Two worthy winners of the Groom of the Year Award

The Absorbine winners prizes 

The Absorbine sponsored Groom of the Year Award at the Showing Council and Showing World Awards Dinner held at the East of England Showground on the 26^th October was this year split into two sections to recognise the valuable contribution of both professional and amateur grooms.  Jess Tapscott, head groom for leading showing yard, Team Hood in Diss took the professional groom of the year award and Stirling grandmother, Margaret Cousin won the amateur groom of the year award.

Over 400 showing enthusiasts turned out to attend the gala dinner in its inaugural year held at the East of England Showground.  Jess and Margaret were presented their awards by the Vice president of the British Show Horse Association, David Ingle.

Jess (23) has worked for Team Hood for the past four years. She said, “The whole Hood family nominated me for the award and were as delighted as I was that I won. It was a lovely evening and I am looking forward to using the Absorbine products given to me as part of the prize”.

Jess Tapscott receives her award from David Ingle 

As head groom for team Hood Jess has a busy and varied time at work, she said, “I really enjoy my job, I get to go to the big shows and during the height of the season we are on the road for several days a week”.  The Hood family regularly have over 20 horses in at their yard and Jess oversees a team of two or three others on a day to day basis.

Jess has worked with horses since leaving school, she added, “I went to Switzerland to work with dressage horses for a year and then came back to the UK to work for the Hood’s.  I really enjoy looking after the horses and my favourite horse has to be the Cob Champion at Horse of the Year Show, The Comedian”.

Margaret was nominated for the award by her granddaughter, April Pollock. She said, “I am thrilled to receive the award and many thanks to everyone that voted for me. It was a lovely evening and I was thrilled also to receive the huge selection of Absorbine products given to me as part of the prize”.

Margaret only found out that she had been nominated for the award when her husband was in hospital for a serious operation, she said, “I was in the hospital and picked up Showing World magazine to take my mind off the operation and saw my name in the nominations!”

Margaret Cousin receives her award from David Ingle 

Over the years Margaret has fostered over 300 children in addition to her grooming. She said, “I have three foster children at the moment and one of them is learning to ride. Lots of the foster children love the ponies and really enjoy getting involved with them”.

Margaret has groomed for granddaughter April for several years. April has had great success with ponies loaned from Jenny Gilchrist of the Romano Stud in Lanarkshire including qualifying for the Horse of the Year Show and winning the best home produced show pony at Equifest with the 148cm show pony, Jackets Mayfair.  Margaret added, “April has now gone to college and so next season I will be grooming for my other grandchildren who will be competing in lead rein classes. It is a real family effort with the ponies and we all get them ready for the shows together. I am so pleased to have received the grooming products from Absorbine which will make sure the ponies are looking at their best, their SuperShine hoof polish is the best on the market!”

The Finalists in the Professional Grooms section 

Leading horse care products company, Absorbine has sponsored the Showing Council / Showing World for several years. European marketing manager, Rachael Holdsworth said, “It is great for Absorbine to be associated with providing recognition for all the hard work put in by showing grooms throughout the season. The introduction of the professional and amateur sections has been a great success and our six finalists this year were of an exceptional standard”.

The full range of Absorbine products are available from Equestrian retailers and Absorbine Stockists.  For more product information, visit www.absorbine.co.uk or find us on facebook www.facebook.com/AbsorbineUK

All photos taken by Equinational