NORTH Yorkshire horse rider Connie Russell was crowned the 2014 Combined Training Ponies 65-centimetre champion at the Nettex Trailblazers Championships.

The ten-day Nettex Trailblazers Championships are the culmination of the hard work put in by every amateur rider that has qualified through the two rounds of competitions at more than 65 venues throughout the UK.

Ten-year-old Russell, of Harrogate, took the combined training title with Hanmere Knutkin, known as Buddy, owned by her aunt, Helen Crosland.

Russell is a member of the Pendle Forest and Craven Pony Club and has also competed in unaffiliated show jumping, working hunter classes and combined training.