A Somerset woman who runs a business near Taunton, Emma Cornish of Elite Equine Care, has earned a coveted spot as a finalist in the West Country Women Awards 2025 for Small Business of the Year.
Based in Fivehead, Emma launched Elite Equine Care in March 2022 and has since significantly expanded both her business and the services she offers the community.
Expressing her excitement, Emma said she is “absolutely thrilled and delighted” to reach the final. “Reaching the final of the West Country Women Awards is an exceptional achievement that places me amongst the most inspirational and impactful women in the West Country. The feedback I’ve had is astonishing,” she added.
Elite Equine Care provides a range of services, including equine care packages, along with pet and house-sitting, catering to private, commercial, and VIP clients across Somerset and the surrounding area.
Emma highlighted the core mission of her business:
“The ethos of Elite Equine Care is to provide the highest levels of professional equine care, but also to provide support, assistance, advice and education for my clients and the local community.”
She takes pride in being a reliable source of support: “I have taken great pride in knowing my clients can rely on me in their hour of need to be of assistance and take the worry of their shoulders when they have unforeseen challenges.”
The judges were “profoundly impressed” by her application, calling the result a “powerful validation” of her “vision, dedication, and the excellence” she brings.
This is not her first major industry recognition; Emma previously won the Equestrian Business Awards Groom of the Year 2023 title.
Reflecting on her latest nomination, she shared her disbelief and pride: “I am genuinely thrilled to be in the final four for Small Business of the Year, I really can’t believe that I have made it through this far, I am astounded… As a one-woman business in the industry I work in which is going through its own very challenging times, it is tough going. That honestly means the world to me that someone else thinks I deserve to be in the final. Wow, and thank you.”
She concluded with heartfelt gratitude: “Thank you from the very bottom of my heart for the incredible support from every one of my clients.”
The winner will be announced at the grand final in Plymouth on Friday, November 28, 2025.
