‘It makes all my worries disappear’ - Coates equestrian vaulter Ella, 11, comes second in national competition

An 11-year-old girl from Coates claimed second place in a national equestrian vaulting competition.

Ella Marie, who has Type 1 diabetes, tried equestrian vaulting after years of saying she wanted to do gymnastics on a horse.

Her mum, Kelly, said: “I kept telling Ella to go join the circus - then we discovered equestrian vaulting so she went to try it out and loved it.”

With gymnastics and horse riding among her hobbies, Ella would travel to Cambridge every week to train and earlier this year came fourth in the English championship in the pre-novice category.

In October, though, Ella headed to Wales with her mum to take part in the British championship. Kelly said the competition was “as big as it gets. Ella set her goals high and said she wanted to be in the top 10, but knowing the competition is of a very high standard and 31 in her class had been vaulting longer than Ella, I hoped for top 20.

“After day one we were so proud as Ella was in third position. We knew things could change on day two, especially because Ella needed treatment from paramedics for pulled stomach muscles. “On day two Ella put in another great performance and we were so proud – whatever the result.

“The long wait for results was worth it as Ella finished second in the British championship pre-novice 2018. It is such a massive achievement.”