FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES OCTOBER 2011 75
Boyd Martin with a member of the species that
kept him going through a summer of tragedy
and loss (horse appears courtesy of True
Prospect Farm): Neville Bardos was already
in quarantine, waiting for his fight to the UK
to contest the four-star Land Rover Burghley
Horse Trials, celebrating 50 years, Sept.
that they are good people and that they want to give back. I was
blown away.”
On Tuesday, August 16th, Bob Courtemanche, Division
President of ACE Private Risk Services, and W. Kirk James, Chief
Operating Offcer of Hub International (the broker that matched up
ACE with True Prospect), met at True Prospect Farm with Bruce,
Phillip and his wife Evie, and Boyd. In a spirit of camaraderie and
compassion, ACE’s donation to the USET Foundation does more
than honor the six fallen event horses: it also pays tribute to the
uncommon valor of the people who risked their own lives to save
the fve.
“We protect property, but at the end of the day we protect
people,” said Bob. “If we can help to make a sad situation better
by honoring the bravery and compassion of the people at True
Prospect Farm, that’s part of our job. It’s not just property they
lost in that fre. They lost horses, and they aren’t replaceable the
way machines are. I’m learning about the partnership between
horse and rider.”
ACE’s generous donation may be unprecedented in the
insurance world, but their humanity seems to be a matter of daily
record. “It’s moving. It restores my faith in the American culture,
that everything’s not just about money,” said Boyd. “It’s fantastic
when a company goes far beyond the call of duty and sees a
terrible situation and they put their hat and money out for such a
wonderful donation.”
ALL PHOTOS BY Lauren R. Giannini
Phillip Dutton, accompanied by one of the
event horses stabled at True Prospect Farm,
commented about ACE’s generous gift to
the USET Foundation in honor of the fallen
horses and the matching pledge from Bruce
Duchossois: “It’s probably the best positive
that’s come out of the whole tragedy that we
had, along with the outpouring of support from
everybody throughout the country for Boyd and
the people involved, but for ACE to step up
and go beyond their commitment and to give
a donation of this magnitude for horses of the
future, that’s pretty incredible.”