Award for retiring Guards Polo Club welfare chairman
Retiring chairman of the Guards Polo Club welfare committee Felicity Matthews has been honoured for her contribution to polo pony welfare by the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA).
HPA chairman Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers presented Mrs Matthews with a formal citation at the Royal County of Berks Polo Club on 9 December.
Over her 22 years at Guards Ms Matthews was instrumental in the drawing up of guidelines for polo pony welfare, which have been adopted by clubs all over the world.
She said: “I come from a racing background and when I started at Guards I was shocked by some of the strange practices saw, but things have come on a long way in those 20 years.”
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.