Twelve lucky individuals have made the shortlist to become one of four regional brand ambassadors for Horse & Hound’s new online events entry service – Equo.
These 12 have been selected from the hundreds of keen riders who put themselves forward for consideration. We have selected three from each region of the UK – north west, north east, south west, south east – and now you can help us decide by voting for your favourites.
The public vote will carry equal weight in the final selection alongside the Equo team’s choice of winner (50/50 vote). In the case of a draw between two competitors, the Equo team’s decision is final.
Each of the four brand ambassadors will receive £100 a month for 10 months to spend on entering competitions and booking training through Equo, as well as branded clothing and a regular online blog.
Vote for the Equo brand ambassadors
See who made the shortlist for your region below and don’t forget to vote for the person you’d like to be the brand ambassador for your area.
South West
Ali Dane
Ali is 30 and lives in Oxfordshire. She specialises in eventing and dressage and describes herself as passionate, dedicated and enthusiastic. One of Ali’s biggest achievements includes re-schooling a 17.2hh dressage horse, known as Legs, after she went over backwards on her owner. After a lot of hard work Legs has become a happy, confident schoolmistress and is out winning qualifiers. Ali would love to become an Equo brand ambassador as she feels that it would give her the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the sport and share her lifelong love of equestrianism with others while promoting Equo. Vote for Ali
Donna Claridge
Donna is a 55-year-old dressage rider from Gloucestershire. Donna is very enthusiastic about equestrian sport and would love to encourage all riders (whatever their age and ability) to enter and enjoy competitions. Donna describes herself as positive, articulate and passionate and her biggest achievement includes winning an area dressage festival after being a happy hacker for 25 years. She has since gained an MSc Equine Science degree at Hartpury College and now runs her own yard. Donna claims that you are ‘never too old to achieve’. Vote for Donna
Amelia Rogers
Amelia is 24 and lives in Mid Glamorgan. She describes herself as a professional, positive and passionate showjumper. After recovering from a bad fall Amelia has achieved success with her horse Millie, qualifying for Blue Chip, Scope, the Silver League Regional Final and the 2016 Foxhunter second rounds. Amelia would love the chance to attend more shows and training to further develop herself and her horses, while promoting the exciting new services that Equo will bring to equestrianism. Vote for Amelia
South East
Hannah Dorsett
Hannah is a 21-year-old eventer from Buckinghamshire. Hannah would love to be a brand ambassador as she believes that Equo will allow equestrian events to become easily accessible. Her biggest achievement was buying her ‘spur of the moment’ purchase, Rum. Hannah’s motto is ‘inspire, believe, do’ and she is keen to get involved in equestrian blogging and share her activities with others. Vote for Hannah
Leanne Ehren
Leanne is 28 and lives in Cam
bridgeshire. She enjoys dressage and showjumping with her horse Buddy and her outlook on equestrianism is ‘ride, love, laugh’. Leanne has redeveloped her partnership with Buddy after a bad fall last year and the pair have since qualified for three national dressage championships. Leanne therefore describes her greatest achievement as not giving in, re-discovering riding and having a huge smile on her face at the end of it. She feels that being an Equo brand ambassador will give regular competitors the opportunity to juggle a ‘non-horsey’ career with a successful competition schedule. Vote for Leanne
Jessica Leroy
Jessica is a 25-year-old eventer from Kent. Jessica’s main competition aim is to always be better than last time; this is true of her eventing career thus far. Jessica reminisces about days sitting at her desk and waiting until the boss wasn’t looking to print off entry forms, write cheques and sneak an entry into the office post, so believes that Equo event entry will catapult the equestrian world into the 21st century. Jessica believes that being a brand ambassador is her chance to create awareness and generate new opportunities. She claims that ‘Riders + Equo = Jessica’… let’s just hope her boss isn’t reading! Vote for Jessica
North West
Rebecca Starling
Rebecca is 31 and lives in West Yorkshire. She loves eventing and her work ethic is ‘dedication, hard work, success’. Rebecca is proud to have competed in the Trailblazers finals last year. Rebecca’s horse, Fonzy, is an ex-showjumper that has now turned his hoof to dressage and is going from strength to strength. Rebecca would love to be a brand ambassador and promote Equo while doing what she loves – competing. Vote for Rebecca
Bonnie Fishburn
Bonnie is a 33-year-old eventer from 
Shropshire/Cheshire. Bonnie urges others to join her journey, as she believes that becoming an Equo brand ambassador would lead to exciting adventures that she would love to share with others. Bonnie’s biggest achievements include taking her ex-showjumper, Percy, up to intermediate and CIC2* level. Bonnie has owned Percy for eight years and is hoping that he will take her to church for her wedding in September! Vote for Bonnie
Lara Whiteway
Lara is a 21-year-old sh
owjumper based in Lancashire. Lara’s showjumping results include winning open grand prixs and competing in nations cups. Lara believes that she is professional, passionate and consistent and would love to be a brand ambassador in order to represent Equo and introduce it to others, as she believes that it will be a useful service for competitors and organisers. Vote for Lara
North East
Lara Dyson
Lara is a 32-year-old dressage rider from
Grimsby. She describes her day-to-day life as ‘ride, sleep, repeat’. Lara still wells up at the memory of winning her first British Dressage national title on her home-produced horse, Begee. Lara believes that becoming an Equo brand ambassador would be a fantastic opportunity to give something back to the sport that she lives and breathes. She thinks Equo will change the way competitors search, plan and enter their equestrian outings. Vote for Lara
Sam Molyneux
Sam is 2
4 and lives in Lincolnshire. She evented her home-bred horse Paddy to CCI2* level and broke him in with the help of her mother when she was just 13. As Paddy is now retried Sam is producing a team of young horses. Sam describes herself as hard working, approachable and professional. She would be proud to be associated with Equo, which she believes is a great new initiative that will make entries easier for competitors. Vote for Sam
Claire Taylor
Claire is 26 
and is from Lincolnshire. Claire describes herself as an all-rounder, but especially loves showing. Her motto is ‘work, ride, win’ and she took over her horse Rupert after his former owners were ‘at their wits end’. Claire and Rupert have since won BD novice and elementary classes and qualified for Equifest on their showing debut. Claire feels that becoming an Equo brand ambassador would be the chance that she needs to succeed, as she strongly believes in her dreams, herself and Equo. Vote for Claire
