiffany sold at a tack sale she organized was Sloopy’s old halter.
Tiffany was a big thoroughbred racing fan who knew all the bloodlines and had racing on TV at her house “almost 24-7,” according to Allie. Tiffany produced a “painted pony” model of Secretariat for the Carolina Horse Park Foundation benefit art walk and auction. She got help doing the horse’s legs because she wasn’t able to bend down, but she painted from the stomach up, as she said.
In a note on Allie’s facebook page, Janet Sizelove said, “Tiffany could find a solution for any problem. She loved animals, people and her community. Adventure and living life to the fullest were her daily goals.”
A former resident of Stockton, N.J., where she lived at Plum Broke Farm, Tiffany was a founding member of Kingwood Foxhounds/Amwell Valley Hounds and became an honorary Master of Foxhounds.
Amwell President Joanne Possumato remembered that Tiffany’s many pastimes included car racing, and she noted her friend sold a Lotus to buy fencing for her farm.
Joanne called Tiffany “a tremendous force for decades, always promoting AVH, providing horses and her gorgeous farm for clinics, concerts, hunter trials and fabulous parties. She was a fundraising dynamo for our club, an artist and introduced many a fox hunter to hunting in Ireland and into her famous hilltopping field in her later years. No words can adequately describe Tiffany, but all who knew her know there will never be another.”
Discussion already is under way about planning a celebration of Tiffany’s life, something that might include wine, art and perhaps the type of outlandish sweaters she used to wear.
Survivors include a sister, VK Foster; her son Michael Traurig, a horse trainer and former steeplechase jockey, as well as a daughter, Bridget Bodine, and another son, Mitch Bodine. Tiffany’s husband, Jim Rigney, who was injured in the crash, remains hospitalized.