"To say that Betty Bosley Bird was a legend is an understatement. She has always lived life at a full gallop, and has wasted little time on regret." - L. Fieldman
"Betty" Bird, 81, an internationally acclaimed horsewoman known for her touch with difficult horses and her elegant personal style, died Dec. 30 at her home in Unionville, Pa. Born in Baltimore, Md., she was a daughter of the late John Bosley II and Elizabeth Cromwell Bosley. Betty was a uniquely versatile horsewoman who trained flathorses, steeplechasers, showhorses and foxhunters at the highest level. She was particularly respected for the intuitive combination of perseverance, discipline and sensitivity that enabled her to work successfully with temperamental horses. In 1954 she became the first woman to train a winner of the prestigious Maryland Hunt Cup with Marchized, and she repeated in 1977 when Fort Devon, a horse some considered untrainable, won by 30 lengths. In the horseshow world, she competed successfully for years in what was still a man's sport. She ran the stables of both R.K. Mellon in Ligonier, Pa. and William du Pont, Jr., in Unionville. The latter encouraged her Olympic aspirations, but her hopes fell unwitting victim to her own glamour: in the early 1950s Herbert Tareyton Cigarettes featured her in riding attire for a magazine advertising campaign, which compromised her amateur standing. She was inducted into the American Horseshow Association Hall of Fame in 2001. She was a member of the Green Boundary Club in Aiken, S.C. and Mr. Stewart's Cheshir e Fox Hounds in Unionville, Pa. Betty loved the many dogs who were her companions over the years, and she enjoyed a good party, where she held audiences spellbound with stories about her exploits. During one Hunt Ball she agreed to buy The Clown, who would become her champion show horse, and - still in her evening dress - she schooled him over fences that night.
A memorial service was held Jan. 3 at St. James Episcopal Church in Monkton, Md, wit h interment in the church cemetery. Contributions may be made in her memory to the Cheshire Land Preservation Fund, P.O. Box 983, Unionville, Pa. 19375 and the National Steeplechase Foundation, 400 Fair Hill Drive, Elkton, Md. 21921.
Published in Baltimore Sun
Jan. 7, 2009
"Betty" Bird, 81, an internationally acclaimed horsewoman known for her touch with difficult horses and her elegant personal style, died Dec. 30 at her home in Unionville, Pa. Born in Baltimore, Md., she was a daughter of the late John Bosley II and Elizabeth Cromwell Bosley. Betty was a uniquely versatile horsewoman who trained flathorses, steeplechasers, showhorses and foxhunters at the highest level. She was particularly respected for the intuitive combination of perseverance, discipline and sensitivity that enabled her to work successfully with temperamental horses. In 1954 she became the first woman to train a winner of the prestigious Maryland Hunt Cup with Marchized, and she repeated in 1977 when Fort Devon, a horse some considered untrainable, won by 30 lengths. In the horseshow world, she competed successfully for years in what was still a man's sport. She ran the stables of both R.K. Mellon in Ligonier, Pa. and William du Pont, Jr., in Unionville. The latter encouraged her Olympic aspirations, but her hopes fell unwitting victim to her own glamour: in the early 1950s Herbert Tareyton Cigarettes featured her in riding attire for a magazine advertising campaign, which compromised her amateur standing. She was inducted into the American Horseshow Association Hall of Fame in 2001. She was a member of the Green Boundary Club in Aiken, S.C. and Mr. Stewart's Cheshir e Fox Hounds in Unionville, Pa. Betty loved the many dogs who were her companions over the years, and she enjoyed a good party, where she held audiences spellbound with stories about her exploits. During one Hunt Ball she agreed to buy The Clown, who would become her champion show horse, and - still in her evening dress - she schooled him over fences that night.
A memorial service was held Jan. 3 at St. James Episcopal Church in Monkton, Md, wit h interment in the church cemetery. Contributions may be made in her memory to the Cheshire Land Preservation Fund, P.O. Box 983, Unionville, Pa. 19375 and the National Steeplechase Foundation, 400 Fair Hill Drive, Elkton, Md. 21921.
