Love is in the air at the Endurance GB Awards Dinner

Love is in the air at the Endurance GB Awards Dinner

By Caroline Hawes

Courtesy of David Saunders Photography

While others were celebrating the completion of another successful season Martin Leonard and Jess Bright had another reason to celebrate. In addition to winning third prize in the Best New Horse category Martin took the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend Jess just before the dinner started.

While the proposal was not wholly unexpected, as they had gone together to the jewellers to get Martin’s grandmother’s ring resized, Martin still managed to surprise Jess.

As Jess remembers: “As we were driving down, I said this would be a great opportunity to get engaged because we never get dressed up. Were going out and it was going to be a lovely evening. Martin lied straight to my face saying the jewellers hadn’t got back to him so it can’t happen today and it’s such a shame.”

Martin had it all planned out knowing that Jess would not like the proposal to be a big scene in front of a crowd of people. He surprised her in their hotel room while they were getting ready for the EGB dinner. “I turned around and there he was with the ring. It was a really nice personal moment.”

The couple share a love of horses. Former jockey Martin, of ML Horsemanship, met Jess, an Equine Bodywork therapist, when her mother asked Martin to help rehabilitate a horse she had brought over from Ireland which was having a lot of problems.

The wedding is set for October. Jess explained: “We didn’t want to miss any of the UK endurance season. We plan to go out to the States for a couple of weeks after the wedding to work with Western riders and reining horses.”

The couple is also working together more closely professionally. Jess, of Bright Equine Therapy and Biomechanics, is passionate about the rehabilitation of horses. “I love being able to pinpoint where a horse is weak and to advise the owner how best to resolve the problem. I think that’s really important because otherwise, you end up spending hundreds or thousands of pounds trying to fix a horse when there could be a simple solution.” Jess has found her specialism really complements the work Martin does. “If I’m working on a biomechanical problem it can often mean that the horse needs help with behavioural issues,” she says, which is where Martin, a groundwork and behavioural specialist steps in.

They are already planning the 2023 endurance season together. Jess is starting a Novice season with her mare Kaya and Martin has been invited to join the Development Squad and will be working on getting his horse Altivo FEI qualified.