THEY are the all-conquering champions, but very few people know what they are champions of.

Four teenagers from the South Causey Equestrian Centre, in South Causey, near Stanley, head the sport of horseball, a cross between basketball and rugby played on horseback.

The team, pictured above, won the British Open Championships and were top of the national league until it was cancelled because of foot-and-mouth.

Sisters Emma and Jenny Lowther, 17 and 13, of Whickham, Neil Young, from Ouston, near Chester-le-Street, and Judith Lucas, 14, also from the Chester-le-Street area, won the championship at the Forest of Dean to crown a successful season.