ENDURANCE horse rider Max Wilson followed in his family’s footsteps when he landed a place in the England team.
He was able to help the team to second place, beating Wales and Ireland in the Home International at Belfast and only losing out to Scotland.
The team of 20 was selected from riders who had scored the most points in the season of endurance rides, which are held all over the country from late winter to the summer.
Max, 15, from Edenfield is a Year 11 student at Haslingden High School. His sister Isobel, 18, has just left the school’s sixth form and started at university and also competes in endurance competitions.
He said: “I was on my pony Dillon. He is 14 years old and I have had him about three years.
“We got him to do endurance riding and he is really good at it. It is more about the horse than the rider and you have to keep at a steady pace.
“At the end of the ride they check the horse’s pulse so they know if the horse has been raced.”
His mum Kath also rode in the team in Ireland as she was escorting an 11-year-old rider who had qualified, but because of her age was not able to ride unaccompanied.
Max said: “My course was 50k, with 2k of it on the beach and I completed it in three hours.”
He has been riding since he was five and took up endurance riding about a year ago. This year he has been consistently placed in the top three in recent competitions.
He is currently selling Dillon because the pony is now too small for him and he is looking to get another horse, however he is not sure how much riding he will be able to do this year as he is completing his GCSEs.