NEACROFT'S Amelia Swann will hope to match her European success of last summer having earned a spot in England's under-12 mounted games squad.

Mounted games is an equestrian sport in which a variety of games that test riding skills are played on ponies up to 15 hands high.

Swann, 12, came through a two-day selection trial on pony Whizz and was chosen as part of England's five-strong set-up.

She said: “The England trial was very intensive as the selectors were watching everyone very closely.

"The standard was extremely high and there was no room for error but Whizz was fantastic and I was very happy to be selected.”

The youngster helped England under-12s triumph in last year's European Team Championships but that time she was aboard the experienced Disney.

Swann faced a huge challenge to prove herself on a new pony but selection alongside Whizz was a vindication of her hard work.

Her reward will come when she represents England in Bourgogne, France from August 5-9 but there is still plenty of training to do before that.

The youngster attends Ringwood School, which has encouraged her riding through the Elite Athlete programme.

Swann rides for the local West Hants Pony Club and has been trained since she was four by Jo Morris and her daughters Annie and Kate.

Jo said: "I am so pleased for Amelia. She has been training very hard and has been focused on achieving her goal of representing her country on her new pony Whizz.”

Mounted games were the brainchild of Prince Philip and the first domestic championship was staged in 1957 at the Horse of the Year Show.

In 1984, the Mounted Games Association of Great Britain was established and 19 years later, the International Mounted Games Association was formed.

England have enjoyed plenty of success in the junior categories at the European Team Championships and particularly in the under-12 section, winning six of the past seven crowns.