A financial investigator is working hard towards her Paralympic dreams after winning at a major dressage championship.
Emma Kent has been with Nottinghamshire Police for 4.5 years, initially joining as part of the Professional Standards Department having relocated from Kent to Nottingham to start riding and training with a Paradressage specialist in the midlands.
The 35-year-old then had the opportunity to move over to the financial investigation team, where she analyses bank accounts, transactions and a number of other financial activities surrounding people involved in a crime to help solve a range of cases, from murder, to fraud and missing people.
“I actually moved up to Nottingham from Kent in 2012 because previously I’d been on the world class squad for 10 years, then unfortunately my horse sustained an injury and I also had a cardiac issue so through one thing and another we lost our place on the squad. I came to Nottinghamshire to be with one of the Para-dressage trainers.
“I’m self-funded so needed an income to be able to fund my dressage. I had initially seen that Headquarters was just down the road from where I was based, so went for a job I had seen and started on a six-month contract having spotted an opportunity as a complaints handler with the Professional Standards Directorate. I really enjoyed working for the police and have worked for the force ever since getting that job, becoming a Financial Intelligence Officer in 2021.
“My particular role can branch across quite a few things – so, for example, we’ve worked on a murder inquiry looking at financial backgrounds into people or specific purchases that we need to find, missing from home, you can find out exactly where they’ve been through their transactions on their cards.
“In every department I have been in, my managers and especially my close colleagues have been really supportive of me doing the dressage alongside work, and that’s something that’s been really touching to me that I’m surrounded by amazing people who would go out of their way to help me.”
Emma’s training and competing has taken a leap in the first part of 2022 after winning at a national competition. Alongside her latest ride, Royalty, also known as Roo, they were then asked to be seen at three-star level, which is the immediate level before the European, World and Paralympic teams.
“After only two national qualifiers we had not only gained the opportunity to compete at the championships, but we also got an e-mail from British Dressage asking to see me and Royalty at an international three-star event,” she added.
“They often use those competitions as part of the selection process as well and our life literally went from one to ten.
“Roo is a fairly new ride for me still and I am so grateful to my really good friend Sofie Butchart who contacted me when she herself came to the Midlands and has given me the opportunity to compete such an amazing horse. The minute I got on her we just gelled and she is just the most lovely horse and so well behaved, I always just have such a wonderful time riding her. So, when we won the national championship, we were over the moon with that.
“We then went to the international at the beginning of March (2022) and were like ‘okay we’ll just go and see how we get on’, and then for the first and second day we were really close to the winner, who had been to the Paralympic Games. Then on the third day, we did the freestyle to music class and this is when we won. Sofie and I just had the most incredible day.”
Emma has Holt-Oram syndrome, which is a genetic condition that affects skeletal development, particularly in the upper body, and for Emma personally the condition affects her arms, shoulders, spine as well as her heart.
Beginning her equestrian journey through the Riding for the Disabled Association, she has competed at a variety levels, moving from the organisation’s own events to competing at some of the highest levels through British Dressage.
She said: “In Para-dressage, there are five grades of impairment, with one being the most severe and five being the least. For example, you would see someone with severe cerebral palsy competing in the grade 1 section, and on the other hand someone suffering from mild weakness in all four limbs would compete in grade five.
“I sit smack bang in the middle at grade three because half of my body is quite severely impaired, particularly my arms, my shoulders and my spine. I also have a heart condition and quite a lot of nerve damage, which goes into my legs, so it can be quite painful.
“With the riding, the biggest challenge is getting on because I can’t use my arms to pull myself on. I am lucky though that, where I ride currently, the mounting blocks have been made higher and wider and all the horses I ride are taught to stand like a rock for me to get on. I also have looped reins, there are certain saddles we like to use and because I can’t wear gloves all the leather is incredibly soft.
“When it comes to work, I am really fortunate to be able to have things that help me as well. I have an adapted desk with a smaller keyboard, a certain mouse and I also have a remote control so I can get in and out of the premises, all things which make such a difference and means I can simply come to work and do my job.
“Looking forward to the future, we had been invited to compete in France and Belgium but because I am self-funded and the paperwork needed to compete and take the horses abroad is so expensive, costing around £5,000 per time without entry fees or hotel fees, we are just looking for the international competitions which are being held in Britain. There’s another national competition we’re going to in June and then another international competition in July, which we are excited for and can’t wait to see how we get on.
“We do also have a GoFundMe page, and I am really grateful to everyone who has donated to that so far. It made a huge difference in us being able to compete at the national and the international competitions over the last month or so, where we got exposure not only in terms of getting Roo in that environment but also being in front of potential team selectors.
“The main thing though is that I just love riding Royalty and I can’t thank Sofie enough for the opportunity, help and the friendship.”
Detective Inspector Pam Dowson, who manages Emma, said: “As a department we are really proud of Emma and she does a fantastic job representing both Nottinghamshire Police in her role as well as Great Britain at her competitions.
“Seeing how beneficial this is to be able to manage her passion as well as a job that she enjoys, it’s been fantastic that we’ve been able to come together to look at shifts and flexible working to make it easier to fit everything in.
“We are proud to have a diverse workforce at Nottinghamshire Police from all backgrounds and we are so happy to see people like Emma be successful both professionally and personally, and help where we can to accommodate this. She has let nothing hold her back and we are looking forward to seeing her achieve even more with Roo in the future.”
To donate and read more about Emma’s journey, visit the GoFundMe page: Emma’s paradressage voyage
