A couple had a good day all round as he got a hole in one, she scored a personal best at prix st georges (PSG) – and they are now engaged to be married.
Dressage rider, producer and coach Louise Gallavan was happy to help her local venue Bury Farm out on 9 June, when general manager Anne Dingley asked her to feature in some pictures for social media after competition had finished for the day.
Louise did not realise that her mother Karen and boyfriend Sam Gelder had been in cahoots with Anne – until Sam came into the arena and went down on one knee.
“I was totally shocked!” Louise told H&H. “There were people everywhere watching and music playing; it took a second for me to realise what was happening. It was so special.”
Louise was competing her three horses in a range of classes at the show, so was “in and out” of the arena all day.
“Mum had gone up to Anne and said Sam was looking to do it, and would that be possible, and she said ‘Leave it with me’,” Louise said. “They did an amazing job keeping it secret!
“Sam’s not horsey at all; he loves his golf and running, and it was a perfect day for us as he’d got a hole in one and my show was good. I was on a horse who’d just turned eight and only done one PSG before but scored a personal best. So it was a good day for both of us!”
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Picture by SBM Photographic
(Image credit: Simon SBM)
Louise said her eight-year-old, Fabergé TF, loved being part of the proposal.
“He’s a proper poser; in one of the pictures he’s smiling with us, he thought it was great,” she said. “We’ve booked a date and a venue and they said we could bring the horses but I think he’d steal the show!”
The couple, who have been together for over five years, have set the date for next May.
“His family has wound him up a bit [about getting engaged] and we did speak about it once but that was about it; I really wasn’t expecting it to happen there,” Louise said. “I put the videos on TikTok and so many people were saying that’s how they’d like to be proposed to – he did good!”
Anne told H&H Sam had “clearly thought very carefully about the entire exercise”.
“He wanted to do it there as if he took her out for dinner, she’d know, but if he rocked up here, she’d think ‘What are you doing?” she said. “It was wonderful to help engineer it.
”Louise has been coming here for years; I remember her as a nine- or 10-year-old on ponies, then she went off to Hartpury and learned her craft. She’s a wonderful person to have here and a real ambassador for the sport, who puts a lot back in. So we were delighted to support it, it was wonderful.”
“I think we all cried!” Anne added: “You couldn’t have asked for better. Paul played a lot of happy music and we had a glass of bubbles. Much better than a dinner out, I’d definitely say.
“The whole centre is delighted for them both; it was one of those moments that went perfectly, and we wish them all the best.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
