Dear ,

Please find attached our Press Release covering the news that an Orkney based horse has won an  Award for having the Healthiest Body Condition in their Class recently at the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead, West Sussex.

It would be really wonderful for this important Programme if you could feature it in your media output. 

Please feel free to contact me if you would like further information.

Best regards, Jennifer 

Press Release
 

11^thAugust 2022

#TheWeighToWin
The Royal International Horse Show from Hickstead was "Weight Aware"
___________________________________________________________________________

The Horse Trust is ramping up their Healthy Body Condition Awards with many Showing Shows signing up to be  ‘Weight-Aware'.  This recently included The RIHS at Hickstead on the last week of July. These coveted awards recognise and reward horses and ponies in the best condition as well as providing support and advice.  The British Equine Veterinary Association considers equine obesity to be one of the most serious risks to equines today.

The Awards were given in over 20 Classes and over 400 horses were body conditioned scored by our qualified experts: Tamzin Furtado PhD, Alison Talbot MRCVS and Dee Pollard from the British Horse Society.

We had winners from across the country; Devon to Orkney and everywhere in-between...

Class 173 The Lightweight Hunter Championship had 38 entries and so for Wall Street, owned and exhibited by Jayne Ross, to win the Healthiest Body Condition Award it was an acknowledged accomplishment.  Wall Street was recently the cover star of Horse & Hound 21/7/22 having won the Supreme Hunter Championship at the Great Yorkshire Show - another "Weight Aware" show.  "I think one should always be aware of a horse's health whatever it is; be it a show horse, and competition horse or a happy hacker" stated Jayne who is based in Buckinghamshire.

Class 177 The Amateur Large Riding Horse Championship
They travelled from Gloucestershire to get to West Sussex and it was definitely worth it for Foster's Road, adorably named ‘Foz'.  He's an ex-racehorse who had the Healthiest Body Condition in the Class.  His owner has suffered a horse related injury earlier this year so this was a nice tonic to make things feel rosier.  "It was a very pleasant surprise to win the award and it's great that obesity in Showing is being tackled" expounded  owner and rider Ellie Markey.  She also told us that Foz enjoys his hunting in Winter and also does some dressage. 

Class 182 The BSPS Heritage M&M Open Ridden New Forest and Connemaras  Based in Warwickshire, Chilham Pearly King, an 8 year old Connemara, owned by Lucinda Stapleton and ridden by Lauren Brill was awarded The Horse Trust's rosette for being the healthiest weight in the class of 32 entries. 

The RIHS has supported the programme since 2019, and is pleased to raise the profile for the awards at this year's event.  David Ingle, Director of Showing at the Royal International Horse Show, Hickstead and former Chairman of The Showing Council, said, "Showing is keen to become more educational and we are in an era of great improvement in equine welfare, with increasing scrutiny under social license.  This initiative shines a light on this important aspect of showing.  We will be making this award in more classes and highlighting the importance of correct weight to competitors at the RIHS this year", said David.  

What is The Weigh To Win Initiative?

The Horse Trust's programme is an important initiative to reward healthy equine body condition and raise awareness of healthy body condition in show horses.  Showing in particular is often seen to promote horses that are overweight and the aim is to challenge and educate on what is an ideal body condition.

The Healthy Equine Body Condition Awards are presented at events throughout the showing season providing friendly, supportive advice and guidance to owners, riders and producers, both at the events and during online training sessions and webinars.

Jan Rogers, Head of Research and Policy at The Horse Trust, says, "We get very upset by seeing photos of underweight horses in the media, but in reality, far more horses are obese than are underweight. This is worrying for vets who are finding that they have to treat these horses with serious health conditions like Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Laminitis. Peoples' perceptions of what is a healthy weight have shifted towards the higher body condition scores. We would like to help to reset this balance."

For further information about the Programme:Research funding | Innovative research into horse health (horsetrust.org.uk)and for details of how to get involved in the 2022programme, contact via emailjennifer@holdsworthpr.co.ukor telephone on 01903 892060.
 

ENDS

For more media information and photographs seehttps://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DspCZH6zGRdi5NFTRc0m1dNOFB_vqGZu?usp=sharing

or contact Jennifer Cranford atjennifer@holdsworthpr.co.uk01903 892060.