10 Sep, 2010 @ 09:00
1 min read
5

The ride of her life

A BRITISH teenager took to her horse to show the local men how the job should be done.

Harriet Simmons, 17, jumped on a friend’s mount to compete in the so-called ‘cintas de caballos’ competition during the feria in Yunquera.

The feat involved 30 riders – all men, apart from her – trying to retrieve coloured ribbons by spearing a two cm diameter plastic ring with a small stick.

The accomplished rider and polo player, who recently finished her GCSEs at Malvern College in the UK, left locals scratching their heads as she came fifth in the event.

“I thought there was no way I was going to get a ribbon with all the male competitors really struggling,” she explained.

“When I got one people clapped like crazy.”

Her family friend Kenton Smith, who lives in the village, added: “It really shocked the locals, as it was apparently the first time they had seen a female competitor.

He added: “One rider was actually heard saying if Harriet gained a ribbon he was giving up. After she did he was dumbfounded.”

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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