Longride dressage rider to represent Great Britain (From Preston and Leyland Citizen)

Longride dressage rider to represent Great Britain

4:30pm Wednesday 8th July 2009

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IF anyone says “Fiddlesticks” to Sarah Turner she’s not in the least offended.

That’s because it is the name of her 11-year-old horse which has just helped Sarah to be chosen to represent Great Britain in an international competition later this month.

The pair of them will compete in a dressage event against 12 other European countries at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire from July 15 to 19.

Sarah, 26, from Longridge, is naturally delighted to be in the GB team.

She said: “It’s a great honour to be chosen to represent your country and I’m thrilled about it. I just hope I can help the team by doing well in my event.”

It’s not the first success for Sarah and Fiddlesticks.

Last October, they represented England in a Home International event, which saw them compete against teams from Scotland, Wales and Ireland, where she came second in the individual markings.

Sarah has been riding since she was three, having been supported by her mum, Gillian, a teacher at St Gabriel’s Primary School, Blackburn, who is also a keen horsewoman.

After A-levels Sarah gained a teaching qualification and trained for 14 months in Beverley, Yorkshire, with Laura Fry, who competed at the Barcelona Olympics.

Now, in addition to taking part in dressage events, she is a freelance riding instructor teaching people on their own horses.

And when she’s not in the saddle she is kept busy with singing, having been a member of Blackburn Cathedral’s Young People’s Choir and the Renaissance Singers for about three years.

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