WORCESTERSHIRE teenager Brooke Cleave enjoyed a successful trip to the Irish International with her horse Westwinds Bravado.

The 17-year-old from Upton-on-Severn and her eight-year-old horse were contesting the Necarne Castle International Junior CCI* three-day event, for riders aged 18 or under, which ran alongside senior and pony sections at the venue in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

Cleave, a student at Malvern St James School, was a little disappointed with her horse's dressage mark in the opening phase of the three-day event.

The pair then jumped a fine clear round over a testing cross country course, set in over 200 acres of rolling pasture and woodland around the Castle, coming home with just 1.2 time penalties.

"Brooke jumped a beautiful round and felt her horse was foot perfect everywhere," her mother Helen Cleave said.

"They just took one long route, at a fence where Westwinds Bravado was pulling quite hard, but took the direct way everywhere else."

The duo came into the final show jumping phase, where wet weather and some concerns over the arena surface meant clears were hard to come by, with a top six finish within their grasp.

"The show jumping course caused lots of problems," the teenager's mother added. "Brooke had a problem going into the second fence. You either had to go in on a short six strides or a long five and she didn't get this quite right."

However, with many riders picking up faults, the 17-year-old held on to an excellent ninth place and was the best British rider in the section.

"Westwinds Bravado will have a break now and then Brooke will work on her training through the winter," Cleave said. "She's planning to compete in the Junior Trials series next season. The Junior European Championships are in Scotland in 2008 so that will be the major aim."