Para-equestrian dressage rider Joanne Pitt has died.

She was 34. From Huntly, she had recently moved to Norwich to concentrate on dressage and was based with her fiancé, Rory and his family.

A World Class Performance rider, Jo represented Great Britain up to Paralympic level and was a regular Grade II national and international competitor.

With her long term horse Estralita, owned by her parents, Robert and Hazel Pitt, she claimed the Grade II title at British Dressage's winter championships the previous month.

Jo was being treated for a rare lung condition, pulmonary veno-occlusive disease and only 10 days previously had been riding her horses and aiming for European Championship selection. She had right-sided hemiplegic cerebral palsy, which affected the feeling and mobility down her right side.

She was hooked on horses after attending a 10-day summer holiday camp at Hayfield riding school when she was six. By the time she was eight, she had her own pony and joined the Pony Club.

She was taught as an able-bodied rider, gained her Pony Club C plus test and went on to join a riding club.

In 1995, Jo went to Oatridge Agricultural College, where she gained her NC and HNC in horse management and passed her British Horse Society (BHS) stage 1 exam.

With Rockhill Kashmir she was selected for the 2004 Athens Paralympics as an individual, finishing equal eighth.

In 2008, she found Estralita and they quickly developed a great partnership, being selected as reserve for the Beijing Paralympics.

Her first team appearance was at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games, taking bronze in the grade II freestyle test with 74.95% and were part of the gold medal winning team with a score of 67.81%. The pair also placed sixth and seventh in the team and individual tests.

She was disappointed not to be selected for the London Paralympics but as was her way, she set about discovering the previous form which had earned her a team place. Under the guidance of long-time trainer Michel Assouline and new coach Liza McQuiston, she worked tirelessly to improve.

So far in 2013, they won all but two classes from 12 starts including victories in the team and individual classes at Deauville, in March and the Grade II title at the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships.