Miss. Eleanor Mary Durman Brennan

Eleanor was born on September 10th 1986 in the County of Surrey in England to Christine and Andrew Brennan their beloved first born daughter. Eleanor spent her early years in Wimbledon, where she was schooled at Montessori and the Ursuline Convent. There developed a love of drama and public speaking and also became an active chorister and acolyte in the Church next door to her home. When she moved to Albemarle County in 1997, she was at last able to be where she could fulfill her dream of riding and caring for horses and ponies at the little farm she developed with her parents, Carousel Farm. She attended St Anne�s Belfield through 9th Grade, where she loved to take part in the school plays and to present in chapel and assemblies. When she took the lead the High School production she managed to erase her English accent completely to get in to character. Through 10th -12th Grade she attended Tandem Friends School when not away at Horse events, and she spent many happy years under the spreading trees there and became �a weaver of the world�. She graduated in 2004 finishing her exams by email as she had (typically) hitched a ride with her horse to England to pursue a training opportunity with top British coaches, the only catch being she had to go on two weeks notice and leave 3 weeks before graduation. She is remembered as the only Tandem student whose riding helmet and crop were graduated in her place. Eleanor started riding at Grayson Farm and joined pony club in 1998. She first she had to prove that she was serious by educating herself in horsemanship, she proved that by taking a gold medal for the junior level in the regional pony club knowledge competition and Cadbury her first horse was found. She worked so hard to develop her skills that by 1999 she needed a more versatile athlete and her great love Bailey (Boo) Zwei a thoroughbred/hanoverian cross, was found at Wintergreen stables in Afton. He had great breeding but had fallen on harder times and was not believed to be able to jump and had a habit of bucking the clients off, and jumping out of the dressage arena. However having seen him with the sunlight shining off his bright blood bay coat Eleanor was in love: parents and coaches opinions, were no match for her confidence. It was a tough journey, but she progressed from pony club championships through to three day eventing, the king of equestrian sports, being the equivalent of a human triathlon. By 2002 she had taken him up through 3 levels and was embarking on her first international level competition held at the Virginia Horse center. At that point she set herself an ambitious goal. She wrote on her horse trailer door the names of the competitions which would be necessary over the coming years to qualify her for and progress to a CCI**** the hardest level in the competition (the Olympics are *** level). By 2004 she had moved up to the Advanced level and was only one* away, that year she was the youngest advanced competitor in the US and she and Bailey won the Advanced level champion for the very competitive Mid Atlantic region, MD,NJ,VA,DE&NC. She moved to England in midseason and competed there completing the number of points needed for Badminton, and then fretted all winter that those points were sufficient to make the cut. They were, and though Bailey did try to jump out of the dressage arena they competed and completed as the youngest rider ever to qualify. Eleanor continued to develop her career by riding and developing other horses, and by teaching students. She was a proud member of Mountain Skyline Pony Club right through 2005 and a naturally gifted riding teacher. On her visits to the US would teach and train the local young riders. Her gap year in England had grown to three years during which time she was lucky enough to have worked for, and with the team coaches for the US, British and Australian Olympic teams, and been able to spend time with her beloved grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and godparents. However in July 2007 she took the decision to return to home and family in Virginia with her horses, sadly Bailey and already passed, and was looking forward to settling in to a role at training and teaching at Albemarle�s Plain Dealing Farm where she had first been taught at world class level. She was a joyous person and a kind friend. She died as she had lived fulfilling her dreams and keeping company with her eventing friends. She is survived and mourned by Andrew and Christine by her loving siblings Henry and Isabel. By her wider family in England, represented here by her Uncles James, and Peter, Aunt Virginia, Great Uncle Bernard. Together with her surrogate Virginia families the Pimentels & Strini-Wachmeisters, and all her many school and riding friends and last but not least by her Jack Russell terrier Zipper.