MORTON on Swale rider Nicola Tweddle had every reason to be delighted with her performance at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, where entrants had to cope with truly testing conditions.

The 27-year-old, who was making her fifth appearance at the great event, was riding the little 15.2hh horse Skiver. The pair had finished 27th on their first Badminton ride together in 2003, but this time proved even more successful, with a cracking clear cross-country round.

Persistent rain throughout the four days of competition left the going heavy and holding, despite the best efforts of the organisers, and riders felt the conditions made each fence feel "six or nine inches higher".

Nicola and Skiver, a horse owned by Helperby's Lady Milnes Coates, came home with just 22.4 time penalties, jumping the seventh fastest round from the 80 starters.

"I loved it all despite the mud," said Nicola. "Skiver gave me a lovely cross-country ride and I was very, very pleased with him. Our only hiccup came at The Lake - I was going to take the direct route through, but we got an awkward stride in the middle and had to quickly take the longer alternative."

Such quick thinking was one of the reasons Nicola produced such a good round in the conditions.

"You've got to attack a course like this no matter what - you can't mess around or keep changing your mind", she added. "I stuck to my planned routes everywhere else except at the coffin combination, where we went the long way but didn't waste much time."

The pair had three show jumps down on the last day - when just two riders in the top 25 jumped clear - to finish in a fine 20th place overall.

Barnard Castle-based Karen Dixon, who has been riding regularly at Badminton for more than 20 years, was out of luck this time.

The 39-year-old has had mixed fortunes at the event over the years, finishing fifth and sixth in the past but breaking her leg and dislocating her shoulder in falls on less successful outings.

This time she was riding the grey horse Uptotrix, 16th in 2002, but their challenge ended with a fall at The Lake.