In memory of Kimberley Grayce Roach. Photo courtesy of Blue Ridge Farm.
Tragedy struck the eventing community last Thursday, March 31, when 12-year-old Kimberley Grayce Roach was found unresponsive in a pasture at Paradise Farm in Aiken, South Carolina. Coroner Tim Carlton confirmed her death at the scene.
Grayce had been in the pasture with her horse, Just Floor It or “Deuce,” a 14-year-old Dutch/Thoroughbred gelding her family purchased last month. No witnesses saw what happened. The coroner said an autopsy revealed Grayce died from blunt force trauma to the head. The death has been ruled accidental.
Grayce, of Amherst, Ohio, had been on a winter training trip to Aiken with her family and fellow event riders from Blue Ridge Farm in North Ridgeville, Ohio. The group boarded their horses at Paradise Farm during the trip south.
Her parents, Mark and Mary Roach, released the following statement:
“It is with great sadness that we write to tell you that we lost our precious, beautiful 12-year-old daughter Kimberly Grayce Roach on March 31, 2016. She was the light of our lives and will be deeply missed. Her smile was contagious, and her true loves in life were her family and friends, her dog Tank, and her horse Deuce. She will be deeply missed by everyone she touched.”
The family is requesting that members of the eventing community share any photos they might have of Grayce on social media using the hashtag #rideforgrayce. Photos can also be posted to the Blue Ridge Farm Facebook page. For any EN readers who do not use social media, please email photos to [email protected] so we can send them on to the family.
Please join us in sending condolences to Mark and Mary, the extended Roach family, their barn family at Blue Ridge Farm, and all who knew and loved Grayce.
