Andy Wadowski was known for his passion for horses and dedication to the equestrian community.
On July 2nd, a celebration of life will be held in Cape Breton for Wadowski who passed away last month at age 74.
The beloved coach and mentor impacted riders and coaches of all ages in Nova Scotia and beyond.
He was particularly involved in the discipline of eventing, which involves three phases: dressage, cross country and show jumping.
Wadowski’s own competitive career spanned more than 50 years, beginning as a junior rider in Europe and as a long-listed rider for the Canadian eventing team in 1988.
His wife and partner, Pam LeDrew says after moving to Canada, he completed his Coach Level 3, which at the time was the highest level offered. She says he was very involved in the equestrian community in Atlantic Canada and took students nationally as well.
They ran the Pinehill Equestrian Centre in the Dartmouth area for three decades before semi-retiring in Richmond County.
LeDrew says, “We ran a coaching program out of our barn and set a very high standard for ethics and behavior. Which in our industry can be lacking. But yeah, we’ve produced some really, really good quality coaches and really contributed positively to the industry.”
She says, “We saw such a cross section of people in our business. He had respect for everyone.”
After they moved to Cape Breton, she says Andy was still really involved with the community. Ledrew says, “He still did quite a bit of coaching and really enjoyed working with the Pony Club group in Antigonish. He also was a course designer for cross country events, so he was actively designing courses as well for a new facility called Redbridge Farm in Summerville.”
The coach and mentor is also fondly remembered for his many Andy quotes. LeDrew gives an example of when he was describing cross country eventing. She says while walking the course with students, he would discuss how you should approach each fence and how it was determined by the terrain. It could be uphill or downhill and sometimes they’d have to ride through water or jump over logs. Wadowski would give advice on speed and riding position.
LeDrew says, “I see a lot of the younger ones remembering where he would say, you know, ‘Gallup, but go slowly and ride like the hell!'” She adds that despite his “very strong accent, he definitely got the idea across.”
She says there has been an amazing outpouring from everyone from Jaimey Irwin of the Canadian dressage team in Toronto to little kids from the pony club in Antigonish.
The celebration of life will be Tuesday at the couple’s home in Barra Head.
LeDrew hopes to see a lot of people she’s been in touch with recently. She says, “Since we moved to Cape Breton, between COVID and Andy having health issues, it’s been pretty isolating. We went almost from one extreme to the other. We went from having a business in our backyard with constant traffic in and out from 6:00 o’clock in the morning till 10:00 at night, seven days a week – to beautiful Bras d’Or Lake living, but very quiet and quite isolating at times just because of circumstances.”
She says “I think we’re going to see a lot of people. A lot of people are going to bring pictures and memories, and really celebrate everything he offered us.”
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