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Much Ado About Boekelo: Your Essential Guide to the New Format and the Golden Ticket

By on Oct 10, 2019 6:52 am -

When in Boekelo, do as the Dutch do…? Photo by Leslie Wylie.

There’s been an awful lot of fuss about Boekelo this year, and for once, it’s not just because of the infamous parties (though what happens in Boekelo stays in Boekelo, to quote the enthusiastic – and trouble-making – DJ at Tuesday night’s bash). Instead, this year’s focus is on the Nations Cup competition…which it always is, obviously, but allow us to explain.

As the finale of the FEI Nations Cup series, Boekelo CCIO4*-L is always an exciting and climactic watch. This year, though, it offers a little extra excitement. There’s one team ticket for Tokyo left, and it will be awarded this weekend to the highest-placed unqualified team in the Nations Cup series rankings at the conclusion of the competition. But before we get to the exciting culmination of the competition, we’ll also be getting our first proper look at the new – and rather dramatically different – Olympic format, which we’ll see at Tokyo next year.

Under the new format, three riders will represent each team. Shown here are Team USA, represented by Tamie Smith, Jennie Brannigan, and Liz Halliday-Sharp, with Matt Flynn as the reserve. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Let’s start by demystifying the format a little bit. The first thing you need to know is that the teams will be smaller – we’re used to seeing teams of four, with the three best scores counting, and one rider’s score dropped. In the new format, we won’t have drop scores at all anymore – instead, each team will have three riders, and each score will count.

Comprenez-vous? Great. But, we hear you asking, what happens if someone falls on cross-country, or doesn’t make it through a horse inspection, or comes up against one of the myriad other pitfalls that can crop up through an event? Without a drop score, do they just have to accept 1000 penalties for a non-completion and move on?

Nope. This is where the system really starts to look different, because for the first time ever, we’re now using a substitution system, which allows a reserve horse and rider to step in at any point in the competition.

That means that four horses and riders will travel to Tokyo for each nation, but one – the reserve or substitute pair – will not be accredited and won’t be able to compete unless they’re drafted in. What they do have to do, however, is pass both horse inspections. The team of three will be named ahead of time, and the reserve can be subbed in up to two hours before the start of dressage with no penalty to the team. The horse that was taken out can then wait in the wings as the new team reserve. After that? Get your calculators out, because it’s time to do some counting.

If all three combinations on the team complete each phase, nothing changes – they’ll each have their final score as usual, and those three scores will be combined to create the aggregate, or team, score. But if a rider fails to complete a phase, they’ll incur penalties for the non-completion. That works like this:

  • If a rider is eliminated or retires in the dressage (bad luck, pal), they add 100 points to their mark. Because they haven’t earned a dressage score, their starting score is 100 penalties, and the team is stuck with it no matter what.
  • If the elimination or retirement occurs on cross-country, they add 200 points to their dressage score, and no matter what, the team is stuck with that combined score.
  • If they’re eliminated or retire in the showjumping, they add 100 points to their score, and again, the team can’t get rid of those marks.

Once the elimination or retirement has occurred, there’s a couple of options. First, the horse and rider can be substituted, which means that those penalties they notched up as described above are kept on the team score card, while an extra 20 penalties is added on as penance for making the substitution. Then, whatever penalties the substitute earns are also added onto the score card.

Or, they can forego the substitute method, and the horse and rider that were eliminated or retired can continue on to the next phase with those non-completion penalties on their record. This isn’t always allowed, mind you – if the non-completion occurred because of lameness or injury to the horse, any sort of abusive or dangerous riding, a disqualification, or a horse fall, they are ineligible to continue. Likewise, substitution isn’t allowed in cases where abusive or dangerous riding or a disqualification has led to the non-completion of a phase.

Another important point to note is that only one substitution can be made per team, and that substitution must go to a new horse and rider – that is, a team rider can’t simply have a reserve horse waiting in the wings as a substitute. Any substitution made between the phases – let’s call these overnight substitutions – will still incur the 20 penalties for substitution, but won’t incur non-completion penalties. For example, if a team horse and rider complete cross-country, but the horse doesn’t look right the next morning, they can be replaced by the subs for just 20 penalties. They won’t add 200 penalties, because they completed the cross-country, and then won’t add 100 penalties, because they never started showjumping.

If a substitution can’t be made for any reason – because the sub has already been drafted in, or because of a disqualification, or simply the lack of a sub option – it can get expensive, and fast. If a rider is eliminated on cross-country for dangerous riding, for example, they’ll incur the 200 penalty ‘bonus,’ plus 100 penalties for failing to showjump, because they can’t be replaced.

(Oh, and another thing? Only horse-and-rider combinations who complete the entire competition are eligible for individual medals. Which is, you know, fair.)

In any case, any scores earned throughout the competition are kept on as part of the final team score, because drop scores no longer exist. So if a team member completes the dressage with, say, a score of 30, but then takes a spill across the country, they’ll have 230 points on their scorecard. If they then opt to sub in the reserve to showjump, they’ll add the substitution penalty – 20 points, so a total tally of 250 so far – and then the substitute’s showjumping score. Let’s say the sub knocks a rail – the final score is 254 for that slot on the team. If two riders fail to complete the cross-country, they’ll each add the 200, but because only one substitution can be made, they’ll need to decide whether one of them will still showjump the next day. If they can’t for any reason, they’ll add another 100 penalties.

If all this sounds incredibly confusing, we hear you – it’s a huge departure from what we know, and it all sounds pretty bonkers. These changes have been brought in to mitigate the confusion that surrounded drop scores – though we’re used to them, many new viewers of the sport found them difficult to understand, and so this system, it’s hoped, will prove clearer. It’s easy to make a snap judgment on what we’re seeing, but this week’s competition at Boekelo will offer some clarity – watching the system in action will, at the very least, help to demonstrate how it works, which is always easier than reading and re-reading the rule book until you go cross-eyed.

We’ll revisit these rules in a moment. Now, though, let’s discuss Tokyo tickets – there’s one left, and there are three teams chasing it. We’ve got twelve nations competing in the Nations Cup competition, and nine of them – Japan, France, Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, and the USA – are already qualified for Tokyo. That leaves the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium. They’ll all be competing for series points, as whichever of these three teams has the most at the end of the week will take the spot. So how are those points looking at the moment?

As you can see, Switzerland (365) leads the way by a slim margin of ten marks over the Netherlands (355), while Belgium languishes behind on 300 points. But that doesn’t rule them out – a win in the team competition here would earn them 100 points, while second would earn them 90, and so on. Here’s a look at the points that can be earned here:

If you’re about to do some ferocious scribbling to figure out where each team needs to finish to allow for any of them to qualify, don’t: only the best six scores of seven will count, which means that both Switzerland and the Netherlands will have an event to drop by the end of the week. Belgium, who missed Pratoni, will not.

It’s easy enough to consider this a bit of a match race between the Swiss and the Dutch teams – and here, the plot thickens. Both teams will be missing a major player, putting both of their campaigns in jeopardy. Switzerland’s MVP is Felix Vogg, whose top horse Colero is out of action at the moment. He will ride his other mount, Archie Rocks, at Pau – leaving Caroline Gerber, Robin Godel, and Tiziana Realini to fight the good fight in Boekelo on their European Championships mounts. They finished eighth there, with Tiziana as the drop score.

Tim Lips and Bayro at the first horse inspection. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The lynchpin of the Dutch team should have been Tim Lips, who has twice been crowned the Dutch National Champion here with top horse Bayro (anyone else remember that sub-20 dressage last year?) Bayro went to the Europeans, and Tim doesn’t want to run him in a long-format again so soon, so he had planned to ride Eclips here instead – but after picking up a minor injury, Eclips has had to be withdrawn at the last minute. Instead, Tim has brought Bayro – but only to be used as a substitute, and only for showjumping. Tim won’t run him cross-country. This is big news for two reasons: one, because it throws a real spanner in the works for the home nation, and two, because it gives us a real-world chance to see how substitution works. (For what it’s worth, reserve riders here are allowed to compete in the entire competition normally – which could get complicated if they have their own falls or disqualifications – but at Tokyo, they’ll only compete if drafted in.)

 

The tension is certainly rising in all three camps as they fight for the final ticket – but is it the last chance saloon here? Not necessarily – but more on this next week, when we’ll bring you a comprehensive guide to composite teams.

 

In the meantime, Sweden – who qualified for Tokyo at the European Championships – will be hoping to take the series title. Their nearest challengers, Italy, don’t have a team here, but that doesn’t mean it’s a sure thing. A great result from the Swiss, the Dutch, or the British teams could send their campaign into a tailspin.

Today, we’ll see all the team riders complete their dressage test, so stay tuned for the day one dressage report, where we’ll take a closer look at the numbers thus far – and what needs to be done over the weekend.

Military Boekelo: Website, Entries, Ride Times, Live Stream, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Star-Studded: Pau Entries Go Live with 43 Combinations

By on Oct 9, 2019 7:49 pm -

Ascona M and Tim Price aim for a second five-star victory. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

For those of you fearing the swift approach of the end of the season, take heart: we’ve still got some jolly big competitions to look forward to before we all go into hibernation for the winter. (We kid. But wouldn’t that be a nice way to deal with it?) One of those is, of course, the final European five-star of the year. Today, Les 5 Etoiles de Pau revealed its entry list, and there’s plenty to look forward to.

Taking place from the 24-27 October in the south of France, Pau is a popular destination for competitors from around the world, and offers an opportunity for competitors to bank their Olympic qualifications before the season wraps. The twisty, technical track, designed by Pierre Michelet, presents rather a different challenge to the likes of Badminton, Burghley, and Kentucky, and this year, it delivers a smaller field, too – but among the 43 competitors, who represent 11 nations, there’s some serious quality.

Shane Rose and Virgil. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Notable entrants include Australia’s Shane Rose, who brings forward his WEG mount Virgil. The fourteen-year-old gelding finished second in his five-star debut at Adelaide in 2015, 16th at Burghley in 2016, and seventh at Luhmühlen in 2017 before Shane relocated back to his base in Australia. Now, with two CCI4*-S victories under his belt from two international runs this year, he’s on flying form for his return to Europe.

