Endurance rider Beth Langley secured Britain’s highest placing ever at a young rider Europeans, coming fourth at the championships in Kreuth, Germany on 5 August.
Nineteen-year-old Beth, riding HS Ametista, covered the 120km (75 miles) at an average speed of 12.3mph, hassling a strong French team all the way.
“I was stabled opposite the French and, as my pony is only 14hh, I don’t think they saw her as much of a threat,” Beth said.
But, riding as an individual, she was free to follow her own tactics, antagonise the French and push for a placing.
“I stuck behind the French team for the first loop and let them do all the work which annoyed them,” she said.
“It was all or nothing for me, so I overtook the whole French team and logged the fastest time on the second loop, which they hadn’t anticipated.”
Overtaking two French team members whose horses were “exhausted and being kicked on like Thelwell ponies”, Beth slotted in to fourth place behind riders from France and Belgium and was just six minutes behind the winner.
The young rider added: “I live in Wales and my pony is used to cantering up and down hills which I think helped psych out the opposition.”
Based in Ceredigion, Wales, 19-year-old Beth is currently ranked 16th in the FEI young rider endurance world rankings, and was 13th at the world young rider championships in Hungary last year.
