9 Nov 2020
Katie Preston, who works at Milbourn Equine Vets in Kent and East Sussex, is in line for the Amateur Rider of the Decade award from leading equestrian publication Horse and Hound.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Katie Preston and her horse Templar Justice in full flight at the 2018 Burghley Horse Trials. Image © www.sarahfarnsworth.co.uk
An equine vet who combines her work with competing in top equestrian events across the UK and Europe is in line for a prestigious award.
Katie Preston, from Cranbrook in Kent, is one of four riders competing for the Amateur Rider of the Decade award from Horse and Hound in a virtual ceremony on 10 December.
Miss Preston fulfilled a lifetime ambition when she competed with her horse Templar Justice, or TJ, at the world-famous Burghley Horse Trials in 2018, and won Horse and Hound’s Amateur Rider of the Year later that year.
A rider since junior school when she rode her first pony aged 10, she said: “To be named as Amateur Rider of the Year in 2018 was an incredible experience and to now be nominated for Amateur Rider of the Decade is absolutely amazing. It’s a huge thrill.
“I have had TJ since he was two and we’ve just got better and better together. Over the past 10 years we have forged such a good partnership and risen up through the levels together.”
Miss Preston added: “There have been some fabulous highlights along the way, such as competing in the Burghley Horse Trials, which was just brilliant. I was so excited to be there.
“I’ve also competed at Pau and Luhmühlen, which, like Burghley, are rated as five-star events on the European equestrian circuit. The only five-star event I have so far missed out on is Badminton.
“The coronavirus lockdown in the spring put a stop to that, but I’ve got my fingers crossed I’ll make it to Badminton in 2021 and complete the set.”
