A NORTH-EAST riding club will showcase their talent overseas after being invited to compete in a national championship.

Darlington and District Riding Club have been invited to take part in the Festival of Championships in Ireland in June next year.

The invite follows the club’s most successful year, which saw the intermediate team of Jill Horseman, Emma Gibbon, Carolyn Newman and Penny Thompson placed third at the horse trial championships held at Swalcliffe, in Oxfordshire.

The club also triumphed at the show jumping championships at Lincoln Showground in September after the open show jumping team of Katie Walton, Amy Lawrence, Georgie Morrison and Ms Thompson were the only team to score zero.

Following their invite to Ireland, team manager Ms Thompson said: “This is a huge honour and a once in a life time achievement.

“All team members have full-time jobs and so makes it all the more special.

“Another success to this year was competing at the Great Yorkshire Challenge held at the Great Yorkshire Showground. The team comprising Fiona Gibbon, Jill Horseman, Katie Walton and myself won the best riding club team and then were second overall.”

She said she is extremely proud of all the members who have competed this year, adding: “We are very grateful to everybody who has helped us throughout the year including chief instructor Tanya Buckingham who has helped us enormously together with James Adams and to Sara Metcalfe of Foxberry Chasers for allowing us to use her facilities.”

For more information on the club visit sites.google.com/site/darlingtonridingclub