LLANARTH rider Ben Hopkins has retained his World Title he won last year in Denamark with his magnificent pony Merlin. This year the event was held in Great Britain at the David Broome Event Centre, and Ben and Merlin took the gold medal in true style - winning eight out of the 10 games. In the final they beat silver medalist Darrah Calohan from Ireland by 14 points and bronze medalist Charlie Yates from England by 15 points. Ben and Merlin competed for a week at the David Broome Event Centre and qualified first into the semi finals and then first into the final. Over 13 different nations took part at the world event, some travelling ponies from as far as New Zealand.  The 12-year-old is a very experienced rider at these international events, last year he won all the major international titles including the British, European and World titles, as well as representing Wales. Ben is now heading to the Royal Welsh Show next week with his Monmouthshire Pony Club Team and can be seen competing there on Wednesday and Thursday.