Dressage rider Georgia Child and £300 rescue horse Ollie to compete in national finals

The story of Georgia Child and her £300 rescue horse would be a scriptwriter’s dream as they prepare for their national dressage finals this weekend.

Child, who lives in Loose, Maidstone, was a former long-distance runner whose promising career on the track was cut short by a knee injury, while showjumper Ollie had been homeless for three years.

They were thrown together when Child began volunteering at a rescue centre in East Farleigh as part of her degree.

Neither of them had competed in dressage but, six years later, the pair have received a wildcard to the national final of the Petplan Summer Equine Festivals after finishing fourth at the regionals in Cambridgeshire.

Nothing has come easy.

Child was even told to have Ollie, now 18, put to sleep after initial teething problems during a six-week trial.

And there’s no fancy riding area that many dressage riders enjoy - they do their work out on the road.

“Ollie kind of picked me - it’s crazy,” said Child, 27, who gets up at 4.30am every day to see to her horse.

“The owner of the rescue centre said he’d been waiting for a home for three years.

“She asked if I’d like to take him on a six-week trial and six years on, he’s never gone back.

“We were based at a yard in Bearsted but now I just rent some land.

“Most people who do well in dressage have a riding area but we don’t - we ride on the road.

“There is a school I sometimes use but it’s half an hour away.

“It took us three seasons to get to the regionals.

“The first year, Ollie had a field accident and the next time, I broke my wrist falling off him.

“My instructor said to give it one last go. Our first competition of the season was awful but I kept at it.

“It wasn’t easy getting there this year.

“We missed the Kent and