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| The Absorbine winners prizes |
The Absorbine sponsored Groom of the Year Award at
the Showing Council and Showing World Awards Dinner held at the East of England
Showground on the 26th October was this year split into two sections
to recognise the valuable contribution of both professional and amateur grooms. Jess Tapscott, head groom for leading showing
yard, Team Hood in Diss took the professional groom of the year award and Stirling
grandmother, Margaret Cousin won the amateur groom of the year award.
Over 400 showing enthusiasts turned out to attend
the gala dinner in its inaugural year held at the East of England
Showground. Jess and Margaret were
presented their awards by the Vice president of the British Show Horse
Association, David Ingle.
Jess (23) has worked for Team Hood for the past
four years. She said, “The whole Hood family nominated me for the award and
were as delighted as I was that I won. It was a lovely evening and I am looking
forward to using the Absorbine products given to me as part of the prize”.
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| Jess Tapscott receives her award from David Ingle |
As head groom for team Hood Jess has a busy and
varied time at work, she said, “I really enjoy my job, I get to go to the big
shows and during the height of the season we are on the road for several days a
week”. The Hood family regularly have
over 20 horses in at their yard and Jess oversees a team of two or three others
on a day to day basis.
Jess has worked with horses since leaving school,
she added, “I went to Switzerland to work with dressage horses for a year and
then came back to the UK to work for the Hood’s. I really enjoy looking after the horses and
my favourite horse has to be the Cob Champion at Horse of the Year Show, The
Comedian”.
Margaret was nominated for the award by her
granddaughter, April Pollock. She said, “I am thrilled to receive the award and
many thanks to everyone that voted for me. It was a lovely evening and I was
thrilled also to receive the huge selection of Absorbine products given to me
as part of the prize”.
Margaret only found out that she had been nominated
for the award when her husband was in hospital for a serious operation, she
said, “I was in the hospital and picked up Showing World magazine to take my
mind off the operation and saw my name in the nominations!”
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| Margaret Cousin receives her award from David Ingle |
Over the years Margaret has fostered over 300
children in addition to her grooming. She said, “I have three foster children
at the moment and one of them is learning to ride. Lots of the foster children
love the ponies and really enjoy getting involved with them”.
Margaret has groomed for granddaughter April for
several years. April has had great success with ponies loaned from Jenny
Gilchrist of the Romano Stud in Lanarkshire including qualifying for the Horse
of the Year Show and winning the best home produced show pony at Equifest with
the 148cm show pony, Jackets Mayfair.
Margaret added, “April has now gone to college and so next season I will
be grooming for my other grandchildren who will be competing in lead rein
classes. It is a real family effort with the ponies and we all get them ready
for the shows together. I am so pleased to have received the grooming products
from Absorbine which will make sure the ponies are looking at their best, their
SuperShine hoof polish is the best on the market!”
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| The Finalists in the Professional Grooms section |
Leading horse care products company, Absorbine has
sponsored the Showing Council / Showing World for several years. European
marketing manager, Rachael Holdsworth said, “It is great for Absorbine to be
associated with providing recognition for all the hard work put in by showing
grooms throughout the season. The introduction of the professional and amateur
sections has been a great success and our six finalists this year were of an
exceptional standard”.
All photos taken by Equinational
