INTERNATIONAL rider Nicola Tweddle, from Morton on Swale near Northallerton, produced two fine performances from her rides at the Bramham three-day event in West Yorkshire.

Her best results came with the 16.3hh bay Diable Au Corps, who she rides for racehorse owner Sir Robert Ogden.

They finished in 16th place in a top class field, moving up from 40th after dressage with clear jumping rounds in the cross-country and show jumping phases.

"This is the horse's first advanced season and Bramham was his first three star event, so I was pleased," said Nicola. "I've always liked the cross-country course at Bramham, which for me is a local event.

"There was a good distribution of difficult fences, with problems spread over the course. Diable Au Corps really enjoys his jumping and that was obvious at Bramham, where he went very well."

Nicola also finished 29th on her second ride, Highland Loch II, another horse making his debut at this level.

"I wasn't really pleased with his dressage, but this is a learning curve for him and he will go better in the future," Nicola continued. "Cross-country he gave me a good ride - a little green in places, but that's to be expected - and he's a very good galloper who covers the ground."

The pair came home clear cross-country with just 1.6 time penalties, producing one of the fastest rounds of the day. They moved up from 67th after dressage into 14th spot at that stage, with a top ten finish within their sights.

Nicola added: "He is still very green show jumping though and had 26 penalties, which slid us down the order. He was looking at the big crowd instead of his fences and needs more experience at major events. Both horses have a lot of potential though."

Highland Loch is co-owned by Juliette Allers-Hankey, who bred the horse and rode him herself in the past, before having a baby and passing the ride to Nicola.