The Just World charity gala gets underway in Grand Prix Village – adjacent to the Winter Equestrian Festival – tonight, and dinner with Laura Kraut and Nick Skelton is on offer to the highest bidder as part of the event’s live auction.
Asked if she had had dinner with Nick before, Laura joked: “I went out to dinner with him once like 10 years ago! But no, we go to dinner every night so it will be really fun.”
Just World was started by former US grand prix rider Jessica Newman, to help underprivileged children with education, health and nutrition and now administers that aid to 10,000 children in four different locations – Honduras, Guatemala, Cambodia and Belle Glade, Florida. Tonight’s fundraiser is essential in providing approximately half of the annual funding for the Just World charity, of which Laura has been a long-standing supporter.
“I absolutely felt right from the beginning that what Jessica was doing was such a worthwhile cause,” she said. “I’ve said before, we’re very very busy doing what we are doing and it’s hard to find time to do something that’s charitable so this is a wonderful opportunity for us, as equestrians, to be able to give back to people who really need it. Jessica’s done a magnificent job.”
Also up for auction is a polo lesson with Ralph Lauren model and high goal polo player Nacho Figueras, who is no stranger to volunteering for charity and was a good sport earlier in the season, donning a pink wig and taking up dressage, as part of the annual equestrian Triathlon held in aid of the Boys and Girls Club of Wellington.
Ralph Lauren model and high goal polo player, Nacho Figueras, neck reining his way through a dressage test
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
In the past the auction has included clinics with top riders, but this year organisers chose a dinner, “so that anyone can bid on it – not just riders,” said Jessica.
“I don’t know who’s going to buy us,” Laura said. “But I can assure them that Nick is normally quite entertaining, particularly if they encourage him to talk about old stories – yes it will be a fun dinner.”
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Sarah Eakin is an international equestrian journalist who writes for publications on both sides of the Atlantic, including Horse & Hound, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph in the UK. A former Pony Club team member for dressage, showjumping and eventing, Sarah’s mother trained National Hunt horses and she and her three brothers also played polo. Formerly married to a US professional polo player, Sarah is currently based in Wellington, Florida.
