Equine adventurer in the running for national award

Equine adventurer Emma Massingale has been selected as one of three finalists from 50,000 entries to be named “creative fundraiser of the year”.

Emma’s unusual European tricycle tour — on which she did the pedalling while her two miniature ponies enjoyed the ride — was nominated for the award, presented by donations site JustGiving.

The 1,034km trip on a tricycle adapted into a mini-horsebox took in Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands and has so far raised more than £2,000 for working equine charity Brooke.

“The news came out of the blue — some kind person must have nominated me,” Emma told H&H. “It’s a national award, not an equestrian one, so it’s nice for something involving horses to be selected.

“It’s great promotion for the charity and I hope it’s a bit of inspiration for other people as well. Not everything with horses needs to be looking at four sides of an arena.”

Emma has put together a compilation of clips from her six-week trip in March, which started in Switzerland and followed the Rhine across Europe.

Her companions included two-year old miniature Shetland Stanley and two-year-old miniature appaloosa horse Percy, both of which were untrained, as well as her dachshund Inca.

“I plan to make it into a proper documentary later in the year but I’ve picked out a few funny highlights to let people know what the trip entailed,” she said.

While the popular horse trainer and film-maker is known for her wild equine-themed antics — including horse-boarding on the Outer Hebrides and backing unhandled Connemaras on a remote island — this is one of the first adventures she has undertaken for charity.

“I am taking this as a green light to see how wacky I can go next,” she joked.

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“Lots of things in the horse world don’t make people smile and this did, and helping working horses seemed the right thing to do.

“If only I had a pound for everyone who came past me and said ‘haven’t you got that the wrong way round?’”

Emma will find out if she has won the award on 22 October. The winner will be selected by public vote, which is open on the JustGiving website until 15 September.

Donations to Brooke can be made on the JustGiving page.

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