We've just heard that our sponsored Endurance rider in France, Selena de Wasseige, has won an individual Bronze medal and team Silver at the Open Junior Endurance Championships at Kreuth, in Germany. The championships were run over 120kms and the "open" competition was won by a rider from the UAE. Individual gold medallist in the European Championships was Laetitia Pegaz from France, with another French rider taking individual silver.

Nineteen year old Selena, who lives near Moye, in the northeast of France, was riding for the Belgian team as she holds Belgian nationality, although she is permanently resident in France. Hilton Herbs has sponsored Selena for five years now and we have enjoyed enormously watching her progress her career in endurance.

Selena was crewed at Kreuth by her father, Patrick, and he reports as follows:

"We are back from Kreuth, where the Junior European Endurance championships have just been held and the results are attached. Selena won the individual Bronze medal and team Silver, with her Arab mare Kalah Grey, averaging 19.8kms over the 120kms.  This course was fairly hilly and very technical and the average speeds were fast, with the last leg being run at around 25kms an hour.  This was a great result for this horse as she caught an infection the Sunday prior to the ride and had eaten virtually nothing for two days"

Selena (Bib no 10)  & Kalah Grey at Kreuth

The Scottish Endurance Championships were held at Perth Racecourse over the weekend of 16th - 18th July . This year saw a large entry in classes ranging from 22kms pleasure rides to the two-day 160kms Scottish Championship class. The event kicked off on Friday 16th with an afternoon Pleasure Ride which was very well received, with around 30 people taking part.

Saturday morning saw the start of the one-day 120kms endurance race (ER) at 6.30am and all four competitors headed off together. Sadly one was vetted out at VG (vet-gate) 2, but the remaining three finished in great form and the winner was Jill Calder with Khebir Shahir. Also finishing in this class was Marjorie Grant with Trailtrow Eriskay, a Highland Pony, the first Highland Pony in SERC to complete this distance.

Following hot on their heels were the starters in the two-day 160kms. The three entrants in this class were Helen McFarland from Northern Ireland (defending last year's title), with J St Jake, Lorna Templeton from Nairn, with Redarn Connon, a homebred Highland/Arab cross, and Katie Keith from Aberdeenshire with purebred Arab Jakiri. All three rode together until the end of day one when Katie Keith sadly vetted out.

Day two saw the remaining two competitors leave together but Helen and Jake pulled ahead after VG1 and finished well ahead of Lorna and Connon. This is the second year running that Helen has won this trophy, and she will be back in Scotland at the end of August representing Ireland in the Home International competition being held at Burgie, Morayshire, at the end of August.

The one-day 80kms ER, with eleven starters, was the largest of the ER classes and was won, with a spectacular racing finish, by Karen Shotton from Cumbria with Patchwork Polly, from Sarah Norris and Genghis Ibn Charisma. Both horses looked fantastic and full of running after 80kms.

Other classes over the weekend included a two-day 120kms, a two-day 80kms, and 60 kms ride, which was by Donna Hemmings and Cumbria Sameh. Additonally there were 50kms Novice and Open CTRs (competitive training ride), 40kms and 30kms CTRsm and of course pleasure rides on all three days.

This is the second year the event has run at this fantastic venue and the whole event was a great success but could not have taken place without the support of its sponsors so many thanks to
Hilton Herbs for sponsoring the event!

Helen McFarland, winner of the Scottish Championships

About eighteen months ago whilst exhibiting at Global Pet in Orlando, Florida, we were approached by a company called Mud Bay, who have a chain of pet stores in and around the Puget Sound (Seattle) area. They were very enthusiastic about taking the doggy products but despite following up the contact after the show nothing more came of it.

At Global Pet 2010 the folk from Mud Bay came on the stand again. They explained that they'd gone through a bit of restructuring and introduced two new colleagues who had joined Mud Bay from senior positions with Starbucks - so we guessed they were serious about growing their business!

