British Dressage is proud to announce that its nominated charity for the 2016 BD National Convention will be Hannah’s Willberry Wonder Pony. At this year’s event, 19 – 20 November at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire, half the proceeds from programme sales will be donated to the charity while the team from the charity will be on hand selling merchandise and taking donations.
The story of Hannah Francis and her battle against aggressive bone cancer partnered with a small brown cuddly toy companion bedecked in a red scarf captured the equestrian community. Hannah had a promising eventing career ahead of her when, shortly after her 17th birthday, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which affects three in 1 million people in the UK. She made her cancer journey very public; blogging and posting on social media but then she started fundraising. Originally to raise funds to purchase a wig for herself but such was the support that she was able to set up a registered charity to fund research and enable other seriously ill young people to have memorable equine experiences through Wilberry’s Wishes.
She set up the hashtag #kickingcancersbutt to help spread the message and enlisted the help of an army of ‘berries’ to also help with the cause. Tragically, Hannah passed away at the beginning of August but the work of Wilberry Wonder Pony, and his helpers, continues what she started.
"We’re delighted the team from the charity will be with us over the weekend and Wanderberry, the most adventurous of the Berry family, will also be there as our star guest to spread Hannah’s inspiring story and raise much needed funds," said BD.
Entitled ‘Dressage for all’, the 2016 BD Convention is a not-to-be-missed event. For riders, coaches, judges and dressage enthusiasts, the two day programme really has something for everyone to improve your dressage outlook. With top names like Stephen Clarke, Ferdi Eliberg and Gareth Hughes in the presenter line up, you’ll be learning from the best! Sessions include:
Saturday
- Dressage building blocks - working on the fundamentals of dressage training with Ferdi Eilberg
- Beyond the basics – introducing lateral work (leg yield, shoulder in, half pass) with Stephen Clarke
- Championing changes – perfecting simple and flying changes with Gareth Hughes
- Training children for competition – preparing youngsters for their debut in front of the judge with Darryl Thickitt
- Bridging the gap – training young Grand Prix riders with Paul Hayler
- International here we come – moving up to PSG and Inter I with Ferdi Eilberg
Sunday
- Not just about the warmbloods – training and judging a variety of horses with Stephen Clarke
- Laying the foundations – training young horses with Gareth Hughes
- Maximise your music marks – impressing the judges using your strengths with Stephen Clarke
- An eye on the future – training for FEI young riders competition with David Hunt
- Sky’s the limit – moving on to International Big Tour with Ferdi Eilberg
- Rio review with special guests
Related Links
Dujardin and Hester, Keynote Speakers at 2015 British Dressage National Convention
Langehanenberg to Headline 2014 British Dressage National Convention