SHOWJUMPING: Silver medal for Mattie in Belgium

Mattie and Newbridge’s Master Brown (‘Boston’ to his friends) jumped a clear in the first class and followed this with a clear with one time penalty to finish fourth in the second class.

With confidence high, they jumped a clear in the final Grand Prix, all the more impressive given there were only nine clears from 59 of Europe’s best competitors.

Going third in the jump-off, Mattie rode a balanced and efficient round against the clock to take the lead with yet another clear. All the riders who followed each had one fence down except Dutch rider Pam Nieuwenhuis who bettered Mattie’s performance.

Housemistress Viv Gascoine commented: “It was an outstanding achievement for Mattie to finish second in her first International Grand Prix. We are immensely proud of her and wish her the best of luck.”

Mattie only took over riding Boston in January this year. Quickly forming a good partnership during February and March, they managed to jump to the standard required to enter the official British team trials for Under 14s (known as ‘Children on Horses’).

Great Britain takes part in just two international Nations Cup events each year before selecting the final five riders to take part in the European Championships. Mattie has now been selected for the Nations Cup team going to Wierden, Holland, from June 7-10.