Page 30 - The Hunt - Spring 2021

Midmorning on a bright, cloudless day, four of Dr. Donald Rosato's beautifully groomed, finely geared horses stand outside the barn at St. Matthews Place, the historic Chester Springs home that dates back to at least 1715. Rigged to a gorgeous four-in-hand carriage, they’re silent and almost perfectly still, waiting for Rosato’s command. Each vehicle in his collection is unique, as is the figure he cuts sitting in the driver’s seat, with his top hat and suit, next to his elegantly frocked wife, Judy.
Married 43 years, the Rosatos are well-known patrons of the region's rich horse culture. Rosato has driven carriages through Chester County for decades. His main hunt is Pickering, where he was named master of the foxhounds in 1995. Rosato served as chairman of the Carriage Drive Committee for Willowdale Steeplechase, driving at the event until that component was eliminated. Radnor Hunt has been part of his life since he was a child. He’s also a patron of Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show, and he's driven carriages at the Devon Horse Show countless times.
Rosato doesn't wait for special events to use his carriages. He rides them through the back roads—and sometimes the main roads—of his Chester Springs neighborhood and beyond. He's such a familiar figure that people know his carriages, even if they don't know the name of the man driving them.
A Rosato carriage at Point-to-Point at Winterthur in 2017.
Dr. Donald Rosato at home in Chester Springs.
28 THE HUNT MAGAZINE spring 2021