Lesley Caswell
IF you take a walk on the Lambourn Downs, you may not look twice at two silver-haired ladies enjoying a hack with a shepherd dog in tow. You may not realise you’re passing the reigning national endurance champion, a septuagenarian who has regained her crown after some three decades away from the highest echelons of her sport.
Last season, Lesley Caswell, 70, won overall champion, best pure-bred Arabian, senior champion, veteran rider and two team trophies with her current flagbearer, Crystal Magic Star. Etched on the plaques dated in the 1980s on some of those trophies is Lesley’s name next to her former champion, Archimedes.
It’s not hard to see why Lesley is still thriving in the sport – she simply loves it. Lesley is also a dog-breeder who runs a busy kennels, and she views her long daily rides as a diversion. She and her head girl, Mary Martin, 64, head off most mornings for a 10-mile sharpener and enjoy every second.
