Eve Prime Fout, avid horsewoman, equine artist and conservationist, died Dec. 5 following complications from heart surgery. She was 78.

Mrs. Fout was born in Connecticut but grew up in Warrenton, Va., where her family had deep roots in foxhunting and racing.

Art and horses played a significant role in Mrs. Fout’s life. After finishing high school she worked with artists Paul Brown, Marilyn Newmark, Richard Stone Reeves, Frank Voss and her mentor, Else Tuckerman Bias. She was also a founding member of The American Academy of Equine Art, now headquartered in Lexington, Ky. Several of her bronze sculptures are on exhibit at the National Sporting Library
in Middleburg, Va., in addition to those in private collections.

Mrs. Fout met her husband, Paul Raymond Fout, at the Warrenton Horse Show. After the two were married in 1951, they settled in The Plains, Va. Together they established Coosaw, a racing stable. In 1964 with Moon Rock Eyes, she became the first woman trainer to saddle the winner of the Virginia Gold Cup.

She was also on the board of Virginia Gold Cup Association, and one of her greatest achievements was her hand in the birth of the Great Meadow Field Events Center near her home. 

Mrs. Fout continued to ride until days prior to her death, and in October she won the Theodora A. Randolph North American Field Hunter Championship with Morning Pleasure at Glenwood Park (Va.).

She was an enthusiastic and tireless supporter of children and hunting, and she founded the Middleburg-Orange County Beagles in 1961, a mounted foxhunting pack for children, and the Middleburg-Orange County Pony Club.

Mrs. Fout was passionate about land conservation and a committed supporter of the Piedmont Environmental Council.

“For 25 years, Mrs. Fout has been an inspiration and a role model for me, most particularly in land conservation and in working with Pony Clubbers,” said John Strassburger, past president of the Land Trust of Virginia, two-time D.C. of the Middleburg-Orange County Pony Club and former Chronicle editor.

Mrs. Fout was preceded in death by her husband and daughter Karen. She’s survived by her children Doug Fout, The Plains, Va., Nina Fout, Middleburg, Va., Virginia Fout, Los Angeles, Calif.; brother Bill Prime, Warrenton, Va.; and two grandchildren.

Memorial donations may be made to MOC Beagles, P.O. Box 346, Middleburg, VA 20118, or to the Piedmont Environmental Council, 45 Horner Street, Warrenton, VA 20186.