International Women's Day: Meet the Yorkshire showjumper who also helps grit the county's roads

The 26-year-old from Ripon, North Yorkshire, is a firm believer that all doors to all types of careers and opportunities should be open and available to everyone – no matter your gender.

An international showjumper and a rider for one of Yorkshire’s major racing stables, she is also an HGV and gritter driver in her spare time, having got the licence to transport her horses.

Speaking ahead of International Women’s Day today she said: “I am so pleased that we are starting to take notice of it in this country, that can only be a good thing as we continue to break down gender barriers.

“We need to shout about women in a positive way because there are so many career opportunities out there for girls, but they are not necessarily regarded as jobs for females and instead seen as a male-dominated field… which is so wrong.”

Letty admits to having felt somewhat apprehensive as she stepped into the world of driving gritter trucks for NY Highways – a private business in Boroughbridge which uses winter maintenance vehicles provided by Ripon’s Econ Engineering to clear and maintain North Yorkshire’s roads.

With five horses of her own to care for, plus her work at the Middleham stables of Charlie Johnston where she drives the horses to meetings and helps ride them out on the gallops, the slightly unusual role of gritter driver does actually make sense.

“I took a degree in languages and I speak Russian, French and Arabic, so it could be said that driving gritter trucks is a strange choice,” she said. “Once I finished my degree I didn’t want to go out and get a real job straight away… I wanted to continue riding my horses to compete internationally.

“A lady at my yard told me how her husband had driven gritters and she suggested that it would be perfect for me because, generally when they need the gritters to clear the roads, we can’t ride anyway.

“It may not suit everyone because of the unsociable hours that you need to work. If you have a family or a busy personal life then it could cause problems, but if you only have horses who really don’t mind being abandoned every now again, then driving around in a gritter is perfect.”