Mia Palles-Clark: Rider fulfils 'lifetime goal' with GB call for Veteran European Championships
- Published
Mia Palles-Clark bought 'Maus' in the Netherlands six years ago
Mia Palles-Clark is set to fulfil a "lifetime goal" after being picked to represent Great Britain at the Veteran European Showjumping Championships.
The 49-year-old will be part of a five-member squad in Darmstadt-Kranichstein, Germany, next month.
She will ride Hamantha Fortuna, known as 'Maus', at the Championships, for which over 45s are eligible.
"Many years ago I did ride for England a couple of times - but this is incredible," she said.
"I got an email on Friday and I was at a competition. I'd just competed, she'd gone brilliantly, I picked up my phone to have a look, as you do, saw an email and my jaw fell open.
"I grabbed the nearest friend, showed her and said, 'You can't tell anyone because it's confidential still,' but how exciting is this."
Palles-Clark is a professional showjumping coach, who has worked with the British Army, and is based at Kentford on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border.
"Showjumping is my life - I was brought up into it. I'm a coach, a team manager for ponies, and a very passionate competitor too," she told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
"To have that GB flag on your jacket, it really does mean a lot."
Mischa Irving, James Loffet, Faye Riddington-Smith and Michaele Tomlinson make up the rest of the GB team.
The Championships, from 8-11 September, involve team and individual competitions, both won by France in 2021 - but getting there will not be straightforward in the post-Brexit world.
"I work very hard to do what I do and it costs a lot of money, but it's good for the soul - it's an obsession, it's in your blood," Palles-Clark added.
"I'll have to move heaven and earth to get to Germany but of course I'm going to do that.
"It's now hugely complicated, way more than it ever was - you even have to pay tax going into and out of France on the value of your animal."