Dressage Days

The name NAF has become synonymous with British Dressage, as a supporter of 20-plus years and long-time title sponsor of the NAF Five Star Winter Championships, and offi cial partner for youth teams for several seasons. Richard Cleeve founded NAF over thirtyfi ve years ago and was awarded the BETA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. We are delighted to have a rare opportunity to fi nd out more about him and the background to the now iconic British brand. it is that team spirit which makes NAF great. We are all passionate about what we do and in the same way as the ingredients in our products work synergistically, so do our people, and I am proud of what we have achieved.

After a post-school adventure to Australia, I was a dairy farmer who saw an opportunity to diversify. I took a gamble in turning some of the farm buildings into a production unit for products that were designed to help horses combat the stresses of modern management routines.

the positive eff ect that the right combination of ingredients taken from nature could have on both the health and performance of the horse. Seeing the results of our very fi rst product, Thrive, on gut health in horses encouraged us to research, trial and develop more products. The range has evolved in line with horse management with GastriVet taking gut health to a new level of combatting the stresses of any horses prone to ulcers, of which there are many!

There is nothing more rewarding than receiving feedback when one of our products has helped a horse in some way, whether that be to win a gold medal or to hack up the road without fear.

This feedback is what drives us to continually improve our products and to evolve in line with horse management and the horse’s needs.

Ever since I can remember we had horses and from my time in the Pony Club I always wanted to understand how to make the pony go faster or jump higher. It wasn’t until I met the vet, Nicholas Larkins, who is still involved in our product development, that I truly appreciated

I am lucky to have a great team of people around me and

We have an enviable list of supported riders which includes Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin, Gareth Hughes, Lottie Fry and Cathrine Dufour and take great care when choosing all our ambassadors as they are in a position of in uence to horse owners at all levels. Very often, they have used our products for years before we work with them.

It is important that the advice that they off er on our products is based on their own experiences and results they have seen with their horses and we work closely with them to select the right product for each horse. supported riders which

The NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships is one of the mainstays of our event calendar and dressage has always been close to the heart of our sales and marketing teams, who would be better ualifi ed to answer this, but there is no doubt that it has become more popular with our customers over popular with our customers over the years. the years.

Probably best for someone else to say, but I would else to say, but I would say… lucky, lucky, lucky. say… lucky, lucky, lucky. Lucky to have been Lucky to have been brought up with brought up with horses, lucky to horses, lucky to have met Nick have met Nick Larkins and Larkins and lucky to have lucky to have the great the great team team we do now we do now at NAF.