Rising young Great Britain star Emma delighted to be sharing the limelight

Emma,18, is one of four young international riders to have been chosen to take part in a demonstration in front of a knowledgeable crowd of dressage enthusiasts and experts from all over the country.

“I burst into tears when mum told me I had been selected. I’m really excited about it,” said Emma. Along with Sophie Wells, Samantha Thurman-Baker and Lisa Marriott, Emma will be given tuition by Dutch dressage expert Imke Schellekens-Bartels as she explains her training methods to the audience. The convention is being held at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire.

Emma’s family live in Thurstonland, Huddersfield and she is based at Becky and Hannah Moody’s dressage yard near Penistone.

Emma is taking some time out to pursue her riding after completing her A-levels. And although she has a place at university, it is looking increasingly likely that riding is going to be her career.

“Originally, my ambition was to be an eventer but then I decided I preferred dressage,” said Emma, who had her first riding lesson at the age of four. “I got my first pony, Murphy, when I was 11. He turned out to be a super star and after that I never looked back.”

She was a member of the Rockwood Harriers Pony Club and on their dressage, show-jumping and eventing teams for two years. Emma started dressage training with Becky Moody and continued to compete in eventing up to novice level.

“I was given the ride on my first ‘proper’ dressage horse, Reg (Sea Sapphire Dance) when I was 14, which was for a year and that’s when I decided that dressage was definitely the sport for me,” said Emma.

The hunt was then on to find Emma her own dressage horse and she got Feo (Furst Diamantino) when she was 15 and he was five. They progressed together, moving up from novice, including winning the under-25 national novice championship in 2009, up to Prix St George level.

They have competed in three national championships and in April took the British Dressage reserve advanced medium restricted winter championship. Emma was selected for the Great Britain junior dressage squad in October last year and has just been selected for the under-21s young riders squad.

It has been quite a year for Emma, and her supportive parents, Andrew and Jenny. She has competed in several international events. including Addington, Roosendal in Holland and Haagen in Germany and was best of the British riders in Holland. She was a member of the GB junior team competing at the European Championships in Denmark where the team was placed fifth.

After spending time juggling her school work with riding, Emma is doing a British Dressage apprenticeship and a teaching certificate at the Moody’s yard. She hopes to expand her riding career and continue competing next year but first of all there is next weekend’s big event to prepare for. It will be a test for both horse and rider. “I think it will be a really good experience for Feo but when he gets in that arena, his eyes will be on stalks.”

The British Dressage National Convention is at Hartpury College on November 26 and 27. For more information and for tickets, go to www.britishdressage.co.uk or call 02476 698833.

TWO Yorkshire riders were among 10 amateurs competing at novice dressage through to Prix St George level to qualify for next year’s Petplan Equine Area Festivals Championships after competing at Myerscough College.

Frances Pearson (Huddersfield), riding her eight-year-old bay gelding Wykefield Versace, won the novice restricted class with a score of 67.31 per cent.

The elementary restricted was won by Stephanie Campbell-Jones (Leeds), riding her 11-year-old chestnut mare Argentina’s Return with 66.18 per cent.

Charities under pressure as owners abandon their horses in droves

IN the past two years, the number of horses being abandoned has nearly tripled.

Figures released by charity Redwings show that in 2009 160 horses were reported to them as being abandoned and in 2010 that figure rose to 241. This year, 392 have been abandoned with the total for the year expected to hit 460.

There has been a rise not only in the number of calls from members of the public reporting an abandoned horse or pony but also from local councils and the police, who are finding horses straying on the roads or dumped on council or private land.

“Abandoning your horse does not necessarily mean it will have a happy ending at a charity or a sanctuary because we simply cannot accommodate them all,” said Rachel Angell, the charity’s senior welfare officer. “We are using all of our limited resources to ‘fire fight’ the number of welfare cases that involve advanced suffering, these have to remain a priority. A charity is, unfortunately, not the easy answer, as many are already stretched to the limit.”

The economic climate is playing its part in that it is now cheap and easy to buy a horse, say Redwings. There is also a decline in the number of buyers and homes that are available, which in turn has highlighted many years of indiscriminate breeding in this country.

Redwings staff have seen ponies sell at auction for as little as £2.50, which in some cases has tempted people to buy on a whim, not understanding that the cost of looking after a pony can be up to £3,000 a year.

“We also suspect that some of the abandoned animals are the result of inexperienced people ridding themselves of an expensive problem,” said Rachel. “Abandoning a horse or pony is not only illegal, it is extremely cruel.”

Redwings Horse Sanctuary are on 01508 481008 or go to www.redwings.org.uk.