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Charlotte Barber from Ruskington Fen in Lincolnshire has taken home the Petplan Equine High Achiever Award for her performance in the Novice Open Championship with Florisou owned by her father Karl Barber, at the annual Petplan Equine Area Festival Finals held at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire from 6th – 10th April 2016.

Petplan Equine, one of the UK’s specialist equine insurance providers, created the High Achiever Award to recognise the outstanding achievement of the horse and rider combination who achieves the highest overall percentage score across all Petplan Equine Championship classes at Area Festival Finals.

Riding six-year-old, black, Dutch bred gelding Florisou, Charlotte scored a winning 77.10% in the Petplan Equine Novice Open Area Festival Championship class. The combination outshone the competition by more than four percentage points in a class filled with quality combinations.

Charlotte’s prize for winning the Petplan Equine High Achiever Award is a five-day intensive training course with the highly acclaimed Gloucestershire-based AM Dressage, owned and run by leading international riders and trainers Adam Kemp FBHS and Matt Frost. A leading establishment specialising in the training of dressage horses and riders of all levels and abilities, AM Dressage regularly holds sell-out residential three and five day intensive training clinics such as that won by this year’s high achiever.

Nottingham Trent University student Charlotte, who is studying Equine Sports Science has had Florisou since he was a three-year-old and she was delighted with her win. “ I am absolutely thrilled to have won the Petplan Equine High Achiever Award, it’s quite amazing! Florisou – known as Bert at home - is a real character and he was such a good boy during the tests, but really quite excited and naughty beforehand. I was particularly pleased as it was his first show away from home and staying overnight in a different place – but he seemed to enjoy it all and loved the atmosphere. He is now out in the field having a well earned holiday and enjoying every minute. I’m in two minds to tell him about the award as he’s big enough for his boots already but I don’t think I can’t as it is a wonderful achievement for us both. I also want to say it couldn't have been done without the support from both of my parents and sponsor Nicki Tucker Veterinary Phyiotherapist.”

AM Dressage’s Adam Kemp FBHS congratulated Charlotte on her win and said: “We very much look forward to welcoming Charlotte and Florisou to AM Dressage. Since we began this initiative with Petplan Equine we have seen some fabulous High Achieving combinations come to us for further training - the standard at the Area Festivals improves immeasurably every year.”

The Petplan Equine Area Festivals give a wide range of riders the chance to compete in a truly prestiguos championship. 19 Festivals are held all over the UK from August to November each year with classes from Preliminary to Prix St Georges.

Kate Hopkins, Marketing Executive at Petplan Equine, added: “It is exciting to support a series that provides the perfect showcase and celebrates the talent that is out there. We would especially like to congratulate Charlotte on her fantastic win in the Novice Open Championship and for becoming our newest Petpaln Equine High Achiever. We will watch this combination’s progress with interest and wish them the very best of luck for the future.”

British Dressage’s Chief Executive Jason Brautigam said: “The Petplan Equine Area Festivals series goes from strength to strength and the High Achiever Award 2016 illustrates just how high the standard of competition really is. We would like to thank Petplan Equine for its on-going support of the Championships, which has seen an impressive 32% increase in participation since 2008 and this is in no small part due to Petplan Equine’s commitment to the Area Festivals, we look forward to even more success in 2017.”

Further information about the Petplan Equine Area Festivals and how to qualify for next year’s finals is available from the Petplan Equine website at: www.petplanequine.co.uk/area-festivals/area-festivals.asp

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• Petplan Equine offers comprehensive insurance cover for horses and ponies aged from 30 days. Established 27 years ago, Petplan Equine understands the evolving equestrian market and strives to enhance knowledge and understanding of the equine world through employing horse enthusiasts and working closely with the equine industry.
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