A farmer and grassroots eventer is preparing to swap wellies for high heels after making it to the finals of Miss Great Britain 2020.
Sammy Lambert, 29, who has an equine degree from Bishop Burton, usually splits her time between running a livery yard and helping her father with the harvest.
In February 2020, she will be one of 25 competitors over the age of 28 who have been selected to compete in a special “Ms” division introduced this year for the pageant’s 75th anniversary.
“I’ve followed Miss Great Britain on social media and Instagram for a while and I am the sort of person that likes a challenge,” said Sammy. “While I don’t get sick of horses or farming it’s a breath of fresh air to do something different — and it is definitely out of my comfort zone as well.
“I don’t usually wear make-up and I’d only wear a dress if I was going to the Young Farmers dinner dance.”
The contest, held in Leicestershire, will include an interview round, a fashion round and the swimsuit round — which Sammy said is judged on body confidence.
“I think people think you have got to be a model and have legs up to your arms, which I definitely don’t,” she said. “It’s more about how you walk out on the stage.
“There are 300 people there so it will be nerve-racking as well. I have never had the best body confidence — and I also think I have quite muscly, stocky legs from farming and riding — but I want to do it to give me a boost.”
Competitors have also been invited to help raise money for the contest’s two nominated charities — Cancer Research UK and the Duchenne muscular dystrophy charity Alex’s Wish. Sammy’s first fundraiser will be a sponsored loop the loop with the Airosparks Leicester stunt display team on 8 November.
“We’ll be taken up in planes which we will maybe fly ourselves at some point,”she said. “I am nervous but when I get there I know it will be a once in a lifetime thing to do, so I am asking people to sponsor me for that.”
Sammy, who “likes to set goals”, had also set herself the challenge of competing in a BE90 this year with her Irish draught-thoroughbred cross Brook but has has had to put this on hold.
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“I was supposed to do Bishop Burton last week but it got cancelled, so I have put in for Norton Disney. He is fit and ready with nowhere to go at the moment,” said Bridlington-based Sammy, who owns two other horses — 26-year-old pony Holly and 19-year-old Irish draught-thoroughbred cross Bess.
“I haven’t done any British Eventing this year as I got married on 29 June and we moved into a derelict farmhouse on my dad’s farm that we did up, so we have had quite a lot on and I had to put horses to one side a bit,” added Sammy, who has previously competed on show jumping and combined training teams for her local riding club, Scarborough.
Last year, Sammy also fulfilled an ambition to compete at the Great Yorkshire show, where she rode Brook in the novice ridden and lightweight hunter classes.
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