Six French riders will be taking part, with 2016 Pau victor Maxime Livio debuting Vitorio du Montet after a top twenty finish at Bramham. Rio tea member Mathieu Lemoine also has an exciting debutante on the list: Tzinga d’Auzay, who finished 20th at Blenheim last year and has notched up top ten finishes at Saumur CCI4*-L and Haras du Pin CCIO4*-S, makes his first five-star start.

Ros Canter and Zenshera. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Great Britain makes up the majority of the entry list, as has become the norm: among their 20 entrants, Alex Bragg will ride his stalwart Zagreb, third at Luhmühlen in June. World Champion Ros Canter contests her first five-star after maternity leave with Zenshera, who has four top-ten five-star finishes – two of them at Pau – under his belt. Sarah Bullimore, who missed out on the win here two years ago by a tenth of a penalty, brings forward Conpierre, with whom she finished eighth at Luhmühlen, while talented young rider Felicity Collins makes her five-star debut with Just Amazing and RSH Contend Or.

Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser in Tryon. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Tom McEwen and Figaro van het Broekxhof finished second at Luhmühlen this year after winning Belton’s Grantham Cup CCI4*-S, and they’ll head south with the hope of going one better at Pau – but Mr Fig will face stiff competition from stablemate Toledo de Kerser, back in action after a minor injury saw him withdraw from the European Championships at the eleventh hour. Gemma Tattersall, too, brings forward two horses: Chilli Knight, who was third in the eight- and nine-year-old class at Blenheim last month, and new ride Jalapeño, with whom she won the Event Rider Masters finale last week.

Japan’s Kazuma Tomoto has accomplished one big goal this year in qualifying all four of his horses for Tokyo, and now he’s out to prove exactly what they’re all capable of – his Tacoma d’Horset certainly shouldn’t be underestimated.

James Avery and Mr Sneezy. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Nor, of course, should Luhmühlen winners Tim Price and Ascona M. Tim’s entries make up two-thirds of New Zealand’s numbers at Pau: he also brings forward his 2015 Luhmühlen winner Wesko. Joining him in the Kiwi camp is James Avery, who makes his long-anticipated five-star debut with Mr Sneezy.

Sweden’s Ludwig Svennerstal will be a very busy boy indeed – he has three horses entered. Salunette steps up to the level after showing some promising form in her short international career, while the considerably more experienced El Kazir SP, eighth at the European Championships this summer, also heads to his first five-star. Balham Mist rounds out the trio, and will be making his third start at the level.

Holly Jacks-Smither and More Inspiration. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

There are few things we like better than an off-the-track Thoroughbred, and we’ll be able to cheer one on in France – Felix Vogg and Archie Rocks will be Switzerland’s sole representatives at Pau. What else do we love? A North American entry, of course, and although the US are conspicuous only in their absence, Canada will be ably represented by Holly Jacks and More Inspiration.

We’ll be bringing you a comprehensive form guide ahead of the event, but in the meantime, you can peruse the entry list in full here. Allons-y!

Boekelo First Horse Inspection: All Pass After Two Holds

By on Oct 9, 2019 4:01 pm -

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Quicksilver. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Welcome to every eventer’s favourite week of the year: it’s Military Boekelo time, and we’re in for one heck of a week at the Netherlands’ feature event. Not only is Boekelo the finale of the FEI Nations Cup series, it’s also a major focal point for riders hoping to gain their Tokyo qualification before the 2019 season wraps. But the CCIO4*-L team competition is going to be our focal point this week: there’s one last Olympic ticket up for grabs, which will go to the highest-placed unqualified nation in the Nations Cup standings at the end of the week, and it’s a chance for us to see the new Olympic format in action. And that format? Well, it’s a serious change from what we’re used to, so we’ll be bringing you a primer on what to expect — and who to keep an eye on.

Joseph Murphy and Cesar V. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

But the first order of business, as usual, was the first horse inspection, held this afternoon. If you happen to be a trucking type, and if you found yourself motoring down the N18 motorway a few hours ago, you might have been distracted on your travels — because just below you, tucked into the trees, a host of nations were parading their horses down the trot strip as traffic roared past. Unfazed, they presented to the ground jury of Jane Tolley (GBR), Stuart Bishell (NZL), and Katrin Eichinger-Kniely (AUT), and we’re delighted to report that all 98 combinations were accepted into the competition proper.

But that isn’t to say that the day was without its dramas. Two horses were held — the Netherlands’ Janneke Boonzaaijer‘s ACSI Champ de Tailleur and Padraig McCarthy‘s new mount Leonidas II, for Ireland, were sent to the holding box, though both duly passed upon reinspection.

Michael Jung and fischerRocana. Photo by William Carey.

In a departure from the norm, Boekelo has opted to put all the team riders consecutively in the order of go, so tomorrow’s dressage will be almost entirely centred around the Nations Cup competition. Germany has been drawn first in the order, and they lead the way with a formidable combination — Michael Jung brings forward his double Kentucky champion fischerRocana, back in the spotlight after a year-long hiatus. The Netherlands — one of the teams on the hunt for an Olympic qualification — will come forward second, followed by the Belgians, hot on their tails for that coveted ticket. The all-female British team has been drawn seventh, and will be spearheaded by Laura Collett and Dacapo, while Tokyo hopefuls Switzerland are the penultimate draw in eleventh.

Team USA has been drawn in twelfth place, with Jennie Brannigan acting as team pathfinder with Stella Artois. Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Quicksilver will be the second of the U.S. competitors, while Tamie Smith and Mai Baum act as anchors. Matt Flynn and Wizzerd hold down the fort as team reserves, but unlike next year’s Olympics, they’ll be allowed to contest the competition in its entirety, rather than waiting in the wings to be substituted in as needed.

Team USA is out in force in Boekelo. Photo by Sherry Stewart.

Dressage gets underway tomorrow morning at 9.30 a.m. local time/8.30 a.m. BST/3.30 a.m. EST. Want to keep an eye on Team USA? Their times are as follows:

  • Jennie Brannigan and Stella Artois: 10.47 a.m. local/9.47 a.m. BST/4.47 a.m. EST
  • Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Quicksilver: 12.26 p.m. local/11.26 a.m. BST/6.26 a.m. EST
  • Tamie Smith and Mai Baum: 15.02 p.m. local/14.o2 p.m. BST/9.02 a.m. EST
  • Matt Flynn and Wizzerd: 10.54 a.m. local/9.54 a.m. BST/4.54 a.m. EST (FRIDAY)

Thursday’s dressage times can be found here – asterisks denote team riders, of which there are three per nation under the new Olympic format – while Friday’s can be found here.

Following from afar? Then you’re in luck – you’ll be able to watch all the action via FEITV. Keep a pint of Grolsch on hand at all times for the authentic Boekelo experience.

Military Boekelo: Website, Entries, Ride Times, Live Stream, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Tattersall on Top and Burton Unbeatable in Event Rider Masters Finale

By on Oct 6, 2019 4:00 pm -

After yesterday’s dressage in the Event Rider Masters finale at Lignières-en-Berry, which saw the average score dip lower than it ever has, all eyes were on today’s jumping phases. Would they prove as influential? Would the obvious suspects be able to rise above the challenges? And who, exactly, would walk away as the 2019 Event Rider Masters champion?

Gemma Tattersall and Jalapeño move into the lead after showjumping. Photo courtesy of Event Rider Masters.

The drama of the day was evident from the off as our competitors braved a deluge in Lignières’ sprawling main arena to tackle the toughest showjumping course in Event Rider Masters’ history. Not a single combination would deliver a fault-free round and just two – Tim Price and Ascona M and Michael Jung and Star Connection FRH – would manage to stop the clock inside the fiendishly tight time allowed, though each took a rail apiece with them on their hunt for economical lines.

Others would have worse luck – the normally exceptional showjumper Billy the Red and his hugely experienced rider Tina Cook took two poles and added 3.6 time faults, while series contender Jonelle Price had three fences with Grovine de Reve and added 3.6 time penalties. Alex Bragg saw his chances of a podium finish slip just out of reach when Zagreb pulled two rails and added two time penalties, dropping the duo from fourth after dressage to ninth.

But where one goes down, another must come up, and the complexity and incredible influence of the showjumping allowed some key contenders to make their move. France’s Gireg le Coz, battling for the series title with Aisprit de la Loge, produced the round of the morning to add just 1.2 time penalties, while Gemma Tattersall and Jalapeño picked up a mere 2 time penalties to take the lead as we moved ahead to the final cross-country session of the 2019 Event Rider Masters season.

And what a cross-country session it was. After the withdrawal of series contender Jonelle Price, the door was opened wide for a new face to step onto the podium, and with the twisty, technical track causing a number of problems from the offset, nothing was guaranteed for our tightly-bunched candidates.

19-year-old Phoebe Locke and her experienced partner Pica d’Or were the class pathfinders, but their otherwise classy round came to an early end when the young rider took a tumble at one of the final combinations on course. When the next rider on course, Belgium’s Tom Goeman, fell at the second fence, and French superstar Maxime Livio picked up 20 penalties aboard Api du Libaire as third out of the box, it became readily apparent that today’s track wouldn’t be a mere stroll in the park.

Chris Burton and Quality Purdey get the job done without heroics. Photo courtesy of Event Rider Masters.

Sitting in tenth place before cross-country, series leader Christopher Burton had everything to lose – and everything to gain – as he left the start box with Quality Purdey. To maintain his standing, he needed to go fast and clear – but no one before him had come close to the 6:55 optimum time. A scrappy start paved the way for one of the most significant rounds of the day, and Chris ultimately crossed the finish line eleven seconds under the time – despite taking two long routes. The pressure was well and truly back on.

With proof that the time was gettable on the board, a spate of lightning-fast clear rounds followed: Alex Bragg and Zagreb added just 0.8 time penalties to claw their way back up to 7th place, while Arnaud Boiteau and Quoriano ENE HN, buoyed on by an ebullient home crowd, sailed home with three seconds to spare.

“It’s like a championship – it’s France, so there’s a big crowd, and it helps the horse and me to go faster and try to do the best,” said Arnaud, who climbed ten places through the day to finish in eventual fourth.

