A spreading live oak tree and a white wooden fence mark the grave of Souriant III, Belle Baruch’s favorite horse, who was more than thirty years old when he died in 1956. Belle acquired the horse, a chestnut Anglo-Arabian whom she called Toto, in 1928. The purchase was arranged by the renowned French trainer, Paul Larregain, an organizer of international equestrian competitions. He met Belle when she was foxhunting at Pau, in the French Pyrenees, and introduced her to the sport of show-jumping. Fearless and elegant, Belle and Toto triumphed in European equestrian competitions until she left for America in 1938, taking her horses with her to Bellefield. Except for short stints at various other properties Belle owned, Souriant III spent the rest of his years here at the Bellefield stable. The plaque on the tree above his grave reads,
SOURIANT III
TOTO
ANGLO-ARAB
FRANCE 1923 - JUNE 25, 1956
MY GALLANT HORSE AND
FAITHFUL FRIEND - ADIEU!
Belle Baruch's many show-jumping trophies line the interior roof of the Bellefield stable. She began her amateur riding career in 1928, under the tutelage of French instructor Paul Larregain. She was not permitted to represent the United States in international competitions, but she obtained a French gentleman's license and had an exceptional first year. She placed in half the shows she competed in, and won first place six times. She continued to ride, and win, and in 1931 she placed first in the Paris Horse Show. In this photograph she is riding her favorite horse, the chestnut Souriant III, in a competition in Mottrarona, Italy, in 1931.
While living in France, Belle Baruch built a stable for her horses in Pau. In 1932, she hired trainer Jean Darthez as her head groom, and when she moved back to the U.S. with her horses in 1938, to the newly constructed Bellefield, she convinced Darthez and his family to move with her. Belle built a house for the family near the Bellefield stables, and Jean Darthez continued to work for her for many years. He died in 1958 and is buried at Bellefield. In this c. 1938 clip from the Baruch home movies, he and Belle give her horses a workout. They are joined at the end by Bernard and Renee Baruch and an unidentified friend.
Deep in the woods near Bellefield is an airplane hangar that belonged to Belle Baruch. Utilized as a mechanics shop today, it is a reminder of Belle Baruch’s irrepressible spirit. As a young woman, she had flown through the air on horseback in European show-jumping contests, competing against men and winning multiple prizes. By the time she reached her late thirties her equestrian career was winding down. Suffering from arthritis and advised to leave Europe because of Hitler’s rise to power, she gave up competitive riding, but her taste for adventure remained and she soon returned to a passion of her youth - flying airplanes.
Belle qualified to pilot a single-engine plane and co-pilot a two-engine aircraft and soon thereafter bought two airplanes of her own. In the late 1930s Belle and Barbara Donohoe flew one of her planes to California and back. Below are some excerpts of a film they made of their trip.
