The teen rider juggling school with Olympic dreams

A 17-year-old equestrian rider says she has dreams of going to the Olympics as she balances sixth form with the sport.

Ella,from Hadleigh in Suffolk, recently took gold for Great Britain at the Junior Eventing Championships in Poland with her horse Spice.

She said it had been difficult balancing her studies with her training but she now wanted to make a career in the sport.

Her mother and coach Zannie Howard, 55, said all the early mornings and late nights had been worth it for the gold medal and she was proud of her daughter.

Ella is just going into Year 13 - the final year at sixth form.

During term time her days start just before 06:00 and she is immediately outside attending to the horses.

"I'll ride a couple [of horses] before school, leave for school at about quarter to eight, get home at five and then ride one or two in the evening," she explained.

"It's difficult doing both; they both require a lot of time.

"I really enjoy riding the horses, and going to school is a nice break for a few hours then I get back straight to it.

"That's all I do and think about at home pretty much."

Ella started riding 11 years ago when her mother got her into it.

The pressure of competing and studying could be a lot for any teenager, but Ella said she tried to "forget about it and just try to ride my best" during competitions.

"In the long term I'd love to do this professionally in the senior teams, the Olympics, world championships, that's definitely a big goal of mine," she added.

Her mother added: "She's seriously hard working and totally dedicated, absolutely loves what she does... we just follow suit and support her as much as we can."

She added the family had been celebrating since Ella's gold medal and it had been a "dream come true" for them all.

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