Amateur horse rider says event win is 'a dream'

Kristie Short and her horse have now qualified for the London Horse Show which will be taking place in December

An amateur horse rider who has become a national champion after winning a major competition said the experience had been an "absolute dream".

Kristie Short from Thorpe Malsor, Northamptonshire, and her horse Carrhouse Deal Me In, nicknamed Rio, competed in the Horse of the Year Show on 10 October, at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

The pair have now qualified to compete in the London International Horse Show in December.

She said: "It's taken plenty of time to get here. I work as a restaurant manager and have a nearly two-year-old daughter as well and fit in training and riding Rio around everything else!"

'Years of preparation'

Ms Short won SEIB Search for a Star Riding Horse, which is one of a series of qualifying shows for amateur riders to compete in the event.

The Search for a Star championships, which first took place in 1998, aim to give amateur riders an opportunity to go on and take part in open classes.

Ms Short said in 2008 she won the Search for a Star Show Hunter Pony class.

"It's fabulous to be getting back into it and we are hoping to compete in some open classes next year," she said.

Ms Short has owned Rio for seven years and said the win has been a "long time coming".

Nicolina MacKenzie, the organiser of the Search for a Star competitions, said SEIB Insurance Brokers - which runs the event - were "thrilled" to be providing opportunities to amateur riders.

"The Horse of the Year Show Search for a Star championships are the culmination of months, and in some cases years, of preparation and training for the riders and their horses and ponies."