A slow run from Pau-bound Tim Price and Ascona M and the surprise retirement of Oliver Townend and Alcatraz pushed Chris Burton further up the leaderboard, and as his hold on the series title tightened, the match race between Gireg le Coz and Sarah Cohen intensified.

Gireg le Coz and Aisprit de la Loge produce another competitive clear. Photo courtesy of Event Rider Masters.

Jardy winners Gireg le Coz and Aisprit de la Loge produced quality jump after quality jump, but ultimately, the time wasn’t on their side: they added 2.8 time penalties to stay in fifth place, while fellow Frenchman Arnaud Boiteau moved up into fourth.

Sarah Cohen and Treason enjoy a podium double-feature. Photo courtesy of Event Rider Masters.

Sarah ‘Cutty’ Cohen and seventeen-year-old Treason, for their part, produced the round of their lives to cross the finish line one second inside the time, securing themselves a podium finish on both the leg and series podiums. Now, all they could do was wait to see which tier it would be on each.

When the top spots are occupied by a previous ERM series champion and the last winner of eventing’s Grand Slam, climbing is a tough call – and neither Gemma Tattersall nor Michael Jung looked like faltering for a moment on course.

Michael Jung and Star Connection narrowly miss out on a third ERM win. Photo courtesy of Event Rider Masters.

A foot-perfect round from Michael Jung and his two-time leg winner Star Connection FRH put him in second place on the live podium.

“It was really all there to enjoy,” he said with a broad smile. “Star Connection is a really great horse, and I know I have to let him run from the beginning because he’s not a racehorse, and he doesn’t have a big stride like a racehorse. But that keeps me fast to the jumps.”

He had done what he could – and ultimately, second place would be where he would stay. 2017 series champion Gemma Tattersall left the start box on a mission with Jalapeño.

They looked every inch a long-term partnership, belying the single season they’ve had together, eating up the course and romping home with three seconds to play with. The Lignières title was Gemma’s.

Gemma Tattersall and Jalapeño sprint their way to the win. Photo courtesy of Event Rider Masters.

“I’ve been really good at winning the other four-star section when ERMs have been at venues, and today I’ve managed to win the ERM – get in there!” she laughed from atop the podium, where she accepted a cheque for €18,000 and prizes from the Monart Elite Horse Sales.

“I’m so happy, and so pleased with the horse today,” she continued, acknowledging the efforts of owners Chris and Lisa Stone. “It’s a new partnership [with Jalapeño]; she’s been beautifully produced by Karin Donckers. I’ve had to take the reins and we’ve had to get used to each other. We’ve had a couple of whoopsies, but we’ve done our homework, and today it came good!”

Her third-place finish on the leg podium ensured Sarah Cohen a place on the series podium, too, for the second time. She finished third in the 2019 rankings – a remarkable accomplishment for the former pro turned passionate amateur, who balances family life with competing Treason, her only horse.

“It’s taken the whole season, but he was just magic out there – he’s a star,” said ‘Cutty’ of her longterm partner, who has been one of the most consistent horses on the circuit. Though Cutty hopes to log one more season with the gelding, could his eventual retirement from top competition prompt a comeback for his rider?

“I could really do with a back-up horse for him, so if anyone wants to be involved with the ERM, I have stables,” she smiled with a twinkle in her eye. “Just having the one horse, it’s amazing to be competitive with these top guys – and it makes me want to do a little bit more. I’ll be on the search now.”

A champagne shower for the Lignières leg winners. Photo courtesy of Event Rider Masters.

France’s own Gireg le Coz became a break-out star of the ERM series when he came from nowhere to win the Jardy leg earlier this summer, and since then, he’s proven just what he’s capable of with top horse Aisprit de la Loge. His fifth-place finish today sealed the deal, and the affable Frenchman took the runner-up spot on the 2019 podium. A star, we suspect, is born.

“My horse has been fantastic for all the four legs I did,” he said. “I have to say thank you to my horse, my owners, and everyone who makes it possible in the ERM – thank you.”

And so the 2019 Event Rider Masters championship went to the indomitable Aussie, Christopher Burton. His performance at Lignières proved to be the fastest round of the day, and helped him climb from 15th to eventual sixth place, clinching enough valuable series points to ensure he defended his 2018 Masters title.

“It’s not hard when you’re on such a lovely mare,” he smiled, reflecting on his remarkably fast round. “We love her – she’s truly extraordinary, and such a pleasure.”

Chris Burton takes the ERM title for the second year in a row. Photo courtesy of Event Rider Masters.

This makes Chris the first person ever to win the series twice – and as he held his £30,000 bonus aloft, he thanked the dedication of his team and owners for laying the foundations for his victory.

“This is our favourite part of the ERM, if you’ve gone clear and get to sit up here,” he laughed from the top spot of the podium. “It’s amazing – I still can’t believe it. I had such a good year last year that I really didn’t think I could ever do it again. We’re stoked! It’s a wonderful series to be a part of – and right now, we’re just going to enjoy the moment.”

And so the 2019 season winds to a close – and what a season it’s been. Six legs, five countries, and 85 of the world’s best horses and riders from 15 nations, all battling it out for £350,000 and podium glory. This is eventing, reinvented – and we can’t wait for 2020.

Friday Video from SmartPak: Eventing Down Under with Amanda Ross

By on Oct 4, 2019 6:00 pm -

The European eventing season is in its final month – though what a month it is, with the Event Rider Masters finale at Lignieres, the Nations Cup finale at Boekelo, the Young Horse World Championships at Le Lion, and the CCI5* at Pau – while those of you above the Mason-Dixon line will likely be thinking about hanging up your skull cap for the winter, too. But has that ever stopped EN from finding an event – and a heaping helping of eventers – to obsess over? No. No, it most certainly has not.

This week, the FEI are helping us to quell our end-of-season anxieties, as they wing us straight to the Land Down Under to meet Amanda Ross, who rode at the 2000 Olympics but somehow, infuriatingly, still looks younger than all of us. That’s probably because she was one of the earliest adopters of rider fitness regimes – but also, we suspect, because of her irrepressible joie de vivre. We first met her at Blenheim CCI4*-L last season, at which she and Koko Popping Candy finished tenth, and now she’s on the Tokyo trail. Get to know her – and get excited about a deeper dive into Australian eventing this winter – in her day-in-the-life vlog. Bonzer!

Friday Video from SmartPak: What’s That Teddy?

By on Sep 27, 2019 6:00 pm -

By this point, most of you will have encountered one of the most omnipresent faces on the global eventing circuit – the diminutive, wide-eyed face of Wilberry Wonder Pony (and his ever-expanding herd of Berry brethren, of course). But if you haven’t, you might have found yourself wondering why on earth some of the best riders in the world leave the start box with a stuffed animal attached to their number bib.

This season, the Event Rider Masters series has been a committed patron of the Willberry Wonder Pony charity, which helps to support vital research into the osteosarcoma that its remarkable founder, 17-year-old Hannah Francis, suffered through and ultimately passed away from. While pouring its resources into this research, Willberry also helps to grant wishes for equestrian enthusiasts suffering from serious illnesses.

The best bit? Eventers around the world have enthusiastically jumped on board in their support of the charity, which has snowballed in its reach since Hannah’s passing. Check out the ERM’s video, explaining their involvement with the charity this year and some of the riders who never leave the startbox without their own Berry pony on board. With the 2019 ERM series finale just a week away, we’ll be on Berry-watch — will you?

Double Trouble: Chris Burton Takes Second Blenheim Win

By on Sep 23, 2019 5:20 pm -

Chris Burton and Clever Louis take the top spot, just two years after the Australian rider last won this title. Photo by William Carey.

After the overnight withdrawal of joint leader William Fox-Pitt and Georgisaurous, all eyes were on Australia’s Chris Burton as the SsangYong Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-olds headed into its cross-country finale. Surely the fastest man in the world, who won here in 2017 with his WEG mount Cooley Lands, would have no problem securing the win with Kate and Geoffrey Guy’s Clever Louis?

There was just one enormous hurdle to overcome: he had only been riding the horse for a month, and had never so much as competed him in a one-day event. Though the gelding had been well produced by Germany’s Ben Leuwer, who rides for Dirk Schrade, each step of the influential cross-country phase would be a fact-finding mission.

But who were we to doubt Burto, who has proven his prowess across the country time and time again, against all sorts of odds? He duly produced one of just two clear rounds inside the time to deliver the only FOD of the class – and win the competition with a staggering margin of 6.9 penalties.

“I’m really delighted to have this lovely horse. We’re very excited about him – he’s very Thoroughbred, and he’s very honest across the country,” says Burto. “It’s my first ride on him in competition, but I’m very lucky to have an amazing training facility at Lower Chapel Marsh Farm, so I was able to get to know him before I came here. From the first ride on him, he really felt like my horse. We were always planning to do this and then go to Boekelo in an attempt to get a Tokyo qualification, so if all that goes well, we’ll have a think during the winter. If he keeps going like that, he could be [a candidate for the Olympics].”

Chris Burton pilots Clever Louis to a fast clear round, securing the eight- and nine-year-old championship in their first competition together. Photo by William Carey.

Though the CCI4*-L competitors had enjoyed a glorious day of sunshine for their cross-country rounds, the CCI4*-S was plagued by a sudden torrent of rain, which made the reasonably firm ground slippery in places. But fortunately for Burto, some last-minute insights helped him to keep the rhythm.

“I was lucky that my mate Tim Price came up to my in the warm-up, and he said that some of the things we thought might be four [strides] – like across the water – the add is better, and even out of the coffin, the three isn’t there, and the four is better because it’s getting slippery,” he explains. “I was worried he’d be a little bit strong to add, but he wasn’t – he came back to me quite nicely, and he actually sped up towards the end, which I think is really unique. The Thoroughbred started to come out. At the fences he was unbelievable, really looking through the flags and just trying to look for the numbers.”

Tom McEwen and Dreamaway II finish second. Photo by William Carey.

Tom McEwen and Dreamaway II climbed from tenth place after the first phase to eventual second, finishing on a score of 36.6 after adding 5.6 time penalties across the country.

