WEST Knighton’s Chantelle Dorton has won the National Side Saddle Championships, despite having only ridden in this category for less than a year.

There was a very strong Adult Costume Concours D’Elegance class with more than 40 entries but Dorton, 26, and her 15-year-old thoroughbred mare Wildgoosechase became champion.

Dorton wore an outfit modelled on a Victorian Fuchsberg Hussar military uniform on display in the Met Museum in New York.

Dorton has been riding horses since she was very young, and has had her own pony since she was five-years-old.

Her mother Marie Dorton said: “It was completely unexpected and at that level, there were competitors from overseas at the national championships and there were more than 40 entries in her class so she was not expecting to be placed let alone become champion.

“It was something she always wanted to do, she always liked the thought of riding side saddle, the whole picture is very elegant anyway but when you are wearing a costume like that, it is actually based on a Victorian Fuchsberg Hussar military costume.”