It all started with a chance remark.

Jackie Butterfield overheard her friend complain that there was nowhere in the Haworth area where she could take her disabled daughter to ride.

She immediately resolved to turn a plot of land she owned into a specialist riding school for the disabled.

And so started a challenge which has occupied almost all her waking moments since the Millennium.

By 2001 Haworth Riding for Disabled was up and running providing riding opportunities for disabled adults and children.

And its development has continued apace, with one of the many high points being the opening last year of a £63,000 indoor centre by Princess Anne, who is president of Riding for the Disabled.

Now the school has stables for horses ranging from Shetlands to Shires, a grazing area and a lecture building where lessons take place.

It has five paid staff – two full-time and three part-time – assisted by 40 volunteers who help keep the place open seven days a week.

A determined Mrs Butterfield, 62, has secured cash awards from a variety of sources, including the National Lottery.

The latest is a £14,250 award provided by Gannett – the US owners of the T&A – to finance a state-of-the-art, dust-free surface in its main roofed building.

The floor, which replaces a rubber-based surface, has been laid in the new centre.

Mrs Butterfield said: “I saw the Gannett application in the paper and I thought I’d give it a go knowing that we’d already had an award from them.

“So we’re thrilled to receive it – the new surface makes such a difference.

“The old rubber floor used to throw up a lot of dust. When it was uncovered there was no problem but as soon as we had a roof over it, we got the problems.

“It’s made of sand and wax, is dust-free, easier for the horses and us to walk on, it doesn’t freeze and it reflects the light to help make the room brighter.

“It is the same surface which is used at all the big equestrian events.”

It is the second grant awarded by the Gannett Foundation to the school – in 2004 it received more than £4,000 to help finance a lecture room.

“This latest award is something of a milestone for us. It comes at a time when demand for places here has snowballed,” she said.

“We got £378,000 from the National Lottery three years ago to help with the running costs and to pay for five staff – two full-time and three part-time.

“We have another two years before the money runs out but we are constantly fundraising and building up a pot of cash.”

The school has also won funding from Wooden Spoon, the charity which supports mentally, physically and disadvantaged children – which gave £31,000 towards the indoor centre – Bradford Council, National Riding for the Disabled and from TV actress Sharon Small, who recently appeared in the BBC series Mistresses and is a friend of a trustee.