“He’s come on leaps and bounds, and now really has the desire to crack on and get on with it,” says Tom of Barbara Cooper’s eight-year-old Irish Sport Horse, who was running in just his second CCI4*-S. “I wasn’t perfect all the way around, but he really sorted himself out. He shortened himself when he had to; he’s got a big old stride, especially for an eight-year-old – he seems to be forever growing! He really ate the course up and didn’t make anything feel difficult.”

Though Tom admits he wasn’t going as fast as he possibly could with the maternal grandson of Cruising, he praised the efforts of the Blenheim team in producing the best possible ground they could have for the week’s temperamental conditions.

“They’d done such a good job and worked seriously hard all week,” he says. “Yes, in some patches it was possibly a bit slippier, but it wasn’t dramatic.”

‘Dreamy’, who won the Intermediate championships at Gatcombe this summer, will finish his season on this result, saving his first CCI4*-L for next year – and it’s a productive note to finish on.

“He’s done three phenomenal phases all week, and now I really feel like he’s seeking the flags,” says Tom.

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Chilli Knight… what can I say?! 🥰 Love this little man so much. He put in a foot perfect XC round in the prestigious 8/9yo CCI4* S class @blenheimhorse to finish 3 seconds inside the time, only one of two to do so.🥉 place in one of the most competitive classes of the season! Alfie is such a consistent horse, always in the placings and a complete xc machine. I actually saw a stride from the start box that set the tone for one of the best rounds I’ve ever had & I couldn’t stop smiling! As most of you will know Alfie is up for sale and I’m doing everything I can to keep the ride on this very special boy – if you know of anyone who is looking to own the most wonderfully uncomplicated, super talented XC machine (and keep him with me) please let me know! . #speedy #nopulling #justkicking #somuchfun #chilliknight #eventer #horsesofinstagram #chillibaby #equestrian #sybiht (Some of the products in this picture were #gifted as part of my brand relationships)

A post shared by Gemma Tattersall (@gemma_tattersall) on

Gemma Tattersall rounded out the top three with Chilli Knight, who has been put up for sale by owners Christopher and Lisa Stone, and who added just a solitary rail to his 33.1 dressage. In coming home across the country inside the time, he became just one of two horses to do so in this class.

“He’s adjustable and really clever to a fence, so we pretty much saw a stride from the start box,” says Gemma. “That set the tone for the round. He’s naturally very fast anyway; he covers the ground in a very quick and easy way, and he’s quick over his fences but clever, too. If you have to add a stride he does it in such a quick way that he doesn’t really slow down; he’s so clever with his body. I came through the last water and I was probably five or six seconds down, but I knew I could make it back because he’s so quick. He’s got real gears, and he’s not got the most enormous stride so I don’t have to slow down – you can keep coming to the distances without having to set up.”

After a successful 2019 season, which saw them finish 6th in the CCI4*-L at Bramham, Gemma is desperate to keep the ride on the son of Chilli Morning, who she’s produced through the levels. If so, she hopes to aim him for his five-star debut at Pau.

“If there’s anyone out there who wants to buy him for me, I’d be unbelievably happy,” she says. “He’s just been amazing, and really consistent – I call him the Yes Man, because he never says ‘no’ and he’s the ultimate trier. He tries in his dressage, he tries in his showjumping, and he’s unbelievable cross-country. We’ve got such a partnership; he believes me and I believe him. He looks for the flags, and when I say go, he goes. It’s so easy – he’s such a cool little horse.”

Course designer David Evans enjoyed a successful weekend – and an abundance of praise from the riders, who felt that in this, his third year designing at Blenheim, he’d delivered his magnum opus, increasing the intensity from the previous two years without sacrificing the confidence-building rhythm and positivity that he’s become known for.

“Even though I’ve been here for so long doing the ground and doing the building, and even when you’ve been working for the designers, you want to do your own thing,” he says. “You know where the ground is, but until you see horses jumping your new or different ideas, [you don’t know]. It still takes three years to actually make the tweaks you want to all the way around the course. Going into this week, I was actually the most comfortable I’ve been – it’s the hardest course we’ve had here, and a proper four-star, but I felt the most comfortable I’ve felt over the last three years. I felt like I’d actually got to where I want to go with it. Now, in the future, I’ve just got to tweak it a bit.”

Some of those tweaks are already percolating as David looks ahead to next year.

“I felt that for the young horses, I was a little bit unfair where I had their alternative coming down to the water,” he explains. “Some of them just looked like they were coming to the shoulder to the water and just, for a split second, looking at the alternative. So I’ll move that out of the way next year. There were a lot of comments from the eight- and nine-year-old class that they felt their question was more difficult than the straight line, but I don’t want those eight- and nine-year-olds coming down that hill to a straight question, because they’re going to run away with themselves. So I’ll look at that, but otherwise, I’ll probably just do some tweaking.”

One of the major conversations that has come out of Burghley has been whether the levels below are adequately preparing horses and riders for a competition of that intensity, or whether riders are setting up the building blocks for their own downfall by seeking out ‘easy’ qualifications. But David hopes that in upping the ante of Blenheim this year, he’s stopped it from being a ‘soft option’ while still creating a suitable competition for inexperienced horses or riders.

“Each level should be at its star, and this year is the closest I’ve got to a true four-star. You can overstep it sometimes and go four-and-a-bit stars, or three-and-three-quarters, and I just think it’s very difficult to get them ready for a Burghley. We’re all completely different designers; if you look at Ian [Stark]’s track at Bramham, he’s very good at what he does, but it’s Bramham [and, as such, more difficult]. I think it’s important to get them round but to ask similar types of questions and use the same top spreads, and then you get closer to getting them ready. I’m a great believer that actually, once you’ve got to this level, you should maybe do Pau or Luhmühlen and then go on to Badminton or Burghley. It was different in the old days, when we didn’t have the other five-stars, but I think with the modernised part of the sport that maybe that’s the way people should be thinking about doing it. But hopefully, we’re starting now to get them ready for the next level.”

So there you have it, folks – a star is born in Clever Louis, who was probably the least likely prospect for a win here this week. Will he join his former winners in moving swiftly on to five-star glory, team success, and household-name status? Watch this space.

Blenheim: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Piggy French Challenges for a Record at Blenheim

By on Sep 23, 2019 7:18 am -

Piggy French and Brookfield Inocent scoop Piggy’s twelfth international win of the year. Photo by William Carey.

Piggy French sewed up yet another international victory – her twelfth of 2019 – in taking the SsangYong Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials with the ten-year-old Brookfield Inocent. But despite her enormously successful season, which now sees her close to rivalling Michael Jung for the most international victories in a single season, she didn’t go into the showjumping finale brimming with confidence – particularly as designer Di Boddie‘s jumping tracks are renowned for their tough turns, tight times, and need for precision. With Kazuma Tomoto and Brookpark Vikenti just two-tenths of a penalty behind her, she couldn’t afford so much as a time penalty.

“I was stewing a bit last night because I was like, ‘I can’t jump a clear round when it matters!’,” Piggy explains. “Everyone keeps on saying, ‘oh, but you’re having a great time’ – yes, but I keep trying to jump a clear round at the minute and it’s not happening. So you do start thinking, ‘I need to do something different,’ or ‘what’s going wrong’, but I just tried to stick to the system. If I got nervous I just tried to take a deep breath and remind myself that just to do it as quick as possible and stay in my bubble, rather than thinking about having to clear every fence by doing something differently. To be fair to them, they were both in amazing form today, and the time’s so tight, so you’ve got no time to think about softening the canter or getting things nice. You just have to ride pretty much as fast as you can go, and do turn-backs without killing the canter or doing something stupid.”

The ten-year-old gelding, who Piggy took over in the middle of last season, is known for being spooky and distractable – but Piggy, who had only competed in short-format competitions with the gelding, discovered the enormous benefit of showjumping him on the final day in what has been their first long-format together.

“He was totally on it – better, if I’m honest, than he’s probably ever been,” she says. “Maybe that’s going after cross-country; if you watched him closely yesterday he was darting across the track in quite a lot of places, at flags, and people, and dogs, and maybe having the edge off him focused him more today. That was the best he’s ever felt in the ring – and I don’t want to do it again! Usually when I finish a round on him I think, ‘I wish I could go straight back in and do it so much better.'”

Piggy French pilots third-placed Castletown Clover in the prizegiving. Photo by William Carey.

Just as special as taking the win was producing a top result on third-placed Castledown Clover. The fourteen-year-old gelding, who was originally bought for his owner, Susannah Paybody, to enjoy at the lower levels, and who began to compete with Piggy after Susannah won a lesson with her in a magazine competition, also finished on his dressage score.

“They were both so amazing; they’re such lovely horses,” she says. “The little old boy jumped his heart out in there today – it’s a fairytale finish for him. He felt unbelievable in there today and jumped a round as good as any horse that I’ve got can jump on the last day. I think we’ve got years left of enjoying him, and he’s an unbelievable jumper. I’m out of control coming into the combination, and not many horses would actually clear all three parts – I turned around thinking, ‘how on earth are they all still up?!'”

But despite his great result and obvious talent, he’s not a horse that Piggy will push for five-star.

“We want to enjoy him; he’s way exceeded our expectations,” she explains. “If he was a few years younger and he’d done the sport earlier I’d have loved to have done a five-star on him, because he reminds me very much of my little dun cob [Done to Order] that I had when I was starting – super technique, and he just loves it. But I think physically that’s the wrong thing for him to do. I think we can enjoy quite a lot more years with him without unnecessarily putting more wear and tear on him.”

Piggy French and Castletown Clover take third place. Photo by William Carey.

As the Year of the Pig continues to gain momentum, Piggy acknowledges the potent power of confidence – but she’s been careful to keep her feet firmly on the ground with it, too.

“I think it probably does help [to have such a good year], although I don’t really think about it – today we’ll enjoy it, especially with the owners, but tomorrow’s a very different day,” she says. “Tomorrow there’ll be fifteen very fresh horses looking at me, ten fresh owners who haven’t seen me for a few weeks, and they all want the fun next weekend, so you get back on the hamster wheel and you go again. You’re only as good as the horses you’re sat on and the support of the people you’ve got around you, so I know I’m very lucky in that way at the minute and it’s all happening – but you know with horses that tomorrow, or next weekend, the wave can break at any time. You start having jumps down, you fall off at fence two, a horse goes lame – things go wrong, and I’ve been on the crest of a wave for a while, so I’ve got to enjoy it.”

