A MAVERN rider has achieved her life-long ambition of stepping out at the Horse of the Year Show.

Lucy Turner qualified at Guildford last Saturday for the showpiece event after finishing second in the Hunter Class.

"I'm absolutely over the moon," said 27-year-old Lucy from Malvern Link.

"I have been riding since I was six and trying to qualify for the Horse of the Year for the past two years - so I'm pretty pleased to say the least!"

Turner and her family have been grooming six-year-old warmblood cross Graylands Albert for the past three years for top-class competition.

And he quickly caught the eye of top-class rider Robert Oliver at Guildford.

"He said he was a very stand-up horse," revealed Turner whose big moment willcome at Birmingham's NEC in September.