One of Perthshire’s all-time greats was recognised for her dedication to equestrianism at the 2015 horsescotland awards ceremony.
A stalwart volunteer behind the scenes of almost every horse-related discipline, Jane Cepok was crowned with the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award.
“What an absolute honour, but a complete shock at the same time,” said Jane after the awards ceremony at the Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld.
Unbeknown to Jane, she had been nominated for the honour by both the Pony Club and the British Horse Society for Scotland.
“I had been nominated for the Volunteer of the Year award, but I was thrilled this went to Anne Logan, as she has worked tirelessly behind the scenes for many years. She was a thoroughly worthy winner,” said Jane.
“After that category passed I began to relax and enjoy the evening. Little did I know what was in store for me.
“As the awards culminated, chairman Ronnie Young was waxing lyrical about a lifetime achiever. It was only at the end of his speech I realised he was talking about me,” she said.
Jane has dedicated her lifetime to Scottish equestrianism, first as a member of the Strathearn Pony Club, before following in her mother Barbara Maitland Gardiner’s footsteps to become the club’s district commissioner, a position she remains in to this day. She was first through the door at the launch of the Gleneagles Equestrian Centre, in February 1988, first as a senior coach alongside Maggie Inglis and Loraine Young before latterly gravitating towards her current role at the centre in 1994 as event organiser.
In 1976 Jane volunteered as secretary for the Central Scotland Horse Trials, standing in this role and more recently as entries secretary without break every year since. She has seen the competition evolve from Dunsinane, at Balbeggie, to Drummond, then Scone Palace and to its current venue at Dalkeith.
“I can’t remember when horses first came into my life,” she added. “Ponies stretch back as far as my first memories.”
Jane shared her first experiences of “most probably scruffy grey ponies, doubtless bareback” at home in Perthshire with her sister Margaret Newsom, who similarly followed the family grain to stand as the DC of East Down Pony Club in Northern Ireland.
“Horses have provided me without doubt so many wonderful times, particularly at Gleneagles,” added Jane, who added to her workload by launching a livery yard in 2012 at her home farm of Drummawhance, alongside her daughter Katie.
She said the yard has provided her with the opportunity to spend even more time with “so many lovely people and horses” on the luxury of her doorstep.
“I can’t imagine a life spent without equestrianism,” said Jane.
The horsescotland annual awards were created to recognise and reward the contribution of Scotland’s equestrian coaches, volunteers, performers, clubs, equine breeders and equestrian business community.
As mentioned by Jane, the trophy for the Volunteer of the Year went to chairwoman of the Scottish branch of British Showjumping and Royal Highland Show director and BS chief steward Mrs Anne Logan BVMS MRCVS.
Fife-based professional event rider Wills Oakden was Performer of theYear.
Wills said he was honoured and humbled to be nominated, let alone to win the award: “Especially considering how many other equestrian athletes there are from Scotland doing great things in their sport.
“I’d like to say a thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this point in my career including horsescotland, my extensive back-up team at home, incredibly supportive owners and sponsors and also the many volunteers that the equestrian world wouldn’t be able to cope without,” he said.
“In 2015 with support from UK Sport and the National Lottery funding through the Team GB World Class Start Programme, I hope to continue to develop and improve and push myself to reach my goals and hopefully make the people around me proud.”
Wills’ support network has put him in a position to produce and compete youngsters from BE90 level up to advanced and three-star international horses.
Indeed, his 2014 season was highlighted by a second place in the CIC*** Scottish Championships at Blair Castle International and a CCI*** completion at Blenheim Palace, each on board Greystone Midnight Melody.
Over the season, he notched up 59 top 10 places across the country, despite losing much of April due to injury. These results put him in 29th position top Scot on the British Eventing list for top rider rankings.
“This award is a great springboard for the beginning of the season; I have some lovely horses to campaign this year and hope to be a top performer in my sport once again,” he added.
Billy Bell, chief operating officer of horsescotland, said: “Much of the success of our riders, drivers and vaulters is down to the quality of the coaches and the commitment of the thousands of volunteers whose efforts are invaluable.”
Horsescotland chairman Ronnie Young said the awards presented a “fantastic opportunity” for the equestrian community to come together and celebrate Scotland’s substantial equestrian success over the past year.
“We will continue to drive forward a number of exciting programmes and initiatives in the year ahead and will work closely with its member bodies to put in place a world-class system for Scottish equestrianism that ensures the welfare of the horse,” he added.