One thing lead to another and by May we were seriously discussing the prospect of sending someone out to do a product presentation to their store managers and to visit some Mud Bay stores and present the products to staff members. By June the trip was confirmed and ‘yours truly' (Heather Giles) had got the job! Coincidentally we also had a free business class flight to use which had been awarded to us by UKTI on the back of winning Somerset's "Exporter of the Year 2009".

By about a week before I was due to leave we still hadn't had a confirmed order from Mud Bay, so had to wind them up a little bit. Imagine our surprise when we received a $25K order by return, bearing in mind they are taking only canine products it was pretty ambitious for a ‘starter' order!

Once the order had come in I started to plan my trip! Flights had been booked and I had decided to stay on for a few extra days to get in some sight-seeing, especially as Puget Sound is well known for whale watching!

I flew out on July 6th from Heathrow and my first business-class flight was a mostly pleasant experience, despite the British Airways cabin crew who in general are perfectly polite and helpful whilst still leaving you with the impression they'd rather be doing something else! My neighbour in business-class was the General Manager of the Waterford Castle Hotel & Golf Course and as I gave him plenty of free advice about what to feed his dog, I may call in the favour if ever I get to visit Ireland!

I arrived at Seattle airport at the end of the day feeling rather jaded and was pleased that my hotel, the Radisson, was right opposite the entrance to the airport complex. I settled myself in my very comfortable hotel room and decided to go straight to bed in so as to be rested for the following day's work.

Radisson Gateway, SeaTac

Two of our colleagues, here at Hilton Herbs, have recently advanced in their field by achieving NVQ qualifications.  Warehouse Manager, Nick Vaux, earned an NVQ Level 3 in Management and Stacy Hawes has secured an NVQ Level 2 in Warehousing.

Nick commented: "This is definitely a step forward for both of us as well as the company.  They are investing in the staff who want to go further and get qualifications like these and I'm now able to do more in my line work.  I started here with no training now all kinds of new doors are being opened up for me".

Nick and Stacy with their NVQ certificates
(photo courtesy of the Western Gazette)

Follow this link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/holistichorseradio/2010/06/24/horse-sense-with-karen-tappenden and listen to HIlton Herbs' herbalist, Hilary Self Bsc MNIMH, talking about the management of Cushings Syndrome.

As proud winners of Somerset's ‘Exporter of the Year 2009' and second runner-up in the ‘Small Business 1-50 Employees' category, we were this year invited to the Royal Bath & West Show as guests of the Federation of Small Businesses, who organise the awards, in partnership with Somerset Chamber of Commerce. Also invited to have a stand in the FSB marquee were Hippychick, runners-up in the Small Business of the Year category, who sell clothes and accessories for babies and toddlers, and the Ariel Motor Company, makers of the Ariel Atom and winner of Business of the Year 2009 award. As we had limited space for our stand, we decided to just take a few products to demonstrate the range, and concentrate our time on talking to our customers rather than selling, as well as handing out the ever popular freebies!

The weather over the four days was beautiful and this helped to pull in record crowds. We were delighted to receive a bronze award for our marquee in the ‘non-agricultural' category and celebrated in style with ice creams! The Ariel Atom on display in the marquee was a huge crowd-puller and the FSB members did a great job selling raffle tickets for CLIC (Cancer & Leukemia in Children), with the top prize being a ride on a racetrack in the Atom, as well as several bottle of wine and prizes donated by Hilton Herbs and Hippychick.

Overall we had great interest in our products and everybody went away happy with catalogues and a 15% ‘first order' discount, as well as free shampoos and the furry 'bugs' which as usual disappeared like hotcakes! It was great to meet so many customers, both old and new and also the many dogs who visited the stand. We really enjoyed sharing the marquee with our fellow business award winners and hope to be back again next year!!

Martin & Clare on the stand at the Bath & West

The Western Gazette
Yeovil Business Awards 2010 - Celebrating the best "

Last night (Thursday 20th May) a group of us donned our DJs and posh frocks and attended the Yeovil and South Somerset Business Awards ceremony, organised by the Western Gazette, and held at the Augusta Westlands Sports and Social Club, in Yeovil.

