What the papers say:
LancashireLife March 2007
One Family?s incredible devotion to their daughter?s sport could pay off with a place in the Olympics. Graham Johnston reports. Main Pictures by John Crocks.
Newly polished leather saddles hang in a neat row on the wall of the tack room. Nearby stands a pile of freshly laundered rugs and blankets and , in the stables next door, the latest in high-tech treatments and comforts await the sleek, highly-trained thoroughbred horses.
Newmarket could hardly set a higher standard. But this model of equine care is part of day-to-day life on a former turkey farm in a quiet Lancashire village.
The family enterprise at Mawdesley is based on seven acres of former farm land, transformed over the last three years, at no little expense, into the highly equipped home of an organisation dedicated to helping 17-year-old Philippa Dobby in her quest for show jumping glory.
Already identified as one of Britain?s most promising riders, Philippa, can count on a committed back up team, led by her parents, Les and Maggie, who searched the North of England to find the perfect place to give their daughter a ?clear round? into the top sphere of this sport, To do it they sold their former home in Saddleworth to start a new life with their talented daughter and 15-year-old son, Ben, who plays basketball for Wigan.
Since then, Team Dobby has become a powerful force in the international equestrian circuit and the Runshaw College languages student has moved up the rankings to represent Great Britain all over Europe.
Her success has been earned the hard way with hours of practice in all weathers but Philippa is the first to recognise that she owes most of all to the support of her parents, the superb facilities at the family home and the commitment of her back-up team. Two vets, including Simon Constable of Tyldesley, are on call when needed.
?We are amateurs but to get to the top level of show jumping we have to approach this business in a professional way,? said Maggie, who balances the role of housewife and mother of two with her duties as manager, administrator, driver (she even has a HGV licence), cleaner ?and dogsbody?.
?It?s a full time job, with Les and I sharing the driving whether we are in Britain or traveling abroad. The whole operation soaks up huge costs but we are determined to give Philippa every chance. This year is crucial because she is competing at senior level for the first time.?
In the Mawdesley yard nothing is left to chance. The spacious stable block is equipped with industrial washing machines, a moving exercise circuit, a magneto pulse rug for muscle tone and injury treatment, heat lamps and an equine ice therapy system. Philippa, a member of the Lottery-funded Talented Athletes Scheme, aimed at winning more Olympic medals for Britain, has her own outdoor practice ring and trainer Stephen works the horses in one of the converted outbuildings. In November ?Team Dobby? took a leap forward with the delivery of a horse-box they helped to design, with comfortable accommodation for up to seven people and six horses. The luxury mobile home will take them on this year?s international circuit as well as to county shows all over Britain but as Philippa?s reputation grows, her parents will never forget the day she first rode a horse at the age of six and her progress through local shows and drag hunting before she made her international debut. At the age of 10 she was competing in the Irish Home Pony International, winning gold medals in the team and individual Grand PRIX events and it was not long before she was representing England in Le Touquet in France and Diest, Belguim. In 2005 she represented Great Britain in the European Championships in Schaffhausen in Switzerland and other events in Helden in Holland and Compiegne in France. Philippa has formed a winning partnership with her latest horse, Utah VII, which came from Holland, and she hopes to return to the show ring this year on Powerboy, the horse she rode in the European Championships, which has been out of action with a ligament problem. Her favourite horse is 15-year-old Ricochet Rex, the veteran she has ridden many times, including in Scotland?s Horse of the Year SHow at Gleneagles. When its jumping career is over the horse will be given a special place of honour in the stables for the rest of its life.
Last year Philippa, a member of the BSJA Accenture squad of top riders under 23, won the British under-21 championship at the Scope Festival at Bingley Hall, Stafford; the Ladies Hickstead Derby, open to riders of all ages; and came third in a Grand PRIX event in Scotland in which Geoff Billington, the experienced Olympic rider from Nantwich, came first and second.
Later this year the Philippa's hope is to cross the channel again in July for the European championships in France and tour the county shows, including the Royal Lancashire Cheshire and Buckinghamshire shows.
Potential rewards, not just for Philippa but for the whole team, make the traveling worth while and, having tasted success, they are striving harder than ever to put more trophies on the mantelpiece.