Search is on to find the best grooms in the country
Two new categories have been added to the British Grooms Awards for this year.
The honours celebrate the best grooms in the equestrian industry and nominations close on 20 November.
The Haddon Training Yard Manager and The Haddon Training Apprentice are the two new accolades that have been added to the prize list.
“I wanted to further develop the grooms awards in order to recognise more employees within the equine industry and to celebrate their achievements,” said Chris Hewlett of Haddon Training.
The yard manager category is open to those that have worked in the industry for at least five years, with two years of experience as a commercial manager.
For the apprentice award, horse care students must be nominated by their employer and can be put forward up to three months after finishing their placement.
As well as these two new awards, there is also an open category and a prize for Team GBR grooms.
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All grooms in the equestrian industry are eligible to be put forward for the open, while the Team GBR section welcomes nominations of any groom that supported the squads at the FEI European Championships 2015.
Caroline Heard, who works as a hunting groom as well as a showing groom and producer, took home the top honour in the open section last year.
Freelance groom Nikki Newman was runner-up.
Meanwhile, Harry Meade’s groom — Jess Errington — won the Team GBR groom prize.
Awards will be presented at the annual British Breeders’ Awards Dinner on 16 January. The event is hosted and organised by the British Horse Foundation at Grange City Hotel, London.
Find out more information and entry forms (NB: scroll down after clicking)
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.