Riders have held a Macmillan coffee morning “with a difference” raising more than £2,000 for charity – while showing the public the joy of horses.
On 28 September coach and saddle fitter Steph Bradley welcomed around 75 guests to her yard in Wrexham, where she hosted a quadrille display in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
“Two years ago I decided to hold a Macmillan coffee morning, but this year I thought I needed to make it a coffee morning with a difference,” Steph told H&H.
“With all the social licence discussions going on, I thought it would be lovely to get people from the local village and surrounding areas to come and see everyday riders and their horses having a good time, riding to music, and for them to see the horses enjoying it.”
A group of local riders took part; Steph and her daughter Fran, Sioned Roberts, Jess Thomas, Helen Connolly, Maggie Maloney, Max Cookson-Johnson, Ezmae Lockwood, Harriet Brimage, and Nikita Sullivan.
Steph designed a floorplan to music performed by the group, and Steph and her daughter rode a pas de deux with their horses Beau and Sydney. There was also hobby horse showjumping for the children – plus coffee and cake.
Steph said “this year’s coffee morning had even more meaning” – with Steph, Sioned, and Max all being affected by cancer.
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“Earlier this year my vet noticed that I had a darker freckle on my head and he said I should get it checked. I was diagnosed with melanoma and in May I had a great big chunk of my temple taken away and a skin graft. I have a lovely scar on my head now, but I am free of the melanoma,” she said.
“We also had two amazing inspirational cancer warriors riding, 12-year-old Max and our lovely friend Sioned.”
There were two guests of honour on the day – para dressage star Georgia Wilson, who brought her silver and bronze Paris Paralympics medals along – and Steph’s Macmillan nurse Jeni Jones.
“I was really emotional after riding the pas de deux with Francesca, then Jeni walked up to me and said ‘Hello’, and I was in tears,” said Steph.
“I was one of Jeni’s last patients before she went on maternity leave so I had no idea whether she’d get the message and make it along, so for her to come with her newborn baby and her husband was so special.”
The day raised £2,074 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
“We’ve broken our record which is great. It’s just nice to raise some money. There can be this perception about equestrians being a bit elitist, so it was lovely to show ‘Bob the cobs’ trotting round having a lovely time, and doing a really super job,” said Steph.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
