In Memory - Helen Herold

Helen Herold, 66—Morgan horsewoman, breed historian, museum director, feature writer—passed away after a brief battle with cancer on July 10, 2020.

Helen was born in Plattsburg, New York on December 18, 1953 to Dr. Ross Herold and Margaret Montmorency Herold. She received an associate degree from Bennett College and moved quickly into an interior decorating career, first as a furniture buyer for high end show rooms, then as a partner at Access Design. Projects at Access Design included decorating the home of Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens in Texas ,as well as homes in Watch Hill, Rhode Island and Nantucket.

Combining her professional skills and her love of animals, Helen made important contributions to our Morgan community. She enjoyed her Morgan horses, winning most memorably the 1996 Amateur English Pleasure Reserve World Championship on Capes Molly Command. It wasn’t all about championships though. When a friend died she adopted Capes Field Commander and was still venturing into the hay mow at Moreland Farm where he is boarded a few weeks before her death to cut hay with scissors into small pieces for the 32-year-old’s feed.

Her service to the breed included longtime director of the New England Morgan Horse Association including president for three-terms. She also served on the New England Regional Show committee, including co-chair of the show in 2015. From 2013 until 2015 Helen was director of The National Museum Of The Morgan Horse, putting her careful historical research and curator’s eye into each exhibit at the museum’s storefront facility in Middlebury, Vermont at that time. “She knew exactly what she was doing and she was meticulous,” says Robin Rednor, who was co-chair of the museum committee at that time.

Helen was a regular contributor to The Morgan Horse magazine, especially writing an annual “New England, The Homeland” feature on breeders of whom she had first hand knowledge and conserving the memories of horsemen Joe Parker and Sullivan Davis in articles for Black History Month.

“She was one-of-a-kind,” AMHA past executive director Julie Broadway posted on a Facebook thread. Helen’s combination of tenacity, commitment, and love of horses served the Morgan breed on many fronts.

Helen has requested donations in her memory go to Serenity Saviors Equine rescue and Therapy Center, Brookville, Florida https://www.serenitysaviors.org/donate

For those who would like a sample of her features in the official breed journal, click here.