Lifelong horsewoman Bonnie Kennedy was honoured by the Horse Council of BC receiving the 2024 Sherman Olson Lifetime Achievement Award. The honour is given to a resident of the province who has shown commitment and positively impacted the BC horse community.
“This is such a lovely honour,” Kennedy told the Prince George Citizen.
Kennedy was born in Calgary, Alberta, living on her father’s cattle ranch where the family owned several horses. As a teen she began English riding lessons and began show jumping and pony club.
As an adult, Kennedy has trained and coached over 150 riders in her career while also balancing a day job as a schoolteacher. Now 78 years old, she continues to teach riding and is also an accredited course designer. She was also involved in equestrian participation in the upcoming BC Summer Games in Prince George before the decision was made to withdraw horse sports from the games, as reported recently by Horse-Canada.
Her passion for horses also found her serving on the Prince George Horse Society board where she was part of a successful bid to take over the lease of the Prince George Agriplex as well as a successful grant application that saw four show barns built in 2000. Kennedy also continues to support horse shows put on by the Horse Council of BC.