H&H review of the year: alternative news awards

Check out which stories made the grade in our tongue in cheek news awards for 2009. Pick up a copy of today’s magazine to find out who won and which were runners-up.

Taking the initiative

Given to the person or institution prepared to do something to make a difference.

Nominations are:

• Horse feed manufacturers introduce a voluntary code to help halt positive dope tests caused by naturally prohibited substances in feed (9 April) Read full story
• Richard Dunwoody walks 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours to raise £100K for four charities (16 July) Read full story
• Lady Julie Daly, breeder of Lillingstone Equestrian, Bucks, petitions for lower aircraft flight levels (16 April) Read full story
• Show jumpers Scott Brash and Roger McCrea save a pony from a lorry fire (18 June) Read full story
• 70 members of Old Berks Pony Club branch ride for 24hr to raise £10,000 for the Aqualung Trust (3 September) Read full story
• Mandy Wilson of Kenwood Alpacas provides a lorry for Clwyd Special Riding Centre, her local RDA centre, when theirs is grounded due to Defra transport regulations (29 October) Read full story
• BHS launches responsible breeding campaign encouraging owners to think before they breed (12 March) Read full story

Fighting the credit crunch

Given to the institute/individual who has done their best to beat the budget blues.

Nominations are:

• Retraining of Racehorses’ new measures increase prize-money and tighten entry requirements to increase funding and opportunities for retraining of ex-racehorses (7 May) Read full story
• Family-run business Goulds Green Riding School celebrates 50th anniversary (27 August) Read full story
• Horse Trust introduces rehoming scheme in response to demand from owners affected by credit crunch (5 November) Read full story

The last hurrah

Given to those that we are going to miss

Nominations are:

• The Royal Show that began in 1839 closes as an agricultural show (9 April) Read full story
• Stilemans Horse Trials closes having kicked off the eventing season for 25 years (12 March) Read full story
• Powderham Castle Horse Trials closes after 40 years (23 July) Read full story

Eureka moment

Given to the individual/institute who came up with a cracking idea (if sometimes obvious to the rest of us).

Nominations are:

• Badminton Horse Trials agrees to date change to secure place in national TV schedules (23 April) Read full story
• The first racecourse in Wales in over 80 years, Ffos Las, opens (18 June) Read full story
• Showing class introduced for horses that are less than perfect at Cricklands in Wales (3 September) Read full story
• Scope organisers work through the night to fit in scheduled classes (10 September) Read full story
• Final hunting case — against Ullswater huntsman John Harrison — is dismissed (24 September) Read full story

Are you serious?

Given to the individual/institute whose ‘great’ ideas/actions suprised us the most

Nominations are:

• International Equestrian Federation (FEI) dressage taskforce meets with officials from ice skating to gain an insight into improvements in dressage judging (23 April) Read full story
• Killarney National Park orders carriage drivers to use horse nappies following public complaints (18 June) Read full story
• Britain’s show jumping Nations Cup team relegated (30 July) Read full story
• BBC to halve racing coverage in 2010 from 29 days to 13 (6 August) Read full story
• Members of three hunts play a supporting role in a Vogue fashion shoot (24 September) Read full story
• Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) guidelines stipulate horseboxes over 7.5tonnes must carry reflective tape that could cost up to £400 (later delayed with H&H’s help) (8 October) Read full story
• High street chain Lush introduces Fabulous Mrs Fox soap to support the Hunt Saboteurs Association (15 October) Read full story
• Defra redesigns its website at a cost of £180,000 as it looks “too agricultural” (29 October) Read full story
• The implications of VOSA’s stringent interpretation of EU working time directive become apparent (2 April) Read full story
• National Audit Office omits riders from vulnerable road users report (28 May) Read full story