A ST Martins man is celebrating after bringing home two medals from this year's International Mounted Games Association (IMGA) European Championships.

Greg James took a gold and bronze medal at the event held in County Cork, Ireland, and became the first rider to reach an individual competition final as well as competing in the team events.

His two ponies, Jack and Whisper, were pivotal to his success, with Jack helping him to a gold with the England Open Team.

Greg and his team were clear winners with a 17-point gap between themselves and second place.

Following on from the team success, Greg and Whisper claimed third in the individual performance to beat top riders from across the continent to silverware.

Originally a reserve for the team event, Greg was not expecting to compete in both events, and he labelled the week as the most successful of his career.

"Last week was crazy for me because I was originally reserve for the team," he said.

"I would have only been competing in the individuals; however a teammate's pony had a small problem, so I had to take her place in the team and ride.

"This happened after I had qualified for the individual semi finals, so I carried on with the individuals and made it to the final while riding with the team."

Greg put his name among few riders that have attempted both the individual and the team rides in the event, and became the first to finish with a medal in both.

He added: "No one has ever got through to the individual final while doing the teams before.

"Very few have even attempted both competitions at the same time – every day of the week I was up at 7.30 and busy all day until dark.

"I was helped by the England squad and the performance of my team mates in the arena.

"It was certainly my most successful week ever because I won the European team title while also getting on the podium as an individual.

"I didn't think I would have the energy, but I was having so much fun that I managed it and didn't want the week to end."