DIETRICH VON HOPFFGARTEN
Highly respected dressage trainer Dietrich von Hopffgarten died suddenly on Feb. 18 at his Sansouci Farm in Langley, B.C. He was 68.

His students from across the country are mourning the loss of a man they considered a dressage philosopher.

Mr. von Hopffgarten grew up in a devas-tated post-World War II Germany and as a teenager began to train in dressage. He worked for several years with dressage guru Egon von Neindorff, to whom he always gave credit for forming his training methods and philosophies.

In the mid-’60s, Mr. von Hopffgarten immigrated to Vancouver, B.C., and soon began training horses and riders in the discipline he loved. One of his earliest competitively successful students was Melissa Beardsley, who trained her Appaloosa Black Bart to win the dressage gold medal at the 1982 North American Young Riders Championships. Mr. von Hopffgarten married Beardsley’s sister, Kim, whom he also trained, in 1984. Kim was a member of the U.S. team at the 1982 World Dressage Championships on the Thoroughbred Woodimix.

Mr. von Hopffgarten’s students also in-cluded three-time Olympian Guenter Seidel and Jeremy Steinberg, winner of the 1996 North American Young Riders Championships. But hundreds of others achieved a wide range of personal successes with their horses by riding with him regularly or in clinics.

In his book Reflections From The Life of a Dressage Teacher (2005), Mr. von Hopffgarten wrote, “Dressage is an equestrian sport and, historically, an equestrian art form. Dressage is a physically and mentally difficult process. It demands true discipline, patience, self-control, determination and the ability to feel and to search with utmost sensitivity for a unique cooperation and harmonious performance between two living beings. Dressage then becomes poetry in motion, a musical and rhythmic dance of horse and rider with power (impulsion), grace (cadence and elasticity), lightness and brilliance (expression).

He added, “Teaching dressage is a commitment to the correctness and purity of this art form. It is ‘service’ to ‘art pro arte’ (art for the sake of art). It is a true profession that has its roots in an extremely deep and passionate love of the noble horse and therefore results in the dedication of one’s life for this demanding endeavor.”

Mr. von Hopffgarten occasionally contributed Forums to the Chronicle. His most recent was published on Jan. 6, regarding his observations about the training practice called rollkur.

In addition to his wife, Mr. von Hopffgarten is survived by his mother, Wilfriede von Hopffgarten of Germany.

A memorial service will be held at Southland Riding Club in Vancouver, B.C., on March 12, at 1 p.m. Staff

GISELLE SUPERSTAR
Giselle Superstar, a 12-year-old, Oldenburg mare owned by Hidden Brook Farm, Theresa O’Dowd and Joyce Schuermann, died on Feb. 9 after complications from colic.

The 15.3-hand bay competed most recently under Kurt Martin and Kara Angulo. With Martin, she won intermediate divisions at Plantation Field (Pa.) and Morven Park (Va.) in the spring of 2005. She’d also won several preliminary events in 2003 and 2004 with Rainey Sealey Andrews.

“She was a very special horse,” said Angulo. “She was just the most giving horse, and everyone who rode her just loved her.” Staff

MADELINE H. MURDOCK
Madeline H. Murdock, of Pottersville, N.J., owner of two-time Steeplechase Horse of the Year Zaccio, died on Dec. 25. She was 77.

Mrs. Murdock owned steeplechasers for more than 30 years, racing in her green-and-white colors. But Zaccio, the sport’s champion in 1980 and ’81, was the star of her stable.

Mrs. Murdock was always a generous supporter of the sport and of foxhunting. Her late husband, Lewis C. Murdock, was master of the Essex Foxhounds for many years.

She is survived by her daughter, Pamela, and stepdaughter, Catherine. Staff

BRADY O. BRYSON
Brady Oliver Bryson, a member of the Nuremberg Trial prosecution team, prominent tax attorney and former MFH, died on Feb. 9 at Father’s Care, his farm in Westminster, Md. He was 90.

Mr. Bryson began practicing tax law in 1938 and worked in Washington D.C., and New York City. His work included drafting the contract of sale by RCA of the Blue Network, now the American Broadcasting Company. He volunteered for the U.S. Navy in 1944 and was assigned to a naval intelligence unit specializing in breaking Russian language codes and, later, to the Nazi War Crimes tribunal in Nuremberg as a liaison between the American and Soviet legal staffs.

After the war, Mr. Bryson returned to the private practice of tax law, founding his own law firm in New York City, where he practiced for six years. In 1955, he returned to Washington as a partner with the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

In his private life, Mr. Bryson was an avid traveler, writer, horseman and foxhunter. He first hunted with the Carrollton Hounds (Md.), of which he later became master. Mr. Bryson also hunted at various times with the Elkridge-Harford Hunt (Md.) and with the Howard County-Iron Bridge Hounds (Md.). In his later years, Mr. Bryson hunted regularly with the Mt. Carmel Hounds (Md.) and finally hung up his tack in 2004 after 57 continuous years of foxhunting. A highlight was his trip to Ireland with his brother to hunt with Thady Ryan at the Scarteen and other nearby Irish hunts.

Mr. Bryson is survived by his wife of 67 years, Mary Elizabeth Brown Bryson; three of his four children and their spouses and by 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the George Brown Family Scholarship Fund at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, MD 21157 or to Carroll Hospice, Carroll Hospital Center, 200 Memorial Avenue, Westminster, MD 21157. Staff

BETTY McGUIRE
Horsewoman Betty McGuire, of Middleburg, Va., died in early January. She was 85.

She began riding at age 4 near Chicago.

Among her notable horses were Gold Platter, ridden to fame by Dave Kelly, and Harvard Square, shown by Leslie Burr Lenehan and Jane Womble Gaston, who was Horse of the Year in the conformation hunter division in the 1970s.

Mrs. McGuire was a horse show judge and steward. She also ran the Oakbrook Horse Show (Ill.) and served at the United Nations as an interpreter in the 1950s.

Survivors include her relatives Mary E. Henebry and Paige Rassas.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Professional Horsemen’s Association, 4059 Iron Works Parkway, Suite 2 Lexington, KY 40511. Staff

GALLIHOP
Sara Jorgensen’s Hanoverian gelding Gallihop was humanely destroyed due to complications from colic on Jan. 29. He was 25.

“Galli” competed successfully in a variety of divisions. Trained almost exclusively by Linda Hough, he began his career under Lise Quintero and went on to win in the junior hunters with Megan Johnstone, the children’s hunters with Alexa Stent, and the amateur-owner hunters and medals with Jorgensen. With Jorgensen, Galli was the 1997 Pacific Coast champion in the amateur-owner hunters and won the 1997 Pebble Beach Amateur-Owner Classic and grand amateur-owner championship. In 1998, he won the Menlo Charity Classic, having finished second the two previous years, and finished second in the World Championship Hunter Rider West Coast standings.

Galli retired from the show ring at 17, and spent the next seven years as a beloved trail horse. Nicknamed “The Bus,” he faithfully carried Jorgensen’s children to and from their elementary school. He also served as a therapeutic riding mount.

Gallihop spent his final year grazing at Saturday Country Farm in Watsonville, Calif..  Staff