EQUESTRIAN: Rayleigh dressage rider Bethany-Rose Horobin helped Britain secure a silver medal in a European competition.

The 15-year-old rider and her pony, Gigolo, were part of the four-strong British team which claimed second place at the FEI Pony European Championships at Millstreet in Ireland.

Britain had secured bronze last year with Phoebe Peters and Rebecca Bell hoping to go one better this time with team debutants Bethany-Rose and Alex Hellings.

They set a record British performance by British riders by all scoring more than 70 per cent to leave the team just three per cent off team gold, which went to Germany.

Bethany-Rose finished 12th in the individual competition after scoring 70.878 per cent and was 11th in the freestyle event with a score of 72.325 per cent.

Team trainer Peter Storr said: “Bethany was a model of consistency.”