Equestrian Life March 2018 Issue

news
David triumphs at
British Breeders Awards
Award Winner - Lincolnshire
based David Burton was
presented with the Haddon
Training sponsored Team
GBR Pony, Junior and Young
Rider Grooms Award at
the recent British Breeders
Awards Dinner.
This award was open to a
groom who had supported
any British equestrian
athlete at the 2017 Pony,
Junior and Young Rider
European Championships
in the following disciplines:
- Dressage, Eventing and
Showjumping.
David, a freelance groom was
invited by Peter Milligan and
Caroline Moore, British Junior
Eventing Team vet and coach
respectively to be one of the
grooms for the GB team at
the Junior European Eventing
Championships that were
held in Millstreet, Ireland.
Having groomed at many big
three-day events including
Burghley, Bramham and
Boekelo, David obviously
knew what the job entailed,
but still didn’t quite know
what to expect. “From the
moment I had the phone
call, to travelling to Stonar
School to meet the team and
then travelling out to Ireland
in the horse box with all six
team horses on it was quite
exciting and knowing your
doing this for your country
was quite surreal” says David.
Once out in Ireland, David
was allocated Strike A Pose,
ridden by Holly Needham and
Union Fortunus ridden by
Phoebe Locke.
Helen Needham, mother
of Holly, who nominated
David for the award said,
“Not having been involved
with a GB team previously
and always being hands on
we had concerns regarding
handing over the care of our
precious horse to a groom but
from the moment we spoke to
David we knew Strike A Pose
would be looked after as if
he was David’s own. We were
absolutely right and cannot
think of a more worthy
winner of this prestigious
award”.
David, who was exercising 3
hunt horses when he received
the email to say he had won
the award, couldn’t believe
it, “I read it quickly and then
had to re-read it and then
again when I got back to the
yard”.
“I am truly grateful to
Haddon Training for
sponsoring such an award
and it was lovely to be in
London with all the other
award winners to celebrate all
the hard work everyone has
put in”.
“A few of my clients use
Haddon Training to recruit
apprentices and being a
past working pupil myself,
I know having ‘on the job
training’ is so important and
I advise anyone wishing to
be a professional groom to
go down this road. It may
seem hard work and low pay
to start with but there is
amazing opportunities along
the way and you get to meet
and work with some lovely
people and horses”.
Josh Steer - British
grooms Award runner-up
Josh Steer who works for
Stallion AI Services was the
runner-up in the British
Grooms Award category,
sponsored by Haddon Training
and was presented with his
prize at the recent British
Breeders Awards Dinner.
Josh was
nominated
for the
award by his
employer
Tullis
Matson, who
highlighted
how he leads
by example
and always
gives 100%
effort in all
task’s asked
of him. Not
only is he
passionate about the horses
showing the dedication
required, but it is his positive
and cheery approach to his day,
all day and every day, together
with his ‘can do’ attitude that
filters down to the rest of the
team making a busy stud
season run more efficiently
with happy staff and in turn,
happy stallions, vital to the
smooth running of the stud.
One of his strengths is his
ability to handle difficult or
“problem” stallions. Many
stallions arrive at the centre
with very little handling
experience and with Josh’s
background in natural
horsemanship and many
years’ experience backing wild
horses in Australia, he is often
responsible for educating
them. His quiet, consistent
handling methods result in a
happy and confident stallion
enabling us to collect semen
from them safely. One 3
year old stallion in particular
who came to the centre with
very little handling and upon
arrival he was very unsettled
and frightened and would
not let any members of staff
catch or even touch him in the
stable without trying to kick
or bite them. Josh dedicated
hours of his time each day to
gaining his trust through quiet,
positive reinforcement. Josh’s
perseverance coupled with his
ability to “read” horses’ body
language and
behaviour
meant that
what started
off as a
frightened,
untouchable
stallion,
turned into
a confident
and happy
stallion who
could then
be handled
by other
members of
staff. In turn, the stallion had
the solid handling foundation
to then be taken into the
collection area posing minimal
threat to the safety of both
himself and members of the
team. Stress and anxiety affects
semen quality in stallions,
so Josh’s role can be the
difference between acceptable
and unacceptable semen
quality, which impacts both
our business and the stallion
owner’s.
“It felt amazing and I felt very
privileged to be receiving this
award, I absolutely love my
job and it’s such a honour to
receive a award for the work I
do”, says Josh, who continued,
“By Haddon Training
sponsoring the British Grooms
Awards I definitely think that
the hard working grooms that
are out there looking after
the horses and the riders are
priceless to the equine world
and are getting the recognition
they deserve, it’s fantastic that
there is an award for us and
to be recognised for the work
that grooms do daily, yet again
I love my job and I was thrilled
to get an award for it!”
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