She also hasn’t forgotten the crashing blows of 2012, when the carefully honed structure of her yard and competitive plans began to fall to pieces around her.

“I just hope it’s not a bad omen, because I had the best year of my life in 2011, and everything went so well – and then in the Olympic year it all went Pete Tong. So I’m hoping it’s not a similar pattern,” she says. But it’s easy to see the effect of all the positivity of 2019 on her mindset. “But you know what? What will be will be, and it’s just as special, if not more special, to have a fabulous result for new owners who have never had this sort of result. You can never take them for granted. I won in 2011 here, and I don’t think I’ve won that many four-stars. It’s a great event to win at, and I think they get more special the older you get – and I’m starting to get old!”

Kazuma Tomoto settles for second once again with Brookpark Vikenti. Photo by William Carey.

Kazuma Tomoto completed his goal of qualifying his fourth and final horse for Tokyo, and he did so in spectacular style, delivering one of the three FOD finishes of the competition to place second with Brookpark Vikenti. But the result is slightly bittersweet: in 2017, he and ‘Vince’ missed out on the win in the eight- and nine-year-old class by a tenth of a penalty, while this year – many miles more confident and established – there’s a margin of just two agonising tenths.

The former showjumper gave his horse a stylish and nuanced ride in the arena, judging his distances with almost mechanical precision so that when the gelding skimmed low over the fences, the rail taps could be just that.

“He was giving a good feeling in the warm-up arena, so I was expecting a clear round today. We touched and knocked, it was a bit dodgy, but he was great,” says Kazu with a laugh, scooping Piggy up in a hug.

With gold medals on his mind, Kazu won’t be feeling the sting of such a near-win for too long – now, with four fit, talented, and healthy horses ready to target Tokyo, he’s got some serious decision-making to get down to.

“That’s the main thing to me, so I’m very happy,” he says of the final qualification. “I have four horses, and all of them are good quality horses, so I can’t decide it!”

Sammi Birch and Direct Tullyoran Cruise. Photo by William Carey.

Tact has been the watchword this week for Australia’s Sammi Birch, who finished fourth with the former Izzy Taylor mount Direct Tullyoran Cruise.

“She’s a funny little mare, and I only took the ride on her six months ago,” says Sammi. “And actually, she’s been quite difficult this week, out of the competition. She had a little bit of a moment outside the dressage arena in the collecting ring, and she cleared it – she’s quite feisty and tricky, which is one of the reasons I have the ride on her. But she’s a proper competition mare and loves the job, but I think just finds it all a bit much sometimes. But funnily enough, as soon as she got in the competition arena she’s been incredible. She hasn’t put a foot wrong and she’s given me absolutely everything. I’m thrilled with her – I was thinking that if everything went right, we could be in the top ten in such a class field, so to be top four is pretty fantastic.”

Completing her first long-format with the mare has given Sammi some insight into how she has to manage that feistiness.

“Her weakness is probably a little bit her brain; she finds it all a little bit exciting,” she explains. “In the warm-up today I couldn’t turn left at all or she’d stand up, so I had to jump everything off the right rein. You just hope that when you get in there you can turn left! As long as you don’t let that get to you too much, it’s okay. This is our first long together, and I’ve learned a lot about her – I was hoping that if I made friends with her out in the collecting ring I’d be able to turn left in there, and next time, I’ll happily know that she’s going to behave herself [in the ring].”

Sammi, too, has Tokyo in the back of her mind – and now, with next year’s crucial format change, it means that the mare’s next season remains a big question mark for now.

“The biggest thing today is that she’s now qualified for Tokyo. After yesterday, I think I’d like to take her to Badminton, but it sort of depends on what the Aussies are thinking – it’s difficult now because there’ll only be three on the team, so we’ll decide over the winter. I definitely think five-star is on the cards.”

Poignantly, Sammi’s result comes exactly a year after she underwent a major invasive surgery to remove cancerous cells from her breast.

“It’s been twelve months today since my breast cancer operation – it was the 22nd of September, so we had a shitty finish to last year,” she says. “First, it was breast cancer, and then I was ready to go to WEG on my good horse, who broke, and then we came here and another one hurt itself, so we had a shocking year. So actually, to be standing here, fourth at Blenheim on another horse twelve months later, is pretty exciting.”

Her recovery has been a long and tough one, though it’s impossible to tell when watching her gutsy, strong riding in the ring or across the country.

“It was horrible – I got home from hospital and I couldn’t stand up, basically, for weeks. But I started riding again at six weeks, even though they didn’t want me to. It’s taken a long time for my core to get strong again, because they do a tummy tuck, basically, and take from there. I still feel like my body isn’t quite back to what it was, but it’s a work in progress.” Plus, she acknowledges, “having horses like these makes it worth it.”

Andrew Nicholson and As Is. Photo by William Carey.

Andrew Nicholson piloted As Is, owned by long-time patron Libby Sellar, to fifth place, notching up another impressive four-star completing for the young talent, who has evidently got the raw materials for the job despite some latent physical immaturity. After delivering a double-clear on Saturday’s cross-country course and adding just 0.8 time penalties in the showjumping finale, the pair were able to climb from 33rd after dressage.

“He’s only eight, and there are five-star horses against him in this class,” Andrew points out. “I would think that next year, he’ll fill into his frame and look quite different. To ride, he’s very adjustable with his stride, and very agile, and very cool in his head.”

After a successful season with the young horse, the writing is on the wall for Andrew where the gelding’s future is concerned.

“He’s done Bramham clear inside the time and clear showjumping, and that’s bigger than here – so he’s done the two biggest four-stars double-clear. For me, if they can jump four-star courses, they jump five-star courses – the jumps are no bigger,” he says, but: “He’ll probably do another four-star [next year], but probably rather than going off to Luhmühlen or something it’ll be better to go back to Bramham and then maybe think of Burghley or Pau after that.”

Andrew, who had roundly praised David Evans‘ braver course design decisions after Saturday’s competition, was equally full of praise for the dynamic Di Boddy, who delivered another typically tricky showjumping track.

“I thought the course was very difficult to ride; Di is the master of making the turn-backs for us eventers difficult,” says Andrew. “There’s a couple of fences where you wouldn’t sight them until late, so you needed to be able to ride the correct stride patterns and have rideable horses. It makes the competition exciting, doesn’t it?”

It certainly did. Just eight combinations of the 57 finished without adding penalties – time or jumping – in this phase. Katherine Coleman and Monte Classico, sixth after cross-country, dropped to 17th after pulling two rails and adding three seconds to the clock, while Buck Davidson and Carlevo climbed to 27th after tipping one and adding two. Cornelia Dorr and Sir Patico MH also climbed, finishing in 42nd place with 10 penalties in this phase, and Lexi Scovil and Chico’s Man VDF Z were 55th after adding 19.6 penalties in the horse’s first CCI4*-L.

We’ll be back soon with all the news from the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S – until then, go Piggy, and Go Eventing!

Blenheim: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Field Thins at Blenheim Final Horse Inspection

By on Sep 22, 2019 5:35 am -

 

Overnight leaders Piggy French and Brookfield Inocent. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

59 combinations came forward for the final horse inspection of the SsangYong Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials after the overnight withdrawal of five horses: Emily King‘s Dargun, Matt Heath‘s Thornton Jones, Samantha Hobbs‘ Cloonbarry Robin, Georgie Spence‘s Wii Limbo, and Georgia Bale‘s Wonham What Next. After a tense morning in the sumptuous grounds of Winston Churchill’s childhood home – and in front of ground jury members PollyAnn Huntington (AUS), Andrew Bennie (NZL), and Jane Holderness-Roddam (GBR) – the field has been thinned to 57.

Jessica McKie and Ask The Boss. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Five horses were sent to the holding box throughout the course of the morning. While three of them – Hannah Bate‘s Riverside Vision, Pippa Funnell‘s Billy The Biz, and Josephine Schnaufer‘s Pasadena 217 – were subsequently accepted upon re-presentation, two didn’t fare so well. Sofia Sjoborg opted to withdraw DHI Mighty Dwight from the holding box, while Jessica McKie‘s Ask The Boss was unfortunately spun.

The conclusion of the horse inspection led directly into the start of the showjumping, which is running in reverse order of merit. The final session, featuring the top twenty competitors, will commence at 3.15 p.m. BST/10.15 a.m. EST. Meanwhile, the CCI4*-S competitors will head to the cross-country track – stay tuned for a full report on the finale of both classes.

Blenheim: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Piggy French Tops the Bill in Blenheim Cross-Country

By on Sep 21, 2019 3:33 pm -

Piggy French and Brookfield Inocent. Photo by William Carey.

David Evans performed a cross-country coup today, upping the ante of his CCI4*-L course without sacrificing any of his trademarks: bold, forgiving fences, open and positive distances, and universally fair questions. We saw 64 completions from 82 starters, and nine double-clears throughout the day, while 51 came home without jumping penalties. But dispersed throughout the success stories were plenty of problems on course, which struck indiscriminately – and after two green errors in the thick of it, dressage leaders Izzy Taylor and Monkeying Around elected to retire. This opened the door for second-placed Piggy French and Brookfield Inocent to move into the top spot – and they duly did, with a double-clear round that belied the gelding’s inexperience.

“He’s such a good galloper – he’s really fast and he’s quick at his jumps, so I don’t really have many excuses unless we get it wrong,” says Piggy, who produced one of the earliest double-clears of the day to storm home nine seconds inside the time. But the ten-year-old, who started – though didn’t complete – his debut CCI4*-L at Tattersalls last season with former rider Kevin McNab, doesn’t necessarily make it easy to be economical.

“I was trying to ride tight lines at the string, and he was always shooting off away from things – from kids, from dogs,” laughs Piggy, who has spent her fifteen months with the gelding working to put his spooky nature to good use. Though he’s evidently stepped up to the plate now, she confesses that she wasn’t always sure it would be a surpassable hurdle. Now, in her first long-format competition with the Irish Sport Horse, she’s found plenty to be excited about.

