FROM DREAM TO REALITY: CHARITY DRESSAGE COMPETITION RECEIVES OVERWHELMING SUPPORT
An idea muted on Facebook to raise funds in support of the people and animals affected by the Australian bushfires morphs into must attend dressage event in less than a week.
Like so many people across the country, Natalie Heaton has been deeply saddened by the ferocious bush fires in Australia. Ten days ago she wrote a post on social media to gauge whether any of her friends may be interested in attending a charity dressage competition in support of the people and animals affected. The response was overwhelming and within hours Horses for Hope GB was born.
Horses for Hope GB is an inclusive dressage competition which seems to have hit a nerve with the UK equestrian community and with the wider population. Within hours of the idea being suggested, Somerford Park Farm, one of the UK’s premier equestrian competition centres, was secured as the venue. And the date for the competition was set as Sunday 26 January 2020.
The competition is open to all riders, ranging from novices and juniors all the way up to professionals, with classes catering to every ability. The overarching theme is a desire to help those affected by the terrible natural disaster taking place in Australia, whilst also having significant amounts of fun at the same time! The dress-code rules are relaxed and competitors are encouraged to wear Australian-themed outfits.
The event has seen overwhelming interest and the organisers were forced to close entries after only three days, seventeen days earlier than expected, due to phenomenal demand. The venue has since donated the use of a further arena enabling more entry places to be released – these sold out within one hour. Horse Monkey, who handled all the entry sales donated their booking fees, and they claim that this is one of the fastest-selling events they have ever handled.
The equestrian business community has thrown its weight behind the competition with donations of prizes from the likes of Dubarry, Fairfax & Favor, the Bolesworth International Horse Show and Le Mieux amongst many others. The organisers have also been touched by the number of smaller, local businesses and retailers who leapt at the chance to be involved in such a worthy cause.
“ It is humbling to see how the equestrian community has pulled together. Within hours of announcing the event we were flooded with offers of support from businesses large and small, enabling us to offer prizes for the winners of each class, rosettes for every competitor, not to mention a really fabulous raffle. We even have an equine sports massage therapist and Theraplate there on hand to offer treatments throughout the day.”
The event has touched a chord with the professional riders too with prize donations from Olympic Grand Prix rider Gareth Hughes and Grand Prix rider Matt Burnett. Olympic Event rider Andrew Heffernan, who is based at Somerford Park Farm, is getting into the spirit of the event with an offer to ride Blue the Cob in one of the intro classes. Blue made a miraculous recovery from illness last year and his owner Mairead Martin entered the competition with him. She also set up a Just Giving page to raise money for Horses for Hope GB. Having heard about this Andrew offered to partner Blue in the test in top hat and tails.
Of the event Natalie says
“Of course the aim of Horses for Hope GB is to raise as much money as possible but we also want everyone to have an absolutely fabulous day out. There will be plenty of things going on throughout the day to keep everyone entertained from stalls to browse, delicious food and drink to sample, a fun Instagram wall to pose in front of and a DJ. So even if you don’t know one end of a horse from the other, we promise you will still have a fun family day out.”
Horses for Hope GB have set themselves a fundraising target of £15,000. If you would like to help them reach this please donate at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mairead… Or you can purchase raffle tickets through paypal using the email horsesforhopegb@gmail.com for £1 per ticket.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.