Eve Mainwaring: “A Tremendous Horsewoman”

eve mainwaring canadian warmblood horse breeders association

Updated:

July 4, 2012

By Kathy Smith

In 2012, we presented the winners of Horse Community Journals' Third Annual Readers’ Choice Awards, honouring remarkable horses and horse people for their achievements and contributions to Canada’s horse industry.

Congratulations to our deserving winners, and thank you to everyone who nominated and helped make the Readers’ Choice Awards a success.

Originally published in 2012, this article features Eve Mainwaring: "A Tremendous Horsewoman"

Eve Mainwaring Hunter/Jumper

Eve was a talented rider who trained under hunter/jumper instructor George Morris. Photo Courtesy of Valerie Sanford

At 86 years old, Eve Mainwaring is still a force to be reckoned with. A legend in the Canadian horse world, Eve is best known for being a co-owner of the legendary show jumper Big Ben, a founding National Director of the Canadian Warmblood Horse Breeders Association, and a gifted riding instructor. To this day she continues to teach lessons at St. Alban’s Stables, in Brockville, Ontario, and to promote the breeding of the Warmblood horse in Canada.

Eve’s passion for horses began when, as a small child, she used to ride double with her father as he toured the family’s lands in Estonia, her native country. As a teenager, Eve worked at a Trakehner breeding facility in East Prussia, and attended agricultural college there. She and her family were forced to flee to West Germany to escape the advancing Russian army, but Eve still found a way to incorporate horses into her life, riding refugee Trakehners at a local riding stable.

In 1949, Eve immigrated to Canada where she settled in Brockville, Ontario. It was here that she and her husband, Robert “Bertie” Mainwaring, opened an equestrian facility, in 1957. Eve has been sharing her vast knowledge of horses and riding with the Ontario horse community ever since.

Canadian Olympian, Ian Millar, met Eve when he was just a teenager. “She is a tremendous horsewoman,” Millar says of the woman who later co-owned his most famous mount, Big Ben. “There are so many success stories of which she was a part.”

Eve was also a key figure in the founding of the Canadian Warmblood Horse Breeders Association (CWHBA), and was the first President of the Ontario chapter.

eve mainwaring hunter/jumper cwhba

Eve (second from right) was instrumental in the founding of the Canadian Warmblood Horse Breeders Association. Photo: Andrew Bailini

Eve embraced the vision of Canadian riders winning gold on Canadian Warmblood horses,” says Chris Gould, CWHBA President. “Using her extensive knowledge, she has been one of our senior judges and evaluators, traveling with our European guest judges across the country grading stallions and mares. Eve has been our anchor on these tours.”

In 2004, Eve became the first and only person to be given the title Honorary Lifetime Director by the CWHBA, in recognition of her enormous contribution towards the establishment and development of the Canadian Warmblood.

“Coming up to the 2012 Olympics, several Canadian Warmbloods in three equestrian disciplines are vying for spots on the Canadian team,” said Chris Gould. “The vision which Eve has championed so tirelessly is well on the way to being realized.”

Those who know her praise her sense of humour and work ethic, but according to Gould, “perhaps her most inspiring and refreshing trait is that she is the eternal student, always curious, always trying to learn, always open to new ideas.”

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More by Kathy Smith

With files from The Recorder & Times.

Main Photo: A lifelong horsewoman, Eve (center) has been dedicated to the establishment and development of the Canadian Warmblood breed. Credit: Clix Photography