Sarah to double up for shot at glory in dressage

HAREWOOD’S Sarah Bosomworth will take two horses to the finals of the Winter Dressage Championships at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire next month.
Sarah BosomworthSarah Bosomworth
Sarah Bosomworth

Now it is a question of whether QD Esquire or D’artagnan can emerge triumphant as the two prepare for battle during the event, which runs from April 9 to 13.

Bosomworth has competed at three regionals over the winter and Spring – at Bishop Burton, Addington Manor and Rowallan – qualifying for six classes.

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And both QD Esquire and D’artagnan enjoyed victories at Elementary level with the wins sealing places at next month’s Winter Championships

D’artagnan headed up to Rowallan in Scotland with travel-mate Rocky Clover to take the Freestyle to Music at Elementary level. He won with over 71 per cent.

QD Esquire exceeded that by a further one per cent at Elementary level at Bishop Burton College.

Bosomworth beamed: “It means both horses will go head to head at the championships at Hartpury – who will win?”

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Away from the equine arena itself, two Yorkshire-based companies are celebrating after galloping away with major industry awards.

Announced at the prestigious 2014 BETA Business Awards where the trade gathered to celebrate and reward those who had made outstanding contributions to the equestrian industry, West Yorkshire-based online retailer EquestrianClearance.com won the SEIB Internet Retailer of the Year award.

The accolade is presented to a retailer that offers outstanding customer service and the awards were handed out to winning individuals and companies during the annual BETA gala dinner, at the National Motorcycle Museum, near Birmingham.

The team at innovative North Yorkshire-based horse feed company TopSpec were also celebrating after scooping the Haygain Nutritional Helpline of the Year Award at the BETA Business Awards for an unprecedented seventh time.

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EquestrianClearance.com is one of the most influential online equestrian retailers in the world having grown from small beginnings in Sowerby Bridge to become a thriving global success story.

From riding hats and saddles to leisure jackets, EquestrianClrearance.com offers thousands of products online.

Lorraine Meadowcroft, CEO of EquestrianClearance.com, said: “To win the Internet Retailer of the Year Award is a fantastic achievement.

“When the winner was announced it was a very proud moment and I am delighted that the judges recognised how important customer service is to everyone involved with the business and how much we want to make sure that our 
customers feel valued and looked after.

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“One nominator said we offer unrivalled customer service and are always ready to help, with 365-day returns, while a judge commented that this is specialist retailing at its best and staff showed a thorough knowledge of the products, enthusiasm for their subject and a light touch when it came to closing the sale.

“It was one of the best moments in the history of the business.”

TopSpec, which received its award for outstanding personalised customer service, now has five highly qualified members in its team, including an equine vet, available to answer the multiple award-winning helpline and provide nutritional advice.

Nicola Tyler, of TopSpec, said: “We are very grateful to be recognised by the industry for consistent excellence in giving nutritional advice. We have recently expanded the team with five people now on the helpline to deal with nutritional enquiries.

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“Welfare and simplicity are always key in our minds when giving advice to customers, but when we can also help people to achieve success in what they want to achieve it is very rewarding.”

BETA executive director Claire Williams added: “The BETA Business Awards are always eagerly anticipated and the atmosphere as we wait for the winners to be announced is phenomenal.

“Our congratulations go to everyone who was nominated for an award – they should feel justifiably proud of their tremendous achievement as the standard, as usual, has been incredibly high.”