Horse-mad Hannah Palmer has one goal in life - to ride for Team GB at the Paralympics.

And the talented teenager has moved one step closer to realising her dream after winning a place on a top equestrian training scheme.

Already, Hannah, 14, of Stanwix, has received one-to-one tuition from the international coach to World and European Gold Medallist, Sophie Wells.

It was a very exciting moment for the young girl who, due to a disability that affects the right side of her body - she suffers muscle spasms - sometimes needed a wheelchair when she was younger.

Hannah started riding at just four, and is now an accomplished rider with many national competition wins tucked under her belt in the past four years, and has set her sights on one day competing at the top level.

"I have a disability, but I'm not disabled," said a determined Hannah.

"I do not have to worry about anything when I'm riding.

"It's just me and the horse. It's like I am free. Nobody judges me.

"I don't have people staring at me like they did when I was little."

Doting dad, Mark, said: "Hannah thought she was going to dance around like gold medal-winning rider Charlotte Dujardin and her horse Valegro when she went for her first coaching lesson

"But she was taken right back to basics," added the 42-year-old building inspector.

Hannah's drive to prove her disability is not going to stop the Trinity School student aiming high means huge sacrifices for the devoted family.

"It means a lot of travelling and a lot of cost implications like livery, assessment lessons and hiring a pony," said Mark.

"The nearest para-dressage location is Middlesborough through the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) Unicorn Centre at Middlesborough.

"There's no centre that caters for para-dressage competiton in Cumbria or north of Cheshire," added Mark.

"But it is all worth it for us as a family, when we see just how much Hannah gets out of it.

"We are a partnership and Hannah really appreciates the support network from myself, her mum, Michelle, and sister, Lily," added Mark.

Last year Hannah's ambition to be on the international stage suffered a setback on her return from an annual check-up for her Hemiplegia Cerebral Palsy.

"Her and her mum, Michelle, had called into a supermarket and Hannah had her first epileptic seizure, and was subsequently diagnosed with epilepsy.

"It was a blow to her as she had to stop riding for three months," said Mark.

"But, with a lot of support from RDA, we got Hannah riding again and she put on a display for Princess Anne when she was up in Cumbria at the RDA in Carlisle," he added.

It was Hannah's physiotherapist who suggested horse riding.

But her first experience was vastly different to the picture she paints now gliding effortlessly around the arena at the Blackdyke Equestrian Centre on the outskirts of Carlisle.

"Gillian from the RDA put me in the saddle and put me in front of the mirror at one end of the area, and it was like magic. I was always smiling after that," said Hannah, who has won a place on the British Equestrian Federation Para-Equestrian Dressage Entry-Level Training Scheme.

"Hannah just wants to be treated the same as everyone else," said Mark.

"Yes, when my physiotherapist suggested a different way to tie my shoelaces, I said no I want to tie them like everyone else does," said Hannah.

She is not the only rider in the family.

Sister, Lily, nine, has caught the bug and has been having lessons for well over a year.

"That's daddy's weekends taken up with pony lessons," said Mark, laughing.

"It's weird, but I am not a horsey person at all," he added.

"But I'm doing a sponsored bike ride this year from Glasgow to Edinburgh to raise funds for the RDA."

"I want Hannah to enjoy her riding but not be pressurised," he added.