A bit about the ODT team
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Anke Hoyer Anke, 24, from Germany is head groom to Oliver, which involves running the yard and team at home when she is not travelling to events all over the country and world. She started work at Gadlas Farm February 2012 and has competed herself up to CIC* level. |
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Steven Smith Steven, 22, joined the team as a rider in 2009 from Kenneth Clawson’s yard. Originally from Scotland, Steven spends most of his day in the arena as when he is not riding he is in charge of maintaining the surfaces. |
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Paul Burgess Paul, 25, joined the team in June 2011 and his main role is riding the youngsters and helping Oliver with the breaking in. Paul previously worked and rode for Edward Nicholson (Flint Curtis’ owner) where he competed up to Intermediate Level. |
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Lucy Bull Lucy, 17, also joined the yard in June 2011, coming straight from College. Her job at Gadlas includes all the day to day yard duties as well as preparing the horses for ridden work. |
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Flynn Flynn is a new addition to the Team for 2012! He’s a 4month old Whipet and owned by Steven. He spends time on the yard with the grooms and ‘may’ get to go to competitions when he’s a little older, as he is currently barred from entering the lorry, due to chewing! |
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Dai Gittins Dai has been with us since August 2010. He lives the other side of Oswestry (about half an hour away) and is employed as a Yard/Handyman. He previously worked in farming, but mucks out morning and afternoon and in between helps with the maintenance side of things ie. fencing and tractor work etc. |
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Alan and Eve Townend Alan and Eve (Oliver’s parents) provide the vital back bone of proceedings. Alan works a lot with the younger horses and takes charge of keeping the top horses fit when Oliver is away competing. He also manages all the feeding on the yard and does any maintenance work around the farm. Eve takes charge of the finances and looks after the team at home. She is a seriously good cook, as those of you who have been to the Open Days will know! |
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Jim Blurton Jim and his team do a fantastic job of shoeing all of the horses on the yard and are always on hand to replace lost shoes on a Monday morning. They work with the vets to keep all the horses in top shape. |
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Neal Ashton Neal is based at Oakham vets in Leicestershire and is a good friend of Oliver’s. He oversees the horses treatment and knows all of their requirements very well. |