A young horsewoman on her way home from the European Junior and Young Rider Dressage Championships was glad to be able to call ERS when her horsebox broke down in Germany.

Samantha Thurman-Baker, 17, who had been competing on her horse Spring Pascal, did very well in the competition, but had trouble with her vehicle on the way back. Luckily, she was able to take advantage of ERS's European Assistance service.

Samantha's dad, Charlie Thurman-Baker, writes:

"We had a nasty incident returning from the European Junior and Young Rider Dressage Championships in Kronberg, Germany. We had had a very good competition, Samantha was placed 12th in both the Junior team test and the Junior individual and got through to the music class, which was fantastic for her first European Championship. The combination were the best of British and the team came 5th overall which was an excellent result.

"When we left the showground the lorry, which has always been 100% reliable, started to misfire and eventually gave up altogether – the injection pump had broken up internally and there was no way we were going to be able to continue. We called ERS, who immediately took charge of the situation and got someone out to us within two hours – not bad for a Sunday afternoon in Frankfurt. The horse was luckily on the GB team lorry, so we did not have that to worry about.

"It was decided that we would stay the night in the lorry at the side of the road and were recovered in the morning by a very efficient driver who took us to the local Iveco main dealer. We then, once the diagnosis was made, got a taxi to the airport and flew home while the repairs were carried out – throughout the process, ERS and their European partners kept us informed and made all the necessary arrangements, which is vital when you are in a foreign country without being able to speak the language!

"A few days later we got the all clear and flew back over to collect the lorry, again, thanks to ERS all the financial arrangements were made and we simply walked into the dealer, picked up the keys and were back on the road within around twenty minutes.

"Looking back, ERS turned a crisis into a manageable drama and the worst that happened, apart from an unscheduled stop and diversion plus an enormous bill, was us forgetting to empty the fridge and the bin in the lorry before we left it – I didn’t know that many flies existed..."

Samantha is in the British Prime Squad, one of the top 5 junior riders in the country and is on the regional foundation squad. She hoping to get to the 2012 Olympics. You can find out more about Samantha and her horse Spring Pascal at: http://www.turvillevalleystud.co.uk/horses/spring-pascal