“He’s a class act. [John and Chloe Perry] are new owners to me, and it’s always a bit of a gamble, but we’re just having so much fun,” she beams. “He still had a good little dance at the end of the course – that’s the quality and the sharpness of him. So he’ll still have lots of energy for tomorrow, hopefully – god help me!”

But, she acknowledges, it’s still a fact-finding mission with the horse, who she’s never jumped on the final day before.

“They’ve run their hearts out today,” she says, pointing out the work balance differentiation between a one-day event and a three-day. “Tomorrow is a different ball game.”

Piggy French and Castletown Clover. Photo by William Carey.

Piggy’s excellent day didn’t end there. As one of the last riders out of the start box, she recorded her second double-clear of the class with Castletown Clover, the fourteen-year-old CCI4*-L debutante who she describes as “our pet, really – you just want to smile every time you ride him.” Yesterday, he broke the 30 barrier for the first time at the Advanced level, putting a score of 28.6 on the board, and his fast round today allowed him to climb from 19th place to 5th overnight.

“He’s just such fun – I’ve always said it all along, but today especially,” says Piggy. “He was so chilled in the warm-up, and he usually has a wee – a bit of a nervous thing, I think – before he goes. But I think he just thought that today was all about him, which is just too cute, and happy days if that’s what he’s thinking!”

Fourteen might seem rather old for a debutante, but Castletown Clover was never intended to be a top event horse – instead, he was bought to event at the lower levels and hunt with owner Susannah Paybody. When she realised he might have what it takes to reach the top, she enlisted the help of Badminton winner Piggy to help him achieve his quick climb up the levels without sacrificing sympathetic production. This means that for both the Paybody family and Piggy, every step along the way is something to be celebrated – but it also means that the rider needs to pay close attention to the conditions she runs the gelding in.

“I would have liked more rain for him – he’s an old boy, he started this level late, and he doesn’t love the hard ground,” she says. “I was slightly concerned he wouldn’t travel as well around here as he can do, and start over-jumping or something, but he pricked his ears and cantered around like everyone was having a day out just to come and see him. So I just sat there, really, thinking ‘this is all jolly nice!’ But I had to remind myself to keep checking on the time, because you can quite easily float along. I keep having to tell myself to take it seriously and don’t do anything stupid, because you smile on your way around – he’s such a dear little chap. But bloody good, too – he’s a super jumper and he’s easy. It makes such a difference when you can set them up and you don’t spend too long fighting to get the balance.”

Kazuma Tomoto and Brookpark Vikenti. Photo by William Carey.

Japan’s Kazuma Tomoto made great strides on his mission to qualify his fourth and final horse for next year’s Olympics, and after missing out on a win in 2017’s CCI4*-S here by a tenth of a penalty with Brookpark Vikenti, he wasn’t going to leave anything to chance. Instead, he made the gelding’s strength across the country work for, rather than against, him to blitz home ten seconds inside the time and move into second place overnight – just two tenths of a penalty behind the leaders.

“It wasn’t an easy course, and it’s obviously one of the biggest events in the world – there are lots of skinnies, very tricky distances. But he stayed concentrated and on his lines,” says the former showjumper with a smile. “He was strong today, but William [Fox-Pitt] told me – that’s what we expect from him. I feel very positive for tomorrow.”

Kevin McNab and Scuderia 1918 A Best Friend. Photo by William Carey.

Australia’s Kevin McNab crossed the finish line four seconds over the 10:20 optimum time with Scuderia 1918 A Best Friend, but this didn’t stop them from climbing two places to sit third after cross-country.

“I wasn’t disappointed at all – [the horse] is still fairly new to me, so it’s a developing partnership,” says Kevin of the nine-year-old Oldenburg, who is owned by top-end sneaker company Scuderia 1918 and was formerly piloted by Germany’s Jörg Kurbel. “I can live with the five seconds – I’ve got a real one here. He’s a good horse and I think he dealt with most of the fences well, especially when we weren’t quite where we wanted to be. When the going gets tough, he keeps going – I think he should have a fairly exciting future.”

Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On. Photo by William Carey.

The fastest round of the day went to Burghley winner Pippa Funnell and the rerouted Billy Walk On, whose owners opted to send him to Blenheim instead after completing the first phase at the Lincolnshire fixture. They crossed the line a remarkable 21 seconds under the optimum time after the rangy gelding easily made up the open distances in the course’s myriad combinations, despite a hold, and sit fourth overnight.

“It was a really thrilling round,” says a delighted Pippa, who had scrawled a tiny ‘+1’ onto her number – 76 – for extra luck. “He was absolutely class. I got a little bit flustered when I got held – not because I was held at the big ditch, but because I knew that Burghley came down to one second, and because I wasn’t at a stopping point, I didn’t know exactly when to re-start my watch. So I went the rest of the way without my watch. I normally wouldn’t have judged it that far inside the time, but because I didn’t have a clock, I just had to keep him running in the rhythm.”

Because Billy Walk On had followed the same fitness regime as Majas Hope, who helped Team GBR to a silver medal at last month’s European Championships and Burghley-winning stablemate MGH Grafton Street, Pippa knew the length and intensity of the track wouldn’t faze him – a great help as she tried to maintain a competitive pace without the benefit of the minute markers. But despite the afterglow of delivering one of the best rounds of the day, Pippa still has half a mind on what could have been.

“The way he went round there, I still would have loved to have seen how he’d gone at Burghley,” she confesses. “But it’s never the wrong decision not to run a horse – it’s the wrong decision to go and lose their confidence. You’re better off erring on the side of caution. What was so thrilling was how he went today; now I can go into next season really excited. He’s grown up a lot – this is the best he’s been with the crowds, and that’s been one of his main issues. He can just get that little bit distracted and not look at what he’s meant to jump until it’s too late, but today I felt that he was really on it.”

With a championship and a five-star victory in the bag over the last month, plus two exciting clear rounds today, it’s fair to say that Pippa Funnell has built up an impressive string of top-level rides. But the key to this, she says, has actually been in downsizing.

“It’s always a little bit difficult making the decision, but I knew I had to cut back on the numbers,” she says. “If I’m honest, a lot of us probably make the mistake in the sport of having too large a team horses, and then you can’t really concentrate on the ones that are really talented. The lovely thing is that yes, I’ve got less, but the ones I’ve got I really love riding every day. They fill me with confidence – people say I’m riding well, and I probably am riding better, because they’re giving me the confidence.”

Very Marie Kondo of you, Pip.

Katherine Coleman and Monte Classico. Photo by William Carey.

Katherine Coleman brought Monte Classico to Blenheim with one goal in mind – test out the full range of gears she’s installed on the talented ten-year-old, who she ran conservatively in the CCI4*-S last year to help him gain experience. It paid off: he set out from the start box on a mission, and came home just a second over the optimum time to move up from 23rd place to sixth overnight. But for Katherine, crossing the finish line with that goal accomplished wasn’t just special because of her love for the horse – it was also a poignant farewell to her great friend Keith Flint, who tragically died earlier this year.

“This time last year I was here with a very dear friend of mine, who then committed suicide in March, so it’s been a really tough spring,” says an emotional Katherine. “So to come out and have that is awesome.”

Riding with head, heart, and an indomitable joie de vivre in the way that Katherine did is certainly a fitting tribute to Keith – and in doing so the rider, who splits her time between the UK and the US, further confirmed her belief that the gelding is a true star for the future.

“I’m absolutely delighted, and I know exactly where I lost the time – coming out of the arena I held and slightly missed, so we lost a bit of time coming around the turn after that,” she explains. “That might have rattled me a little bit, so I waited again to the oxer at 10, and he jumped quite high – but then I gave myself a kick up the butt, and on we went. I think so much of this horse – if he was with someone seasoned like Tim or Pippa, he’d be winning everything. Today, I really wanted to challenge him and attack it, and say ‘hey, you’re ten, it’s time to grow up’ – and he really rose to the occasion. He’s really special.”

Daisy Berkeley and Ballinteskin Cooper S. Photo by William Carey.

It’s been thirteen years since British team veteran Daisy Berkeley last won here – and, she admits, a long time since she’s had a truly quality horse. But Ballinteskin Cooper S has earned himself that descriptor after climbing eight places to sit seventh overnight, adding just 2.4 time penalties to his dressage score of 30.2.

“I’m lucky to have a horse like him – I’ve had him since he was a five-year-old, and he’s done nothing but please me,” says Daisy of the ten-year-old Irish Sport Horse. “It’s nice to have a good one – it’s been a bloody long time!”

Alex Bragg and King of the Mill. Photo by William Carey.

“If I’d been on Zagreb, I think I’d have a glass of wine in my hand already,” laughs a breathless Alex Bragg, just moments after the double-clear cross-country round that rocketed him and King of the Mill from 27th to 8th place. “But I’m going to need ten minutes of recovery time – my heart rate is through the roof!”

The nine-year-old gelding might look remarkably similar to his experienced stablemate – like Zagreb, he’s tall, bay, and, well, rather hunky – but as a CCI4*-L debutante, he offers a much different experience out on course.

“It took true cross-country riding – I had lots of plans, but I had to ride what I felt, and in the beginning, I had to ride for my life,” laughs Alex. “He’s quite a sharp horse, and he’s always darting and spooking, but he’s so quick, so you have to be quicker.”

But the gelding, who has recorded top-ten finishes in CCI4*-S classes at Barbury and Hartpury, grew in confidence and professionalism as the course went on, establishing himself as something rather more than a second string.

“He’s only going to learn by doing it,” says Alex. “We’ll be working hard now to make sure he recovers well and performs tomorrow, but today we’ll be celebrating.”

Sammi Birch and Direct Tullyoran Cruise. Photo by William Carey.

Australia’s Sammi Birch and Direct Tullyoran Cruise, formerly ridden by Izzy Taylor, added 2.8 time penalties to move up to ninth overnight. We’re used to seeing William Fox-Pitt in his domain at the upper end of the leaderboard, but Atlantic Vital Spark? You’d be excused for not having heard of him. This is the nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse’s first CCI4*-L – and just his second four-star start – and for William, he represents a new venture. 

William Fox-Pitt and Atlantic Vital Spark. Photo by William Carey.