Posh frocks and DJ's

Our Production & Export Manager, Martin, who was responsible for entering us for the Somerset Business Awards 2009 seems to have got the taste for these awards and so he put in an entry.  We then received a phone call from the organisers saying that we had been short-listed (along with two other businesses) for the "Small Business of the Year 2010" award and that it would be in our interests to attend the Awards ceremoney!  Not needing much persuasion to attend a posh do we all rushed round and organised DJs for the boys and us girls rooted around in the wardrobe and dusted off the smart frocks.  Unfortunately because it was a bit short notice not many of us were able to attend so we roped in some 'other halves' instead.

Martin & Tony looking suave and debonar!

We all had a very enjoyable evening and we were thrilled to win the Small Business of the Year award and received a very nice framed certificate and trophy, both of which have joined the Somerset Business Award on our display shelves in our Reception area.

Hilary & Tony celebrating, trophy in hand

Thanks to the Western Gazette, the sponsors, and everyone involved in organising the Awards and the Gala evening and roll on the next business awards competition!

Two interesting and productive days in New Orleans followed our arrival with talks from both the Centre for Veterinary Medicines (part of the Food & Drugs Administration - FDA) and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO for short) who control animal feed in the US. The NASC is making great progress and, over the years, has developed a good working relationship with both the FDA and AAFCO helping companies, such as Hilton Herbs, to navigate the troubled waters of marketing feed supplements in the USA.  Another piece of good news was that we can now market probiotics in the US so our product Digest Plus, a probiotic with added Slippery Elm, Marshmallow root, and Fenugreek, can now be freely marketed for both horses and dogs.

April the 30th was our wedding anniversary and my birthday (I thought Tony would only ever be able to remember one date a year!) and we celebrated in style at a great restaurant called Nolas, in the French Quarter, and enjoyed excellent food, service and atmosphere.  It turned out that this restaurant, along with another restaurant called Emerils that we went to the next night, are both owned by a famous chef Emeril Lagasse, who is apparently a famous TV chef in the US. Both restaurants were excellent and not overly expensive.

Cafe du Monde

On the 1st May we decided to spend our last day and only day off, exploring New Orleans. We just had to visit the famous Café du Monde down in the French Market which was incredibly busy. After coffee and two portions of beignets drenched in sugar we thought that a sightseeing tour of the French Quarter would fit the bill. They have great carriages pulled by a mule that will give you a guided tour for $15 each. We took ages to choose which carriage we wanted but finally settled on one pulled by Dixie the Mule. Dixie is 24 years old and was one of the animals evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

the first Catholic cathedral in the US

Her driver was an absolute mine of information and answered all our questions. We started the tour at the main square in French Quarter and the site of the first Catholic Cathedral in the US. As luck would have it there was a wedding taking place and we timed it just right and saw the bride and groom leave the church and walk down the street accompanied by a jazz band and the congregation.

Hilary and Dixie

As we left New Orleans the next day you could still see the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina and we had been told by our guide that the only reason the French Quarter survived this disaster was because it sits just 8ft higher than the surrounding land which was flooded. A clever move by the French man Jean Baptiste La Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, who in 1718 established New Orleans, although at the time he wouldn't have been aware of how low lying the area was and would never have experienced a hurricane in his life!!

Hilary & Tony up for a ride!

We left New Orleans in a storm with the threat of tornados, which has been about par for the course during this trip, to start out drive back to Pennsylvania - 1,000 mile in three days.

Hilary

The first day of Badminton dawned dry and bright, although as it's the first time we've slept off-site for a few years we missed the 8am ‘curfew' for getting the van behind the stand and so had to carry the last few bits and pieces we needed - note to self - get up earlier tomorrow!

Our Badminton 2010 stand with its smart new Hilton Herbs flag!

