ALTON Convent School pupil Poppy Foster has qualified as one of only 11 finalists to ride at the London International Horse Show at Olympia this month in the Shetland Pony Grand National.

The achievement is all the more remarkable as it’s 12-year-old Poppy’s first year of competing in the event.

The racing series is noted as the breeding ground for future champion jockeys.

Poppy, who comes from Whitehill and is an active member of the Hampshire Hunt Pony Club, has been riding ever since she was old enough to sit on a horse. She has three ponies and competes around the county in show jumping, eventing and dressage events.

But for the past 12 months the young rider has added another string to her bow, riding her racing Shetland, Shoormal Veev, at such high-profile events as the Badminton Horse Trials, Royal Windsor, South of England, Gatcombe Park and the Great Yorkshire Show – an exercise that has taken her around the country from Lincolnshire to Pembrokeshire and Yorkshire to Scotland to compete in qualifying events for the Shetland Pony Grand National, the final of which is currently being staged as one of the highlights of this year’s London International Horse Show.

The show is taking place this week and Poppy will be seen by more than 90,000 visitors and many millions more on screen.

Poppy said: “I’m delighted to have qualified for such an exciting and prestigious event. I am very proud of my pony, and also to have raised money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.”

The Shetland Pony Grand National is a non-profit organisation that raises money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital through the events held throughout the year and by the jockeys fundraising themselves. Since qualifying for Olympia, Poppy has raised more than £2,000 for the hospital.

All the money Poppy and the other jockeys raise goes directly to Great Ormond Street to help build a new recovery suite in the hospital. To donate, visit justgiving.com/PoppyFoster.