We couldn't be more proud

We caught up with #supergroom Amy Akehurst’s parents, Andy and Sally, following her winning the Badminton Horse Trials Grooms Award, sponsored by Treehouse Sporting Colours.

Andy has been a firefighter for 31 years and Sally owned a hair salon for 30 years, they tell us to how proud they are of Amy...

Are you from an equestrian background?
"Our closest involvement, prior to children was watching Horse of the Year Show on TV, that’s it!

Can you tell us a little bit about your daughter?
Amy showed an interest at the age of 5 and we were able to find a lady in Kent who ran a stables with rescue horses of all sizes.

A ‘donation ride’ of 30 minutes was offered and that was it, the seed was sewn and the bank of Mum and Dad was formed.

Amy’s work ethic is 100% and nothing less, as are our other two children, this is a prerequisite for this industry as we see it.

She now works for Tom Crisp and Team Crisp in Mayfield, Sussex, full time, joining the team in 2016 from Hadlow College. Here, she studied Level 3 Extended Diploma in Equine Management and achieved distinction stars.

During this time a friend told Amy that a stables were looking for help for a couple of weekends, I drove her over there, she liked it there and was offered a job once her studies were complete.

 Last year, she was awarded the ‘Karen Hughes’ Memorial Grooms Award at Gatcombe Park, recognising her hard work over the competition.

How did you feel when Amy announced that she wanted to pursue a career as a groom?
When it came to future careers, it was obvious that Amy was made for the job and we never stood in her way and, in all honesty, we supported her as much as possible to reach her goals.

We had no preconceptions [about the industry], it was an unknown for us. We have total confidence in Amy and her ability to pick things up quickly and know that Amy took responsibility at her former yard seriously and had huge respect from the other riders who looked up to her for advice/tips/help.


How do you feel about Amy’s recent award and recognition on winning the Treehouse Badminton Horse Trial Grooms Award?
With regards to ‘stardom’ for Amy, we couldn’t be more proud. The life of a groom and their involvement can be overlooked sometimes so the awards created for the ‘back stage’ members of the team are most welcome.

Has being a groom helped Amy develop her skills in other aspects of her life?
Amy has very good social skills and communicates, in our minds, extremely well. Although Amy primarily focuses on the horses and the specific skills the job requires, there is much more that goes along with it.

For example we feel her communication skills have come on since working as a groom/head girl, likely due to her job requirements. From what we hear from Amy and her roles at work, time keeping and organisation are also very important, having to ensure each horse is ready for Tom when he’s due to get on. Then ensuring everything is organised and ready for their return.

Do you think that as an industry we could provide more help / support and guidance for parents?
We hadn’t considered looking for support/guidance from any organisations but believe that there is great support and information on the BGA website. Perhaps we should familiarise ourselves on it."

A huge thank you for Andy and Sally for sharing their parent perspective. If you’re a parent and would like more information on the equestrian industry and how you might be able to offer supper have a look at our help for parents pages here.

And don't forget that as a BGA member you get 10% off everything at Treehouse Sporting Colours, with your BGA discount code (found in the members section).

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