Cecily and her two brothers, John and Hubert, grew up on the farms Glen Ovis[2] and Signal Hill, situated in the Great Fish River Valley, 36 miles north of Grahamstown, where they farmed with Merino sheep, Blackhead Persians, Holstein cattle, Arabian horses and ostriches.

After moving to Oranje Farm,[4] in the Middelburg District, in 1950 she bought the stud stallion Boaz, a pure bred Arabian imported from England.

In 1953 she won the Victor Ludorum for the most points at the National Arabian Horse Championships of South Africa held that year at Middelburg.

It is now a multimillion-dollar industry affiliated to the South African Stud Book Association and it imports hundreds of Saddle Horses from America and also exports Saddlers of world champion status to the United States.

van der Merwe worked together as a team, as Honorary Secretary and chairman-cum-President respectively, from 1945 until their retirement in 1983, in an unbroken series of projects over a period of forty years.

van der Merwe were elected as a Select Committee to organise the division of the breeds, the most important one being the Saddle Horse Breeders’ Society of South Africa.

(All the Breed Meetings were held in the upper sitting room of the old Commercial Hotel in Middelburg, in clouds of cigarette smoke.)

van der Merwe were Secretary and Chairman of this newly formed Society, and, during these years, abundant publicity ensured that Middelburg District became the centre of Arab Horse Breeding in South Africa, home to top quality imported Arabian stallions, including the fountain-head sire, Jiddan, whose offspring, mainly mares, formed the basis of many studs due to their great prepotency.

van der Merwe and Cecily Norden brought into being and organised a new concept, that of National Breed Championships for light-legged horses (the first ever to be held in South Africa) – the forerunner of the present National Saddle Horse Championships of South Africa now held in Bloemfontein since 1962.

van der Merwe served, and under whose banner the now booming Saddle Horse Breeders' Society operated.

van der Merwe and Cecily Norden served, and under whose auspices they were able to institute and incorporate new divisions and concepts with the support of the Council, whose members were drawn from breeders of all affiliated horse breeds.

van der Merwe and Cecily Norden, as chairman and Secretary respectively, organised annual short courses and examinations (25 written and practical papers covering all breeds, saddle seat equitation etc.)

to qualify Senior and Junior Judges, and carried a large part of the lectures, and the setting and marking of the examinations.

In these tasks, as well as in the organisation of regular symposiums, they were supported by a loyal committee of horse breeders, including Charl van den Heever and Aubrey Richardson and other heads of divisions.

These two books served to bring cohesion into the Saddle Horse Breeding Industry, and to stabilise judging, stewarding, exhibiting, and show organisation.

These appeared on a regular basis, as did radio broadcasts on all divisions of horse breeding, and constant publicity articles in newspapers.

His personality, his integrity, his gift for inspiring enthusiasm, his discipline, wisdom, insight and clarity of thought contributed to his powerful leadership.

In December 2010, at the age of 92, Cecily Norden had THE BAREFOOT DAYS, a book of short stories about life and growing up in the Karoo, published privately.