HAMPSHIRE rider Jennie Free has just returned from a successful appearance for Great Britain in the TREC World Championships, held in the German town of Zweibrucken.

The 42-year-old, from Weston Colley, near Micheldever, was the best placed British rider, taking 11th place in the individual standings.

The partnership with her pure bred Arab horse Samiracle worked well as they finished second in the orienteering section of the event. But a bad final day saw her slip down the field.

Although one of the six members of the British squad, Jennie wasn't included among the four who contested the team section.

GB finished sixth of the nine competing countries. There were also individual riders from the USA and Canada.

As expected, France were the overall winners and retained the world title.

So the season ended in style for Jennie.

"It was a great thrill to take part and I was pleased with our performance for the first time at international level," she said.

The next major TREC event is the European Championships, being held on Exmoor in 2006.