Woman competitor wins Royal Welsh £2000 Dr Emrys Evans Award
Jessica Prichard of Castellau Fach Farm, Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taff, has become the first woman to win the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s Dr Emrys Evans Award, a £2000 prize given annually to a person who has made an exceptional contribution to rural skills.
The theme chosen for this year’s award was equine management and Jessica was one of 10 competitors from across Wales, five of whom were women. They were assessed on a range of skills including breeding, selection and preparation of horse or pony for show and sales, feeding, handling and training for leading, riding and driving, pasture management, record-keeping and preparing a future breeding or development programme. Jessica, who runs a successful commercial venture from well-designed and managed facilities on the family farm, has succeeded in breaking and producing home bred as well as clients’ ponies and horses to a particularly high standard for the show ring and performance field.
In their report the judges said that as well as being a rider of advanced dressage standard, Jessica has an enviable record of winning classes at the Horse of the Year Show on numerous occasions. She also demonstrated her vision to breed animals capable of the highest level of competition while teaching others at the same time.
The judges said they faced a challenging task in selecting the winner of the award and saw some outstanding horses and ponies in their home environments. All the applicants demonstrated professionalism in their chosen field and they saw many diverse aspects of the equine industry including stud management and in-hand showing and production for the ridden circuit, in addition to dressage and eventing.
“There were some interesting breeding programmes across the spectrum of the equine world and all contribute to the industry in their own right. It is apparent that the equine industry in Wales is in safe hands,” they said.
The winner will receive the £2000 prize together with a certificate and a piece of Welsh Royal Crystal at a presentation at the Royal Welsh Show which takes place at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, from July 20 – 23.
Dr Emrys Evans was chairman of the RWAS board of management. He died on the eve of the Royal Welsh centenary show in 2004 and the award, which is sponsored by HSBC Bank, was introduced in his memory in 2006.
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