“I bought him as a sales horse, but people aren’t used to me selling horses – they assume if I am, it’s because there’s something wrong with them,” says William ruefully. The gelding was bought as a seven-year-old from young rider Harris Ritchie, who produced ‘Ted’ – her only international ride – to CC2*-L. But university beckoned, and the Scottish rider put the horse on the market, where he was promptly snapped up by the eagle-eyed Olympian. 

Though he’s been a mid-to-high 30s horse throughout his international career, with the exception of a 28.1 in Rockingham’s CCI3*-S earlier this season, he shone in the atmosphere of Blenheim’s main arena to deliver a personal best of 28 yesterday – and today, he added just 2.8 time penalties to round out the top ten. 

“It’s his first long four, so it’s a big day for him – but he made it feel rather nice,” says William. “It’s quite a consistent course, so he got it – he jumped fence five and said, ‘okay!’, which bodes well. I walked the course for a green horse, and thought, ‘well, I must add strides to give him time’ – but once I got out there, he was really going – he did all the A-level strides and impressed me a lot.”

With just ten internationals on his record, Ted is inexperienced by anyone’s reckoning – but William has great faith in the horse’s ability under pressure. 

“All being well, as long as jumps tomorrow he’ll be qualified for the Olympics – and that’s quite reassuring, isn’t it?” he says. His fondness for the horse is evident and, he tells us, he’d actually rather like to keep the ride for himself – provided an owner steps in to buy him, so that he can tick the ‘sales project’ box. 

Buck Davidson and Carlevo. Photo by William Carey.

It was a day of ups and downs for Buck Davidson, who pulled up the experienced Park Trader after he felt something slightly amiss in his stride. After further examination, some minor damage to his check ligament was discovered – though fortunately, nothing amiss with his tendon.

“He jumped one of the oxers beautifully, and then I landed and took a stride and thought, ‘hmm – that feels funny.’ And then another one, and that felt funny too,” he explains. “I know my horses – I’ve had them forever – and so I was like, ‘forget it.’ Luckily he didn’t hurt his tendon, so I’m thankful – I’ve done horses my whole life, so I was able to feel that. It’s so key to have the horses for a long time, and my aim is always to have them happy and sound. I have to admit I cried – and I haven’t cried in a long time. Thankfully, once we had the scan we knew he’d be fine.”

But the experience meant that Buck had to work hard to get himself back into the zone for his second ride, Carlevo.

“It was very sad – I love my horses, so I needed to take a moment to regroup, to be honest,” says Buck, who came home clear with 11.2 time penalties to sit 31st going into the final phase. “But this horse was spectacular – I should have gone faster, but what can you do? He was fantastic, though, and he did everything I asked him to do.”

To bring Carlevo home in fine style means that Buck can tick a box that went unticked last year, when the horse had to miss his journey here after a last-minute knock.

“My owners are my friends, and I feel awful when it doesn’t go right. They’re so good to me, as are all my owners,” says Buck. “I’m just mad at myself – I should have pushed the gas a bit more with Carlevo. He just got a bit tired – but never mind, it’s better to come home flying than crawling! I love him, and he’s gone well.”

Cornelia Dorr and Sir Patico MH. Photo by William Carey.

A classy round across the country was punctuated by a surprise run-out at the final element of the tricky coffin combination, but for Cornelia Dorr and Sir Patico MH, whose long partnership has seen them grow up together, it’s a chance to learn and develop further as they tackle the upper echelons of the sport. They now sit 47th, adding just 4.8 time penalties with their 20.

“I think he started out super – I set the pace and made sure we were going well, going forward and going quick, and he listened really well,” says Cornelia. “Every time I asked him to move on or slow down he was so responsive, and he was super at all the questions. At the coffin he just jumped in big and slightly to the left, and I wasn’t quick enough to catch it. I’m super pleased with him – he’s my horse to get experience on, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Lexi Scovil and Chico’s Man VDF Z. Photo by William Carey.

Lexi Scovil and Chico’s Man VDF Z, too, picked up a twenty at the final element of the coffin, and added 26 time penalties to move down to 61st place.

“Generally, it was great – I wouldn’t say it was the prettiest, but he’s an amazing horse,” says Lexi of the ten-year-old gelding, who makes his CCI4*-L debut with his rider. “I started quite quietly because he’s never seen crowds like this, and he really peeked at fence two, which is just a table – so that wasn’t a great start! But then he really clicked in and went. I made a mistake at the coffin; I thought the right run-out’s the one to watch for so I really got to the left, and he ran out left. But to be honest, he’s so green, and I’m so green, that I can’t be at all upset with him. He came home – I told everyone that my dream plan was to go double-clear here, but my base plan was just to complete. So I’m absolutely thrilled with him. He got tired at the end but he just kept giving me everything – a year ago I’d have had to fight for every fence, but now he gives me everything.”

With a plethora of new tools in their box, and a significant new understanding of how to attack top-level long format competitions, Lexi is looking ahead to a bright future with ‘Sprout’. But first? Apply for a visa for another year in the UK – and as she runs away to feed back her intel to William Fox-Pitt on the questions the course poses, it’s easy to see that she’ll be welcomed with open arms.

The top ten at the conclusion of Blenheim’s CCI4*-L cross-country.

CCI4*-S

Just sixteen of the 66 competitors in the prestigious eight- and nine-year-old class jumped clear, prompting a paradigm shift across the leaderboard. Dressage leaders Piggy French and Calling Card pulled three rails to slip down to 38th place, while second-placed Sam Griffiths and Freestyler had two and 1.6 time penalties, which sees them move into 35th overnight. When third-placed Mary King and King Robert II also had two rails, the door was opened for two riders who had previously won. William Fox-Pitt and Australia’s Chris Burton had found themselves tied for fourth after the first phase, and when both jumped foot-perfect clear rounds, they found themselves neck and neck in the top spot at the conclusion of the showjumping.

For William, the surprise lead is the culmination of a slow-burning production process, which has seen him take the eight-year-old Georgisaurous through the entirety of his short international career.

“I got him when he was four, and he started very easy at five,” says William, who has taken the Tattersalls CCI3*-L winner and four-star debutante’s career slowly to accommodate his overlarge size. “He’s quite cool, though – he’s not normal. He’s a step ahead. He got a 29 yesterday and it’s the first time he’s ever done that test, but he’s a very good dressage horse – he’ll easily get a 20 one day.”

In fact, he already has – that Tattersalls win came after he finished on his dressage score of 20.5. But four-star is a big step up from three-star, and the coveted title here is another story altogether. With that in mind, William is taking a measured approach to planning his final-phase strategy with the horse.

“We’re still finding our brakes, and I’m not sure I really want to gallop him round there,” he explains. “To me, I always think this class is a bit more for a nine-year-old, so he’s a bit off the pace. To go around his first four-star and to go flat out for the first time is probably not what we want for him – we’re thinking about the bigger picture. If he goes nicely I’ll be happy – it’s about his future and what’s right for him. If he goes off and wings round quickly, then lovely – but that isn’t my goal.”

We last saw Chris Burton take top honours here in 2017, when he won this class with Kate Walls’ Cooley Lands – but his joint-leading ride today is a horse that he’s never actually ridden in an event before. Instead, Clever Louis has been produced to CCI4*-L by Germany’s Ben Leuwer – but Burto and owners Kate and Geoffrey Guy had long admired the horse from afar.

“He was really beautifully trained by Ben under the guidance of Dirk Schrade, and he’s a horse I’ve always known about because he’s got amazing breeding. He’s a lovely horse, a lot of Thoroughbred, and I’m lucky to have the ride on him thanks to the Guys,” he says of the maternal grandson of Cor de la Bryere. “Of course we’re very excited about the horse, but I don’t know him very well – this is my first international on him, and in fact my first competition, so I’ve got a lot to learn about him tomorrow. He’s not the most fancy one out there but he’s the most lovely horse, so I think he’ll do a very good test [one day], and I’ve learned that he’s a very good jumper, too.”|

The top ten after showjumping in the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S.

Tomorrow sees us head into the final showjumping phase of the CCI4*-L, as well as the cross-country phase of the CCI4*-S – but first, we’ll be heading to the final horse inspection for the long-format class, beginning at 8.15 a.m. BST/3.15 a.m. EST. We’ll be bringing you a full report and gallery in the morning – until then, Go Eventing!

Blenheim: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Friday at Blenheim: Taylor Back on Top as Buck Hits the Top Ten

By on Sep 20, 2019 5:57 pm -

CCI4*-L

Izzy Taylor and Monkeying Around take a commanding lead in Blenheim’s CCI4*-L. Photo courtesy of the SsangYong Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials.

There were major changes in the feature four-star class at the SsangYong Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials today, as we bade goodbye to the overnight leader and were granted with a new one in the form of one of the field’s youngest entrants.

Will Rawlin made the tough decision to withdraw his Thursday leader VIP Vinnie, who was sitting on a score of 24.2 – good enough for second place at the conclusion of the dressage.

“After doing such a good test, sadly I have made the decision to withdraw VIP Vinnie as he’s feeling a little under par,” says Will, adding that he’s “gutted” by the circumstances. “I can’t take the risk of running him and something happening. As a team we are thinking long-term, and I’m just glad it isn’t anything serious.”

Izzy Taylor, who last won here in 2017 when scooping the Event Rider Masters CCI4*-S with Be Touchable, was quick to fill the gap at the top of the leaderboard. That she did with an eight-year-old – and a horse that makes his CCI4*-L debut here – will come as no surprise to anyone who has seen the eye-catching youngster in the ring. This is partly down to his breeding – despite showing an impressive proclivity for eventing, Monkeying Around is bred to shine between the boards. Out of a Donnerhall-sired dam and by the Grand Prix stallion Bertoli W, his innate expression and balance give him the edge. Today, that edge was a significant one – they sit on a score of 22.7 going into tomorrow’s cross-country phase.

“I’ve had him since he was a four-year-old, and it makes a massive difference when you can have them from the word go and they’re in your system,” says Izzy, who took top honours in the 2017 Six-Year-Old World Championships at Mondial du Lion with the gelding, who she co-owns with Mark Sartori. “He’s a beautiful horse, and I love him. He was very, very good today; there were some mistakes, but he’s still young so it’s all exciting.”

