Sarah Miller:Sarah Miller, who died earlier this month, was one of those exceptional people who volunteer their time, their energies and their expertise without expecting any personal gain or reward, to advance the knowledge, skill and enjoyment for young riders.
She was born Sarah Perry. Her family owned the mills at Belmont, Co Offaly from 1859 until 1997 where they milled flour, corn and latterly animal feed.
After leaving Knockrabo, a girls boarding school in Dundrum, she worked for the Carews at Castletown where she trained to be a riding instructor and then went on to teach riding at Headford School.
She spent a year in Khartoum in the Sudan teaching children and there were various spells of waitressing in England, before she married David Miller from Northern Ireland who was working in the textile industry.
They lived in Italy for several years and then came to Tourlisnamore in Westmeath. It was here she began her involvement with the Pony Club, an organisation that had originally been founded in 1929 in England for young riders.
Sarah was an instructor and then district commissioner of the Westmeath branch of the Pony Club and later area representative. Perhaps her greatest contribution was as chair of training when she widened the curriculum to encompass the many different talents that exist in an organisation of more than 4,000 members.
She was determined that the Pony Club should make special efforts to encourage children who did not have expensive ponies or much parental support and insisted that they should have every chance. She saw to it that anyone with ability was given the opportunity to succeed. She fostered the talents of many who went on to represent Ireland internationally in equine sports.
One of her ventures was in Finglas where young people who, with few resources and little knowledge, were keeping and riding ponies. She found that with almost no assistance, they went to great lengths to look after their ponies and that alleged cruelties were mostly owing to ignorance. In spite of her efforts, though, she was able to make little headway to improve matters.
She was an excellent committee member in an organisation well-known for its formidable executive. At the Irish Pony Club, she held the offices of chair and vice-president, among others.
In the 1980s the Millers came to live at Belmont, where David ran a hydro power station and was president of the European Small Hydro Association.
Sarah's other great interest was in Connemara ponies. She was a founder member of the Midland Connemara Breeders, ran clinics and seminars to promote the breed and did much of the planning, organisation and judging for their annual shows.
In her opinion good ponies should have bone, movement, substance and quality. She was a stickler for competitors being correctly turned-out and was herself very smartly dressed when judging.
When Sarah retired from active participation in the Pony Club hierarchy, she, with four others ex-officios of similar age, sporting a new hip or two, founded the Friends of the Pony Club. They ran an annual residential camp for club members who had never won a medal. The camp at Gurteen with about 20 children was a huge success.
The last camp, in 2006, was combined with a Euro camp where children came from six different countries.
Many of them blossomed under this special treatment and in the ensuing years passed tests and won medals which gave substance to Sarah's belief that potential is there, if it is given enough encouragement.
She was a keen gardener and loved music, particularly opera. She is survived by her husband David, their children Katy and David and their grandchildren, Philip and Eoin.
Sarah Miller: born October 22nd, 1935; died September 11th, 2007