A CHAMPION dressage rider is in a race against time to raise £25,000 to be in with a chance of competing at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Deb Criddle needs the money to buy a new horse as her current mount, 18-year-old LJT Akilles, is in his last year of international competition.

Deb, 51, of Trull, has already raised more than £4,000 through a Crowdfunding appeal, but fears she will be dropped from the Great Britain team if she hasn't raised the full amount by the end of the month.

It would spell the end to a glittering career that has seen her win three gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games and two silvers and a team gold at London in 2012, successes that earned her the MBE in 2013.

Somerset County Gazette:

Deb Criddle with the gold postbox in Trull, painted in goold to honour her London 2012 team win.

"Now I'm facing the threat of losing my place on the team to represent our country, and I'm desperately hoping to keep making dreams a reality," said Deb.

"I've spent years being proudly independent, and now I need to ask for help.

"I've worked so hard for so long and I'm not yet ready to give it all up. I need to find another horse to work with and you could share my road to Tokyo."

She added: "If I'm unable to raise £25,000 by the end of April to enable me to find a new partner, then my amazing journey will have to end."

Somerset County Gazette:

Deb's first experience of riding came in her last year of school, when she spent hours helping out at a riding school in exchange for rides.

But her life was to change forever aged 19 when she had a catastrophic road traffic accident that caused serious injuries to the right side of her body, including six fractures in her leg and a paralysed arm, which was later amputated.

Following a long rehabilitation, Deb returned to riding - she said: "I found my calling in the world of dressage, competing against both able bodied and disabled riders, finding strength and purpose in working with animals much bigger and stronger than myself."

She has since enjoyed a career as a long-standing member of the GB para-dressage squad, and is the only rider in the world to have achieved triple gold medal wins at three consecutive championships on the same horse.

For further details and to help Deb achieve her ambition, click here.