A TEN-YEAR-OLD show jumper has beaten off competition from top young riders across the country to be crowned champion at the Royal International Horse Show.

Hannah Barker, from Northallerton, recently won the final of the 128cm Championships at Hickstead, an equestrian sport centre in West Sussex, with her pony, My Little Sweetheart.

They were among only 22 combinations from all over the UK who qualified for the final of the 128cm championship and this was Hannah’s first appearance in the class.

The youngster was one of only three riders to go clear in the competition at Hickstead - the home of show jumping - to secure a place in the timed jump-off.

They then produced the only clear round to win the championship.

Hannah has since enjoyed more success at the Scottish Home Pony Championships on her other pony Ballybur Oh Jessie, where she helped England win the gold medal in the 128cm class, beating Ireland in a jump-off.

The young horse rider attends Cundall Manor School, near Thirsk. She has been riding since the age of three and has owned My Little Sweetheart for only 10 months.

Success at the sport already runs in the Barker family.

Hannah is the third generation of the Barker family to win at the Royal International Horse Show. Her grandfather David Boston Barker and her uncle Paul Barker, who helps with her training, both triumphed at the show.

Paul Barker, also from Northallerton, began competing at the age of eight and swiftly became one of the country’s rising stars of show jumping.

He has won three international and two national grand prix classes and a number of other competitions at home and abroad. David Boston Barker was a member of Great Britain’s National Cup Team in the 1960s and represented his country at the 1964 Olympic Games.

Dad, Ian, is director at the family-owned Barkers Furnishing Store in Yafforth Road, Northallerton, where earlier this year Hannah, along with brothers William and Thomas, cut the turf to get a £3m expansion of the business underway.

The expansion is expected to be ready around Christmas time later this year and should lead to the creation of 20 new jobs.

Hannah said: "Going to Hickstead was a wonderful experience and I really enjoyed it. Even just qualifying was very satisfying but to go on and win at the first attempt was a great thrill."