Young rider Eleanor Hall is our lucky bursary winner

Seventeen-year-old aspiring dressage rider Eleanor Hall, who loans her horse Smartie to her local Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA), is the winner of the 2011 Dodson & Horrell/H&H young rider bursary.

The Chigwell-based rider beat 126 other riders, including young point-to-pointers and eventers, to win the bursary and was ecstatic when she heard the news.

She told H&H: “I can’t wait to find out who I’m going to be training with and think the most useful thing for me will be the feeding advice — it’s difficult to get the feed balance correct for Smartie, who needs to be calm when he is used by the RDA.”

The judging panel of Paralympian Lee Pearson, showjumper Ellen Whitaker and representatives of H&H and Dodson & Horrell were particularly impressed with Eleanor’s professional manner.

Dodson & Horrell marketing manager Rebecca Ingram said: “Eleanor represents what the bursary is all about — supporting an aspiring young rider. ”

Nine-times Paralympic gold medallist Lee said: “Eleanor is obviously a very talented dressage rider and it’s great to see riders putting something back into the sport, as Eleanor does.”

And Ellen added: “Eleanor clearly has a fantastic future. Winning the bursary will go a long way to helping her achieve her goals.”

For the full news story, see the current issue of Horse & Hound (1 September, 2011)

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