SOUTHEND teenager Toni Evans and her horse Caramel Twist have been crowned national champions.

Evans was victorious on her 17-year-old mare in the Dodson & Horrell National Amateur Championship at Aintree Equestrian Centre.

The pair won the competition over the 0.85cm fence height beating 47 other competitors.

The jump off was contested by 29 of the starters and it proved to be competitive after 16 double clears were achieved.

Evans and Caramel Twist went into the class as one of the hot favourites after winning the two 0.85m Grand Prix qualifiers earlier on in the week and they continued their domination after crossing the finish line in 28.54 seconds with two clear rounds in the bag.

After having been drawn 25th to go in jump off, Evans admitted that she couldn’t watch the remainder of the class.

“I was in it to win it, so my plan was to ride as quickly and as carefully as I could and then hope that the music was played to let me know that we had taken the lead,” she said.

“Once I knew we had done enough, I then waited outside until the class had finished. I’m so pleased with how Caramel Twist has gone all week, she really has had a fantastic show.”