TRIBUTE has been paid to Jenny Baillie, the co-founder of the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy (FCRT) in Bransgore who has died, aged 80.

Jenny Baillie was still a vice president for the FCRT, which uses horses to help young people with special needs learn and develop, until she died.

Ms Baillie launched Project Fortune, which was named after her horse Fortune, alongside Yvonne Nelson in 1976.

Before her work with the centre, Ms Baillie and Fortune worked for Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied (PHAB) and later for Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA).

Jennifer Dixon-Clegg, director of the FCRT, said: “What was wonderful about her was that she wasn’t held back by ordinary limits — she could always see there was more that could be done and that it could be done better.

“She was also a tremendous advocate for New Forest ponies — she bred them and had a stud. She had grown up loving horses and realised what having a real passion for something could enable people to achieve.”

The funeral service will be held at St John the Baptist Church, Boldre, on Monday, February 17 at 11am, followed by a private cremation.

Donations to Oakhaven Hospice, Marie Curie or the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy c/o FW House & Sons, Lymington, SO41 9NE.