Young York rider Jolyse Clancey is through to the Blue Chip National Show Jumping Championships after a fine win at the Toggi Discovery event at Birchinley Manor in Lancashire.

WINNING PARTNERSHIP: Jolyse Clancey, with her pony Milly On Air.

Despite being one of youngest riders in her field, 12-year-old Jolyse, from Murton, stormed home to win the junior discovery class in her first attempt at these national qualifiers on the pony Milly On Air.

"We've had Milly On Air for a year," said Jolyse's mother Alyse Clancey, herself a well-known three-day eventer who has competed at Badminton.

"The pony had come over from Ireland and was on her way back there if we hadn't bought her. I had her on trial and was going to take her back, but as soon as Jolyse saw her she fell in love."

It was not quite the love affair Jolyse - a Huntingdon School pupil - had wished for, as Milly On Air "bucked for Britain" and was full of quirks.

"The mare still can't canter properly but we're working on it," said Alyse. "She has stacks of ability but doesn't know what to do with it."

Despite this, Jolyse went on to gain a second Blue Chip finals ticket with the pony, finishing fifth in the Junior Icelander qualifier at Northallerton.

She now goes onto the West Midlands-staged Blue Chip Championships next month, where she will face many of Britain's best under-16 riders.

A member of the Middleton Pony Club for two-and-a-half years, Jolyse, from Moor lane, Murton, has competed successfully in pre-novice hunter trials, and may well follow her mother - who was placed at Badminton on her top ride Augermist - into eventing.

Jackson makes foreign debut

Lower Dunsforth, near Boroughbridge, showjumper Jackson Reed-Stephenson is on his first trip abroad.

He is in the British squad to take part in the Spanish Sunshine Tour which ends onl March 19.

"It is not only Jackson's first time on the Tour but also his first trip abroad and he's very excited about it," said his mother Sandra Reed-Stephenson."

Jackson, 19, who has made a name for himself as one of Britain's best riders at under-21 level, will be taking three of his Baileys Horse Feeds sponsored strong of horses, led by Belgian-bred Baileys Pion, a horse he owns jointly with top international rider Michael Whitaker.

Riders from more than 12 nations are taking part in the Spanish Tour.

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