A COLEFORD horse rider has scooped bronze at an endurance competition.

Ally Knight and her horse, Gypsy, from Mile End, competed in the 65km endurance class at the Bathurst Estate in Cirencester where they came second in the bronze achievement award.

Ally said: "Endurance is often viewed as the easy option for an equestrian sport but it takes a special connection between horse and rider to achieve great results. You do not need a particular breed of horse, just a fit and willing horse, as quite often you will find yourself covering miles completely alone."

Ally and her homebred 14 hands high pony mare Chica Gitano aka Gypsy, have been competing at endurance for more than 20 years, and have spent more than six months preparing for the class.

Ally added: "I had to qualify for the competition by undertaking three competitive endurance rides of 30 to 35 km beforehand. Gypsy's height is 14 hands high which is quite small for endurance at that level of competition.

"The competition bases the winners on time over distance and so I knew that I had to ride my first 35 km loop at roughly 15kph. I wore a Garmin satellite tracking device so I knew what speed/distance I was doing throughout the ride.

"The first loop was successful and we stopped for 30 minutes to refresh before undertaking the second 30km route. The second loop was harder than the first as the weather had warmed up and it was extremely hot. However, my crew met us at designated points with water and food and Gypsy was keeping up a good speed.

"As the class I had entered had an optimum time of 12kph I had to keep an eye on my time as we were given a finishing time of five and a half hours total riding time. At 5km from the finish line I realised we were running short of time and I had to canter the whole way home which Gypsy was very willing to do, despite the heat.

"I managed to finish with a couple of minutes over the 12kph optimum time. The vet checked Gypsy's heart rate and we took our final trot up to check for lameness. It was after that it was announced I completed the 65km at 11.89kph which put me in second place and I received rosette, we were all delighted and it is a real team effort.

"Gypsy has been taking a well-earned rest before the training endurance rides start again at Christmas and with a bit of luck we will aim for an 80 km ride next year to gain a silver award and become an advanced partnership."