EA Equestrian:

 Abigail's family has been with EA Equestrian from the very beginning - her mother grew up on site, in the very cottage that Abigail lives in now, and helped organise the stables' renovation in the fifties. Through this, Abigail knows a great deal about the yard's history and that of the surrounding area.

 She learned to ride at the yard on a scruffy old Welsh x Shetland called Arthur and misses him dearly.(although not his rather short temper!)

Abigail is also a fully qualified instructor (BHSI) as well as having a long history of affiliated showjumping! Although she doesn't compete anymore, she is more than willing to share the secrets of her success with anyone who wants to know! (and those who don't!)

David is up to date in all his BHS and ABRS qualifications but prefers to work behind the scenes and on the yard rather than teach. He usually takes the afternoon hacks on most weekdays.

Although he hasn't been at the yard for quite as long as Abigail, David settled into the swing of things fairly quickly, starting off as a lowly groom and working his way up the ladder to assistant yard manager. Whereas Abigail spends much of her time taking lessons and organising things, David is more likely to be found taking his favourite horse Tamarind out for a hack and attempting to curb some of his more annoying habits. (usually with mixed results)

He does a lot of schooling and is very good with problem horses and those who lack confidence so we usually let him back and break in any youngsters that we are bringing into work.

 Nikolai arrived at EAE earlier this year and we don't know how we managed without him! Originally part of the travelling menagerie that Jaconelli belonged to, Nikolai's skills lie mainly in training and rehabilitation of troubled horses. He is very patient with the kids at the yard as well, who often nag him to show off some of his more unusual skills, such as juggling and trick riding.

When with Janelli's Menagerie, he grew very fond of Jac so, now that he is working here, we have reunited them as his Staff Horse - an arrangement which suits everyone to a T!

As well as Jac, Niko also has a dog called Boris (otherise known as the Canine Pest Control Service!) and spends much of his spare time trying to retrain one of the yard's most 'difficult' horses...

 Lisa was our very first livery, keeping her beautiful PBA gelding - Kerry - at the yard. She doesn't compete much and prefers hacking and the odd bit of schooling to eventing or showing.

 Since her arrival she has really helped us out with the yard duties and has been covering for Jill since her accident by taking hacks and helping out with lessons. As a huge thanks for this we have made her an honourary 'staffie'.

We couldn't cope without you Lisa! Cheers!

 Jenny has been riding since a very early age and has been competing practically since she could talk!

Over the years she's had many horses but nw has just one - the very gorgeous and talented Mitchell. She hopes to event him this year and we are quietly confident that they will do so with much success.

When she's not schooling Mitchell or working on her technique on one of the schoolies, she can usually be found trying to persuade her boyfriend Baz to give riding a go. (usually with mixed results!)

Lara had her first riding experience when she was on holiday aged nine and since then she's never stopped!

She used to ride regularly at the trekking centre where we got Banksy and Rhona from so you can imagine her delight to be reunited with them here when she came back from University!

As you can tell from the photo, Lara has a great sense of humour and never fails to lighten the mood on even the soggiest hack. She is great friends with Ailie and often pops over to give her a hand with Archie (or indeed, snaffle a quick ride!)

Ailie grew up in Hollowcroft in a very non horsey family so it took a lot of arm twisting to scrounge herself some lessons when she was a child.

She had been riding for just over eight years when a very attractive little skewbald cob called Archie came up for sale at a local sale. She begged her parents to let her buy him but they resisted and he was sold instead to the trekking centre where she had learned to ride.

After a couple of years she managed to get him on loan and then, when the yard owner announced that they would be closing down, eventually managed to buy him for herself.