A YOUNG horse rider from Sticklepath will unexpectedly be attending the Horse of the Year show in Birmingham next month, after winning tickets to the show. Seven-year-old William Bentley-Lovell who attends Spreyton Primary School, won the tickets at a qualifier event, riding his pony Cherrytop Imperial Starlight, who goes under the stable name of Coco. William?s mother, Nicola, decided to enter them in the open class for the first ridden at the Dunster Show in August. William was last out of ten competing riders in the section, and finished in second. However, as the top pony had already qualified for the prestigious show, William picked up the ticket for the show at the NEC Birmingham. Nicola said she had not expected William and Cherrytop Imperial Starlight to do as well as they had, as they was competing against bigger ponies and older boys. She said William was an early starter, having first begun riding at the tender age of two and a half. He was very excited about being part of the Horse of the Year show experience and was riding before he goes to school as well as at weekends as part of his latest training programme.