British Eventing was deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Pauline McKay, who died peacefully at home on Sunday evening. Together with her husband John, Pauline has been a fence judging stalwart for many years. In 2015 they were awarded the title of British Eventing “fence judge of the year” and the couple had been together fence judging just this last weekend at Bicton Arena International. Without doubt, our sport has lost one of its most dedicated supporters.

Pauline and John received the Fence Judge of the Year Award in 2015 (image, Dave Murray)

“As a controller, I am always reassured when I learn that John and Pauline are fence judging on course, especially if it is a tricky combination that they are on, as they are such experienced and knowledgeable fence judges,” said BE Controller, Carole King. “The fence judging community is such a close-knit network; Pauline will be deeply missed by all of us involved in the sport.”

“When I look back at my time eventing, it is always with fond memories of the videos John and Pauline would post of me jumping their fence at whichever event I had just returned from,” said BE Chief Executive, Helen West. “I used to get back from an event and go onto Facebook with eager anticipation to watch their videos. They have been stalwarts of the sport for so many years and Pauline will deeply missed by the entire Eventing Family. Our thoughts and prayers are with John and the rest of the family.”