Longtime horseman and businessman Doug Cudney of Kincardine, Ontario, passed away on Monday, April 18, 2022 at the age of 89.
Doug was born in 1932 in East York, Ontario (a former district of Toronto), the eldest of five siblings ‒ Ross, Carole, Beverly and Judy. His parents, Ted and Jessie, owned Niagara Foods, a major fruit canning business in Stoney Creek, Ontario. While working for the company, Doug travelled to Brazil, Israel, South Africa, Germany, France, the UK and other countries to source and market the product.
The Cudney family ran a farm in Winona, ON, where they housed some of the best hunters and jumpers on the circuit. Doug rode the great hunter War Bond, owned by the Cudneys, to many championship titles. He also campaigned top horses Kudos and Kamid, and rode on the Canadian Team with jumpers including Panama, Flash Gordon, and Blarney Castle. Shoeman, owned by Doug and ridden by Terrance ‘Torchy’ Millar, set the arena high jumping record of 6’3″ and won the Open Jumper Stake and championship at the 1968 Buffalo International Horse Show.
An accomplished equestrian at a young age, Doug moved to Mexico at 14 to hone his international show jumping skills. Back in Canada he teamed up with Tom Gayford and Doug Hood to win the Nations Cup in Harrisburg, PA in 1956, and with Gayford and Jim Elder took the Nations Cup at Madison Square Garden in 1959 ‒ all during a time when it was unusual for all-civilian show jumping teams to compete. Doug was named chef d’équipe for the 1968 Mexico Olympics, where the Canadian team of Elder, Gayford and Jim Day made history when they won a gold medal.
Later, Doug became a groundbreaker by importing international horses from Europe, including the Thoroughbred mare Diana Khan. His entrepreneurial spirit was realized over 30 years ago when he teamed up with Karen Breitbach to design an innovative articulated shock-absorbing protective vest; Tipperary and Phoenix equestrian protective gear is now available worldwide. He also became an avid Thoroughbred racing enthusiast and his son, Robert, is a prominent owner.
Longtime friend Torchy Millar commented, “Doug was full of enthusiasm and passion; he had a real zest for life and a real passion for the horse. He was one of those guys who would really bring a lot of enthusiasm to whatever he was doing. He was quite an entrepreneur with the Tipperary products and had a flair for getting things going.”
Millar recalled fondly a particular trip to Ireland with Doug to try a quirky but enormously talented horse named Phoenix Park. After “jumping oil barrels and cement blocks” with the horse (common training obstacles in those days), Doug bought him and brought him home where he became, according to Millar, “the best horse I ever rode.”
He added that Doug’s charm and spirit will be keenly missed. “It is a big loss to the horse world, and for his friends outside it. He was such a vivacious and upbeat person that he was fun to be around.”
Doug leaves his children Robert, Leslie, Christopher, Janet and Gordon, and his longtime partner Karen Breitbach, as well as six grandchildren, nieces and nephews and his beloved Jack Russell, Luke.
A celebration of life for Doug took place at Davey-Linklater Funeral Home in Kincardine on April 21, 202; a private family burial will take place at a later date in Winona. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to Huron Shores Hospice in Tiverton, Ontario.
More from News:
