Jane Bredin-Gregory Passed Away

Dressage

British Dressage News

British Grand Prix dressage rider Jane Bredin-Gregory passed away Friday 1 April 2011 following a heart attack earlier in the week. The 51-year old dressage rider was a double British Olympian and married to Hong Kong dressage rider Aram Gregory .

Jane suffered a suspected heart attack at her home in Great Cheverell, Wiltshire earlier in the week. She was rushed to hospital but despite their best efforts, doctors were unable to revive her and she passed away on Friday 1 April 2011.

Jane came from a non-horsey family and started to ride aged seven, going once a week to her local trekking centre in Cornwall.

“I went every Saturday at eleven. We would go hacking around this headland, seriously close to the edge of the cliff. The horses knew when to walk, trot and canter and, if we had time, we were allowed to play cowboys and Indians for ten minutes. The highlight was to ride the horses bareback to the field to turn them out.”

She didn’t have her first riding lesson until her godmother, Sheila Duvollet, bought her a part-bred Connemara for £175 when she was 12. She joined the North Cornwall Pony Club and won the junior section of the pony club eventing championships in 1976.

Jane's first competitive experience was memorable. “I remember it clearly. I was competing at a gymkhana when I was about eight and had borrowed a horse from my local trekking centre. I hadn’t tightened the girth properly, the saddle slipped and I fell off and cried. I was not a good loser!”

Bredin also hunted with the North Cornwall and Monmouthshire and continued to event and show jump until she started to work for David Hunt. This came about through meeting dressage judge Janet Poulden when she lived in Wales. She used to teach Jane through her riding club.

“Janet somehow arranged for me to be the novice guinea pig for the national convention, which David was running that year. It was a truly humiliating experience. He said it was a nice horse but that the girl needed lots of help. I ended up in the loo in tears, but it was the best thing that ever happened. I trained with him for two years and then asked if I could work for him.”

Jane started working for David in 1981, staying for 11 years and working her way up to become headgirl. In 1992, she left to set up a yard with Suzie Cumine, the owner of Cupido, the horse that took her to international stardom. Then, in 2001, Jane and her partner dressage rider Aram Gregory set up their own yard. Aram, who rides for Hong Kong, and Jane married in 2006 after a 20-year courtship.

Jane rode her first international in 1994 and went on to represent Great Britain at the World Equestrian Games in The Hague. She finished third as a member of the nations cup team at Aachen CDIO in 1995 and was again on the team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, all with Cupido.

Jane disappeared from the international scene for several years due to injured horses. She was first in the small tour rankings in 2001 and made a staggering international comeback in 2008 after training with Ulla Salzgeber. Aboard her Danish warmblood Lucky Star Jane won the grand prix and grand prix special at Munich CDI in May, followed by a grand prix freestyle win at the Mariakalnok CDI. She then scored a personal best with Lucky Star at Lipica CD when she took the runner-up slot on 72.85% in the grand prix freestyle in June, culminating in selection for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with Lucky Star.

Jane will be greatly missed by her friends, family and the entire dressage community.