Sponsorships
Dan Thackray
Dan is a third-generation pig farmer from Harrogate and keeps both pedigree herds of Pietrain and Welsh pigs. He sells pedigree pigs for breeding stock and has recently started to artificial inseminate his sows in order to achieve the best bloodlines around. The Pietrain boar crossed with the Welsh sow makes a great butchers pig for the Wharfedale Farmers Market in Otley. Dan also attends local shows to showcase his breed and generate interest.
Sponsored by The Blue Barn since 2017

Charlie Nelson
Charlie is a 13 year old Showjumper and is on her last year of 138cms. She competes at the top level in this section in the Gold League on her ponies Cappa and Dan. She has competed at this level from April 2016 and in those 9 months she missed out on qualifying for the Horse of the Year show by 1 place. She finished the year at the South View English Home Pony finishing 2nd in the 138cm National Grand Prix. During January to April 2017 Charlie competed in the Winter 138cm competitions, winning at Keysoe earning her a place at the Winter 138cm final at Hickstead. Charlie finished in the top 15 of the 138cms in the Winter competition and was invited to compete in the Bolesworth International competition in June where she finished 7th and 10th. After competing in the summer Horse of the Year show qualifiers where she has had a 10th and an 8th to date out of 60 plus entries , she has later gained a 2nd place which has qualified her for The Horse of the Year Show, the most prestigious horse show in the UK.
Sponsored by The Blue Barn since 2016

Ellie Cowburn
Ellie is an 18 year old amateur showjumper based in Yorkshire competing her two horses Hot Chilli Pepper V and TB Nova whilst working as a full time dog grooming assistant. Some of their highlights include winning the North Cote Winter Masters, Weston Lawns Summer Spectacular, qualifying and jumping at Blue Chip and Scope competitions where TB Nova came 31st out of 250 entries during their first season together, along with placings at shows such as Port Royal, Speetley, Harrogate and Church Farm. They have a few away shows planned for 2017 to Arena UK and Aintree with the aim being to do Horse of the Year Show Qualifiers with TB Nova over the next couple of years.
Sponsored by The Blue Barn Since 2016

Samantha Asquith
Samantha Asquith is a qualified Veterinary Nurse and on leaving school to study for her degree she established an interest in the Beltex Sheep breed. During her years studying she joined the Beltex Society, purchased a couple of pedigree sheep, became MV Accredited and her flock name Riverside Beltex came into being. On completion of her course at Askham Bryan College she obtained a Foundation Degree in the Science of Veterinary Nursing and became a Registered Veterinary Nurse. She then worked part time as a Veterinary Nurse so she could use the rest of her time to indulge in her passion of the Beltex Sheep Breed. In order to enhance her flock and be able to be involved at the most important times of year such as, tupping, lambing, clipping, Samantha is now a locum Veterinary Nurse helping out at various practices as required. She has been on a clipping course with the British Wool Board and has had some tuition on how to produce a sheep for a show but all of the sheep you see at shows which are owned and being shown by Samantha have been produced to show standard without any outside help.
Sponsored by The Blue Barn Since 2015

Izzy Palmer
Izzy is a 16 year old para dressage rider from Leeds on the World Class Podium Potential programme. Izzy is very lucky to ride 2 of her mentor/trainer Sophie Wells MBE's horses, Pinocchio who won gold and silver at London Olympics 2012, and Touchdown who was Sophie's 2008 Paralympic ride but retired early due to injury, and is now back in fantastic form. She is the current Grade 4 National Champion and is 2nd in the World rankings. Her aims for the future are to ride at the Europeans, World Equestrian Games and Paralympics! She started riding age 2 and began competing in para dressage in 2013 after being inspired by London Olympics 2012.
Sponsored by The Blue Barn Since 2013

Katie Dowker
Katie has been riding for around 17 years although she has been around horses since she was born. She currently has 2 horses and mainly competes in Showing and Dressage with them both. Marcus (Pennal Heartbreaker) is a 6 year old section D gelding who she has owned since January 2017. So far she has been out competing in showing (working hunter and flat) & dressage. She has competed in British Dressage Team and MyQuest competitions. The most recent one gained her a 1st and 2nd. She has qualified for BSPS Winter Champs 2017 and gained a 1st at Northallerton One Day Event. Christopher (Arad Christopher) is a 10 year old section A gelding. She has had Chris for 4 years and again competes him in showing (working hunter and flat) & dressage. Her best results to date are 9th Royal Welsh HOYs Ridden Section A, Royal Welsh 2016, 8th Inhand Geldings Royal Welsh, North Eastern Counties Welsh Pony and Cob show (NECWPCA) 1st Section A gelding, Reserve Supreme Gelding Champion, 10th HOYS WHP Lincolnshire County Show 2016. Katie has also qualified Chris for the MyQuest Regional dressage finals with 2nd place going on to qualify for the National Finals where he finished 13th out of 28. Katie’s ultimate goal for the future is to qualify both Marcus and Chris for Horse of the Year Show!
Sponsored by The Blue Barn Since 2016

James Rushbrooke
James has been riding since he was 2 years old and now has his own team of event horses and a collection of supportive owners based here in Yorkshire. James has spent the last year with international event rider Andrew Nicholson and has been riding his 3-year-olds and 4* advanced horses as part of his training and development. James is currently competing at 2* level but is hoping to move up to level 3* in time for Bramham International Horse Trials 2018. 2017 has been his first professional season and has been getting great results all year. His future plans are to continue training his team of horses up to the higher eventing levels.
Sponsored by The Blue Barn Since 2017

Wharfedale Woofs Flyball Team
Wharfedale Woofs Flyball Team was started in August 2016 by Sally and Mike Lawn, who had been involved in flyball for several years but with far flung teams. In 2016 they decided the time was right to start a team that was based in Wharfedale, thus allowing dogs and handlers to train in the local area. Starting with Sam, Brig and Bella (two Collies and a Flatcoated Retriever), the team now consists of a range of dogs from Cockapoos to Golden Retrievers, the majority of whom are totally new to the sport. Within the first year of the team's existence, they qualified for and competed at the British Flyball Association's Outdoor Championships winning Division 41, and narrowly failed to qualify for Crufts 2018. The starter teams have proved very successful at competitions throughout the year winning many rosettes. The team is looking forward to next season and hoping to repeat, and build upon, the successes of this year.
Sponsored by The Blue Barn Since 2017
