Riding high in the saddle of success
WHEN Ann Rodriguez was named the first winner of the Hastings & Rother Businesswoman of the Year last month, it was her daughter she had to thank.
Because, unknown to Ann, Louise Harrison had put forward her mother's name for the award, which she won for "combining a successful business with support for the disabled and protection of the environment".
The award was sponsored by accountants and business advisors Ashdown Hurrey which supports the quarterly businesswomen's lunches and networking sessions at the Royal Victoria Hotel.
Ann, 56, has run Pebsham Riding School, between Hasings and Bexhill since 1993, when Hastings Borough Council offered Ann and family a derelict site to pursue their dream of building and running a riding school for the local community.
Their money stretched to an indoor arena, stable yard, hay barn, car parking, lighting, fencing and a couple of ponies and tack, and their first special needs children came from St Mary's special school two years later.
"This is not a one man or woman business, setting out to be millionaires, but more of a vocation run by all family members and I could not have achieved anything without us all pulling together," Ann said.
The family had moved down from London, where Ann ran a catering company, and while she had no equine experience, it was her love of horses that pushed the business forward.
In 2000 Pebsham became a Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) centre, and a registered charity. It now has six special needs schools and several day care centres attending on a regular basis, and offers work experience to all local schools.
Pebsham became an approved British Horse Society centre in 2003, and an outreach centre for Plumpton College offering NVQs, and this month sees a pilot scheme for special needs students to do a BTEC course in horse husbandry, to be extended to all local schools in September.
Ann, who lives on site, was very surprised to hear that she had been nominated for the business woman of the year award, but said it has been a fantastic opportunity to get recognition for the work she and her family do.
"When the principal of Hastings College, Sue Middlehurst, was announcing the winner, she was talking about planning for the future and planning ahead, and that's what we always try to do here," Ann said.
So what is next?
Ann said: "Our future lies with the building of the Country Skills Centre at Pebsham, which will be a low carbon building.
"With this exciting building in place we will be able to offer other land-based skills such as, countryside management, environment and nature studies and horticulture."
For more information about the riding school call 01424 732637.
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Weather for Hastings
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: West
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
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