A real love affair comes in first place

Clarke, 23, and 17-year-old Oscar rode their way to the winning rosette in the medium section of the British national championships at Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.

It has been a period of success for Clarke, of Kinver in Stourbridge, who only took up equestrian riding in 2010.

She also has a full-time role as director at Brennan Equestrian, under the guidance of her former trainer Sue Brennan.

And proud mum Collette told of how the pair's success has quietened the doubters of over a decade ago.

She said: "I bought Oscar as a three-and-a-half-year-old when Jade was just nine. We got him locally and a few people said that she'd never grow into him.

"They said 'that pony's too big for her.' I was into horses and Jade had a pony when she was five but only for social riding and jumping, she wasn't into anything else.

"But we were lucky enough to then find Oscar a while later."

Collette was keen to quash the perceived views on sports such as dressage, claiming that her daughter's success is purely down to hard work and not the luxury of stiff financial backing.

She said: "Jade was a totally normal girl. She had no money and Oscar was a normal pony. We've not had any financial backing and Oscar was bought for £700.

"I want to help show that it can be done at this level and it can be a grassroots sport too. She's a very dedicated and hard-working girl.

"I firmly believe that you get out of it what you put in and to see the way they have grown together, it's really nice."

Much of Clarke's recent success has also been tied to Brennan, who played a key role in introducing her to the sport of dressage.

The stable manager said: "Jade came to us in January 2010 just as a normal all-rounder with no competing experience.

"Oscar is a real cheeky chappy. Jade has recently been given directorship at the company and it's through her hard work and dedication."

Clarke studied Public Services at college as she attempted to forge a career in the police force.

She revealed that she 'couldn't believe' she had become a national champion and believes that both she and Oscar had benefitted from finding the sport.

She's now based at the Kinver stables, after her parents moved down to Somerset. he said: "I would never ever think that I'd be medium champion at a national championships.

"But I'm aiming even higher. It's strange because before I was more into jumping and riding for pleasure. To be made a director here is amazing.

"It's a very good career move. We're a very small stables here and we've already produced two national champions. It was a great experience to compete out there.

"We compete in qualifiers often but I qualified and decided to go and do it and ended up winning overall. Oscar is still only a little pony and he beat some horses twice his size.

"We have a great partnership. I've had him for so long, and even though we've not always been competing, I'd be lost without him now.

"We've become so much closer since starting dressage."

Clarke trains horses and riders in individual sessions of, generally, half hour in length and competes on behalf of the stables across the country.

She added: "I hate being stuck inside. I wanted to be in the police but couldn't sign up until I was 21, so went to get 'life experience' and came here at 17.

"Six years later I'm still here. Rain or shine we're out here. It's not glamorous, there's a lot of horse poo involved."

Any local business that may be interested in supporting Brennan Equestrian and Clarke can e-mail brennan-equestrian@hotmail.co.uk.