OUR AMBASSADORS
We are fortunate enough to have a number of elite athletes as ambassadors for the Unicorn Equestrian Trust. Our elite ambassadors have extensive experience of the Unicorn Equestrian Centre and have benefitted from training here.
Our ambassadors share the same values and principles as us and help to inspire our community and raise the profile of equestrian sport.
SIR LEE PEARSON
Paralympian
After discovering para dressage while watching the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics on TV, Lee started riding and has gone on to win team gold at every Paralympic Games he has competed at. He took the triple title (team, individual and freestyle) at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, 2004 Athens Paralympics and 2008 Beijing Paralympics, setting an equestrian world record by being unbeaten at three consecutive Paralympic Games.
In 2003, he became the first disabled person to have won a title at the British Dressage National Championships while competing against non-disabled riders when he took the 2003 elementary restricted title. He received a CBE in 2009 and then in 2016, he was made a Sir, receiving a knighthood in the New Year Honours List for services to equestrianism and disability sport.
SOPHIE WELLS MBE
Paralympian
Sophie started riding at the age of eight at her local riding school and took up able-bodied dressage at the age of twelve. In 2008 she became the first para dressage rider to win a non-disabled international competition, after she finished first in the junior international class at the Hickstead Under-21 international.
She was the first para dressage rider to compete on both an able-bodied Junior team and the para dressage team in the same year (2010), competing on the dressage Young Rider European team, as well as being selected as part of the World Equestrian Games para dressage squad.
Sophie was selected for her first Paralympic Games in London 2012 where she won team gold along with silvers in the individual and freestyle competitions. She was also picked for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio where she took individual gold and freestyle silver and helped the team defend their team gold. Sophie received an MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours list for her achievements in para-dressage.
In 2017, Sophie helped the team to a seventh consecutive European team title and took freestyle gold and individual silver. This was followed by triple gold at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon in 2018 with C Fatal Attraction, then the pair achieved triple silver in Rotterdam at the 2019 European Championships.
Unicorn Equestrian Centre is a company limited by guarantee and registered in England & Wales under registered number 7904571, having its registered office at Granary Cottage, Netherswell, Stow on the Wold, Gloucestershire, GL54 1JZ. Registered charity in England & Wales number 1148612.