The
Showing World / Showing Council Absorbine Groom of the Year Award
Nominees for The Absorbine Amateur Groom the of
the Year Award
The
2015 Finalists
The
Showing Council / Showing World Absorbine Groom of the Year Awards are divided
into professional and amateur categories. We caught up with each of the 8
finalists to find out more about them.
Amateur Grooms Category
- Julie Carter, from Hertfordshire.
Julie grooms for her two
daughters, Sofie (24) and Hannah (23), and was nominated by her friend, Charles
Wilkinson, General Secretary of the British Show Horse Association. Julie has
ridden all her life but now prefers to leave the riding to the girls. Working
full time as HR director for the family business, Julie also looks after the girl’s
five horses alongside work. In the winter she drives her daughters to events
such as dressage and hunting but in the summer things get busy and they are out
all season showing.
- Eamon McCourt, from Essex.
Eamon grooms for his wife,
Rachel, who shows her six horses regularly in cob classes. Five years ago, the
pair did not share their passion for horses as they do now; when Rachel went to
ride her horse, Eamon would go and play golf. Over the years Rachel bought
several more horses and Eamon’s golf handicap got increasingly worse as he
became more involved with the horses. Although Eamon does not ride, he takes
pride in the horses and always ensures they in to the ring looking immaculate.
- Edward Veale, 18, from Suffolk.
After many years of riding
and showing himself, five years ago Edward turned his hand to grooming instead.
He is now an essential part of his family’s showing team and regularly grooms
for his sister, who nominated him for the awards. Alongside his work as a groom
Edward will also be heading to university this month to read law.
- Joanna Stace, from West Sussex.
Joanna has been showing
horses for the last 10 years and currently shows her own young show horses with
her husband, David, who she credits for her success. Joanna works full time
running a soft furnishings whole sale company but the summer is less busy for
her with work, allowing her to spend more time with her horses. Her hard work
has not gone unnoticed as friend and professional show producer, Garry Merton,
nominated her for the award.
Professional
Grooms Category
- Helen Horton, from Newbury.
Helen
has been working for Team Ramsay for forty years and is completely dedicated to
her work. She began working for them at
the age of 17 and has been there ever since only taking a short break from work
to have her two children. It is now a family affair as Helen’s husband and
daughter are also part of team Ramsey.
Helen works all year round at Team Ramsay and she enjoys all aspects of
it.
- Fiona Wright, from Manchester.
Fiona has been working for
top show horse producer Wayne Thorneycroft for many years. She is complete
dedicated to her work with the horses and is a key member of the team at
Wayne’s yard.
- Hannah Godfrey, from Essex.
Hannah has been groom to top
show producer, Katie Jerram, for nine years, and is second head girl on the
Dunmow based yard. Hannah is extremely hard working, loyal and a great rider. In her spare time she likes to compete her own
horse at Dressage.
- Mark Chester, from Berkshire
Mark grooms for professional
show horse producers Carol Bardo and Jayne Ross. He has groomed for them for
many years and his turnout skills are legendary. Mark is hard working and his dedication
to his work is well known in the showing circuit.
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. Our eight finalists this year were of an
exceptional standard”.
