Rider's Olympic dream stays on course

A teenage horsewoman has been given a cash boost to help make her dream of competing at the Olympics come true.

Hannah Vincent, who has been in the saddle since she was a toddler, has been sponsored �500 a year by City College Norwich.

The youngster, who was 16 earlier this month, appealed through the Evening News for sponsorship, after her deal with DWC (Diss Windows and Conservatories) came to an end.

City College Norwich principal Dick Palmer said the money would come from the school's new opportunities fund for students, which helped about 30 to 50 students annually.

Mr Palmer said: 'We are really delighted to support Hannah. We have built a personal timetable for her to come and do her GCSEs with her us, even though she's of school age. She has got fantastic potential and wouldn't it be great if Norfolk lass competed at the Olympics?'

Hannah's mother, Sue Vincent, from Low Road, Bunwell, said: 'The sponsorship means that she can go to more competitions now.'

The teenager was just 20 months old when she appeared on the front page of our sister paper, the Eastern Daily Press in August 1995.

At an age when many youngsters were still finding their feet, little Hannah was pictured already at home in the saddle at the Willow End equestrian centre at Pulham St Mary, which was then run by her mother.

At that time the toddler could barely speak but she was doing things on a pony that other youngsters aged five or six were struggling to achieve.

Perfectly balanced, she was able to coax her favourite pony Tommy into a trot, and her sensational skills led to more articles and photos in the Daily Mail and the Daily Express in September 1995, and even in the international press in Cologne.

She is a keen member of the Norfolk Show Jumping Club and is into her third full year of affiliated show jumping.