Published in Baltimore Sun
Jan. 7, 2009
"To say that Betty Bosley Bird was a legend is an understatement. She has always lived life at a full gallop, and has wasted little time on regret." - L. Fieldman
"Betty" Bird, 81, an internationally acclaimed horsewoman known for her touch with difficult horses and her elegant personal style, died Dec. 30 at her home in Unionville, Pa. Born in Baltimore, Md., she was a daughter of the late John Bosley II and Elizabeth Cromwell Bosley. Betty was a uniquely versatile horsewoman who trained flathorses, steeplechasers, showhorses and foxhunters at the highest level. She was particularly respected for the intuitive combination of perseverance, discipline and sensitivity that enabled her to work successfully with temperamental horses. In 1954 she became the first woman to train a winner of the prestigious Maryland Hunt Cup with Marchized, and she repeated in 1977 when Fort Devon, a horse some considered untrainable, won by 30 lengths. In the horseshow world, she competed successfully for years in what was still a man's sport. She ran the stables of both R.K. Mellon in Ligonier, Pa. and William du Pont, Jr., in Unionville. The latter encouraged her Olympic aspirations, but her hopes fell unwitting victim to her own glamour: in the early 1950s Herbert Tareyton Cigarettes featured her in riding attire for a magazine advertising campaign, which compromised her amateur standing. She was inducted into the American Horseshow Association Hall of Fame in 2001. She was a member of the Green Boundary Club in Aiken, S.C. and Mr. Stewart's Cheshir e Fox Hounds in Unionville, Pa. Betty loved the many dogs who were her companions over the years, and she enjoyed a good party, where she held audiences spellbound with stories about her exploits. During one Hunt Ball she agreed to buy The Clown, who would become her champion show horse, and - still in her evening dress - she schooled him over fences that night.
A memorial service was held Jan. 3 at St. James Episcopal Church in Monkton, Md, wit h interment in the church cemetery. Contributions may be made in her memory to the Cheshire Land Preservation Fund, P.O. Box 983, Unionville, Pa. 19375 and the National Steeplechase Foundation, 400 Fair Hill Drive, Elkton, Md. 21921.
Published in Baltimore Sun
Jan. 7, 2009
"Betty" Bird, 81, an internationally acclaimed horsewoman known for her touch with difficult horses and her elegant personal style, died Dec. 30 at her home in Unionville, Pa. Born in Baltimore, Md., she was a daughter of the late John Bosley II and Elizabeth Cromwell Bosley. Betty was a uniquely versatile horsewoman who trained flathorses, steeplechasers, showhorses and foxhunters at the highest level. She was particularly respected for the intuitive combination of perseverance, discipline and sensitivity that enabled her to work successfully with temperamental horses. In 1954 she became the first woman to train a winner of the prestigious Maryland Hunt Cup with Marchized, and she repeated in 1977 when Fort Devon, a horse some considered untrainable, won by 30 lengths. In the horseshow world, she competed successfully for years in what was still a man's sport. She ran the stables of both R.K. Mellon in Ligonier, Pa. and William du Pont, Jr., in Unionville. The latter encouraged her Olympic aspirations, but her hopes fell unwitting victim to her own glamour: in the early 1950s Herbert Tareyton Cigarettes featured her in riding attire for a magazine advertising campaign, which compromised her amateur standing. She was inducted into the American Horseshow Association Hall of Fame in 2001. She was a member of the Green Boundary Club in Aiken, S.C. and Mr. Stewart's Cheshir e Fox Hounds in Unionville, Pa. Betty loved the many dogs who were her companions over the years, and she enjoyed a good party, where she held audiences spellbound with stories about her exploits. During one Hunt Ball she agreed to buy The Clown, who would become her champion show horse, and - still in her evening dress - she schooled him over fences that night.
A memorial service was held Jan. 3 at St. James Episcopal Church in Monkton, Md, wit h interment in the church cemetery. Contributions may be made in her memory to the Cheshire Land Preservation Fund, P.O. Box 983, Unionville, Pa. 19375 and the National Steeplechase Foundation, 400 Fair Hill Drive, Elkton, Md. 21921.
Published in Baltimore Sun
Jan. 7, 2009
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