We had told Clare, whose first show it was - after only a month with Hilton Herbs - that the first day would be peaceful and allow her to get to grips with the layout of the stand, the pricing, etc. In the event she got thrown in at the deep end as we were very busy throughout the day and we are sure that the fact that it was cross-country day for the Grassroots Championship was a big factor. Our colleague, Janice, who is also Hilton Herbs' accountant, drove up to join us for the rest of the show and we were so pleased at how well we'd done that we decided to sample the culinary delights of Tetbury that evening and we had dinner at the Blue Zucchini restaurant and had a very pleasant meal.

Day two brought some respite from the rush and the morning was very quiet but we made up for it during the lunch interval and in the afternoon, especially once the dressage had finished. All the visitors to the stand were thrilled with our 25% show discount and free shipping and many existing customers (and some new ones!) made the most of the opportunity and stocked up on their supplements. At the end of the day we did our short ‘commute' back to Tetbury but decided not to squander the day's takings on another meal so we settled for pizza and salad in the cottage.

Day three, being cross country day, was pretty busy and the weather was kind. It had rained hard the evening and night before but it dried out in time for the start of the cross country, although it was damp and made it feel colder than it actually was. We didn't close up until gone 7.30 and it was a bit of a rush to get back to Tetbury and into our glad rags for our meal out. It's an old Hilton Herbs' tradition - we always eat out on the cross-country day at Badminton! We went to the Priory Inn, where we had a lovely meal two years ago, and we weren't disappointed this time either!

Monday was another reasonably busy day, although the morning was quiet. The highlight of Clare's first show with Hilton Herbs was serving HRH Princess Anne, who came on the stand in the afternoon and bought some of our salt licks and a herb mix for one of her dogs. This isn't the first time she's been on our stand and we know she uses our products, sourcing them through one of our retailers, but it was nice to see her in person again. We're only worried about we do as an ‘encore' at Clare's next show!

Breakdown under way!

It all comes down more more quickly than it goes up!

With the end of the show comes the stand breakdown which is always hard work, especially after a four day show, however one of our colleagues very gallantly gave us his bank holiday to come and up to help us breakdown (thanks, Stacy!). With four of us breakdown went quickly and smoothly and we were off and heading for home by 8pm. Another Badminton over for another year!

Well what can I say? Arrived New Orleans and booked into our hotel which just happens to be sited on the corner of Canal and Bourbon, right in the heart of the French Quarter, and it just happens to be Jazz Festival time! Of course once we were settled in our room we just had to go out and see what the famous Bourbon St was all about!

Bourbon St, French quarter, New Orleans

Bourbon St at night

Started with a dozen oysters at Felix's, a small bar/restaurant on the very next corner to our hotel. Our friend Will Prull who builds the most amazing bespoke houses in Santa Fe www.prull.com had recommended this place to us, so we had to find out if it was as good as he said. Well thank you Will, what a great recommendation.

You literally just stand at the bar and a guy ‘schucks' oysters onto the bar top for you until you tell him to stop. The oysters were fabulous, icy cold and soooo fresh! You mix up your own dip (Horseradish, Tabasco, vinegar, etc) and then go for it. Tony and I stopped at a dozen (between us) lus an excellent Bloody Mary each because we were due at the NASC reception by 6 pm.  At the reception we were all given necklaces of brightly coloured beads and were told that apparently during Mardi Gras if you throw the necklaces up to the ladies on the balconies above Bourbon Street all will be revealed!!

Unfortunately our knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time seems to continue unabated. When we arrived in New Orleans we were told of the terrible disaster on the BP oil rig in the Mexican Gulf, not far out from New Orleans. What a disaster! The local fishermen, and of course all the restaurants that rely on the supply of fresh seafood, shrimp, and crabs, are desperate. The city, which is only now recovering from the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, is once more being asked to cope with an unprecedented environmental disaster. I dread to think of the long term impact this is going to have on marine life, birds, and the marshlands, which are home to the oyster, crab, and shrimp breeding grounds? Our excitement at visiting this wonderful city has certainly been tinged with sorrow for what these folk are going to have to deal with both now and in the future.

Hilary & Tony