For the mind-bogglingly busy rider, competing at Blenheim offers up some rare treats.

“Blenheim’s ten minutes from home, so that’s lovely – it means my children can come, and it makes that side of it special,” she explains. “But it’s also the most beautiful setting; we’re very privileged with where we get to do our events, and this is a beautiful one.”

“He’s young to be here, but we’re here to be competitive, and hopefully we’ll be on the same score tomorrow.”

Piggy French and Brookfield Inocent remain in second place after their impressive 25.4 test yesterday, giving Izzy a six second advantage across the country tomorrow. But this is the widest margin we’ll see: from here on out, there’s no room for anything less than foot-perfect focus tomorrow. A mere .2 penalties behind Piggy, Japan’s Kazuma Tomoto and Brookpark Vikenti sit third on 25.6, just missing out on some crucial marks in the halts.

Kazuma Tomoto and Brookpark Vikenti. Photo by William Carey.

“It’s a shame about both halts, but I’m very happy. He’s always good at the flying changes, so we need to get the good marks there,” says Kazu, who set himself a lofty goal at the beginning of the 2019 season – to qualify all four of his horses for next year’s Tokyo Olympics. Remarkably, he’s notched up three so far, and this week’s competition sees him aim for the fourth with the eleven-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, who led the dressage at Luhmühlen’s CCI5* in June.

“[Luhmühlen] wasn’t so good,” reflects Kazu, who opted to retire across the country after a miscommunication on course. “But hopefully this will work out. I’ve course-walked [here] with William and there are lots of tricky angles, but he can do it.”

The pair’s form would certainly indicate so: Kazu first shot to prominence here in 2017, when he and ‘Vince’ led the eight- and nine-year-old class after the first two phases and narrowly missed out on the win when their two time penalties pushed them a tenth of a penalty behind victors Chris Burton and Cooley Lands.

“Two years ago, I was just a tourist,” laughs Kazu, who had made his international eventing debut just a year prior. “But now, I expect him to get the results, so it’s very different.”

Since making the move from showjumping to eventing, Kazu has been based with William Fox-Pitt in Dorset – and William, too, has been impressed by the astonishing trajectory of his career, which now sees him sit 29th in the world rankings.

“If you look back, he’s done WEG, he’s done Badminton, he’s done Pau – he’s come on so far, so quickly. If you think that he’s only been doing the sport for four years – we’d all been doing the sport for four years and were at two-star,” says William. “He’s done as well as you possibly could have dreamt. He’s had good raw material to work with; the horses have all been lovely and quality. [Brookpark Vikenti] can be quite strong, and that’s something that Kazu’s had to learn to deal with; to ride a puller is something that’s very foreign to him out on a cross-country course. But he’s shown that it’s all there, and I know there’s a part of him that would like to win this weekend – but that qualification is the most important thing.”

Australia’s Kevin McNab and Scuderia 1918 A Best Friend move to fourth on their score of 25.7, while Willa Newton got the best out of the occasionally flamboyant Moonlight Dance S to post a 26.1 for fifth. Pippa Funnell and Billy the Biz slip one spot to sixth on their 26.3, while former British Junior National Champion Constance Copestake steps into equal seventh with El Kolibri. She shares the spot with Emily King and her 2018 Bramham under-25 CCI4*-L winner Dargun.

“I’m really pleased with Dargun,” says Emily. “He’s quite experienced at this level and was very calm, and he really concentrates and is with you in there. There were a couple of movements where I didn’t ride as well as I could have done in there, but he was lovely and I’m really pleased with him.”

Buck Davidson and Carlevo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Buck Davidson holds a place in the top ten after dressage with second ride Carlevo, who missed his planned run here last season after a minor injury in his final preparation. Their score of 27.2 sees them move into cross-country in ninth place, while Park Trader sits in equal 24th on 29.2.

“He’s good at that bit, and now we’ve got to keep him on that score – that’s the challenge,” says Buck with a smile. If Blenheim’s course offers up a significant test en route to glory, Carlevo himself shouldn’t – the experienced twelve-year-old hasn’t had a black mark on his international cross-country record since 2016, and finished twentieth in his five-star debut at Kentucky last spring.

Two promising first-phase results could herald a redemptive week for Buck, who has suffered a run of bad luck this season with falls at Kentucky and Burghley – but sad circumstances beyond his competitive endeavours have brought with them a sense of perspective.

“My dad’s wife is on life support and had a bad injury, so she’s in hospice, so it keeps things in perspective,” he says. “She can’t move at all – it’s awful. We spend our time going back and forth to hospital, and we’re lucky to be able to do this sport. So I’ve had a couple of falls and a couple of things that were unfortunate, but in the big picture it’s nothing compared to what the family is going through.”

All of us at team EN wish Buck and his family the very best as they continue to battle through this tough time.

Kylie Roddie and Carden Earl Grey move into equal tenth place, sharing the spot with Sam Ecroyd and Davinci III, who also scored a 27.4.

Katherine Coleman and the talented Monte Classico sit 23rd on 29.1 on the horse’s second visit to the venue. Last year, they finished 15th in the eight- and nine-year-old class after a conservative but classy educational run, which paid off – in their next international, the horse’s CCI4*-L debut at the Jockey Club in Ocala, they sailed to the win, confirming the horse’s status as Katherine’s next star. Now, with another year of mileage under his belt, Katherine feels that the horse is ready to take it to the next level.

“He’s ten, so he’s a young horse, but I’ve kind of gotten in the trap of babying him a bit,” she says. “When you get a nice one like this, you’re like, ‘oh, I don’t want to run them too fast!’ But we’re going to go for it – it should be good. He’s always been lovely on the flat, and he’s a super showjumper, but he’s a bit slower in his brain cross-country. Last year, in developing it and aiming towards the future, I’d give him a little more time at combinations and I wasn’t really going for the time as much. But this year, I think he’s ready. I feel like he’s in a place where we’ll go out and try to make the time tomorrow. He’s got more gears now and I look forward to using them.”

Staying on their sub-30 score would certainly put the pair in the hunt, but Katherine explains that there’s more to come in this phase from the gelding.

“He went in there and dropped me a little bit in the contact, and then he just dropped behind my leg a little bit,” she says. “So then it’s hard to keep him as up and as expressive as I’d like. But he’s super; he’s so obedient, and he’s got a lovely extended canter, so there’s a lot to like about it. It’s just about perfecting it; they’re all a little different warming up, but he goes in and just holds his breath a little bit. Unfortunately, he has to deal with me on his back – if he had someone else on his back, he’d probably be winning everything, but he’s stuck with me!”

Cornelia Dorr and Sir Patico MH make their European debut. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Cornelia Dorr is making the most of her first trip abroad, self-funded by the sale of a four-year-old half-sister to her striking mount Sir Patico MH.

“Sharon White, my coach, said way back in May that this course would suit us if our year went well, so we set the goal way back then,” she says. “I came over last week and we went to [UK-based Australian] Bill Levett’s. They were super welcoming, very attentive, and the nicest people, so that really helped ease the shock of travelling over here with him! We’re just taking it day by day – it’s very different here, but I’ve really fallen in love with it.”

Making that first leap across the pond is an enormous moment for any rider, but for Cornelia, it’s the culmination of a journey that started when she was just twelve and ‘Hugo’ a five-year-old. In the years since, their partnership has seen them tick plenty of boxes, including top-ten finishes in CCI4*-L classes at Fair Hill and Bromont.

“I was going off to high school and we didn’t exactly know which direction I was going to go in the horse world, so my trainer at the time and I just knew he’d be a safe horse for a young kid to just bop around on,” she explains. “We’re going on our eighth year together – he’s pretty much raised me. There’s no other horse I’d rather do this with.”

The top ten in the tightly-packed CCI4*-L field heading into cross-country.

CCI4*-S

The top of the leaderboard remains much the same in the eight- and nine-year-old class, with Piggy French and Calling Card maintaining yesterday’s lead. Sam Griffiths and Freestyler remain in second, with Mary King and King Robert II holding onto third. 2017 winner Chris Burton moves into equal-fourth place with Clever Louis, who matches Oliver Townend and Dreamliner‘s 29.7 to round out a star-studded top five. Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Quicksilver sit equal 29th on a score of 34.

The top ten at the conclusion of the CCI4*-S dressage.

What’s next?

Tomorrow will be showjumping day for the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S competitors, which will commence from 3.00 p.m. BST/10.00 a.m. EST, while the CCI4*-L will head to David Evans‘ cross-country track from 9.30 a.m. BST/4.30 a.m. EST. The CCI4*-S order of go can be found here, while cross-country times are available here.

Following our Americans on tour? They’ll be on course at the following times:

  • Buck Davidson and Park Trader – 9.57 a.m. BST/4.57 a.m. EST
  • Lexi Scovil and Chico’s Man VDF Z – 10.15 a.m. BST/5.15 a.m. EST
  • Katherine Coleman and Monte Classico – 11.57 a.m. BST/6.57 a.m. EST
  • Buck Davidson and Carlevo – 12.51 p.m. BST/7.51 a.m. EST
  • Cornelia Dorr and Sir Patico MH – 1.21 p.m. BST/8.21 a.m. EST

You’ll be able to follow along via Blenheim’s live-stream on their website and Facebook page, and we’ll be bringing you a full report tomorrow, as well as a preview of both cross-country courses prior to the action.

Blenheim: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Thursday at Blenheim: Will Rawlin is the VIP

By on Sep 19, 2019 1:36 pm -

Will Rawlin and VIP Vinnie take the lead in Blenheim’s CCI4*-L. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s only fitting, really, that Will Rawlin should take top billing in our report today – after all, it was just a year ago at the SsangYong Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials that he made his first appearance on Eventing Nation. Then, his top ride VIP Vinnie showed off all the wrong sorts of dance moves, nearly mowing Will down on the trot strip and garnering us many of those sweet, sweet likes on social media.

Sorry, Will.

We sheepishly promised him at the time that one of these days, we’d shout his name from the rooftops for less comical reasons – and almost exactly a year later, he’s given us all the reason we need to do just that, delivering a level personal best of 24.2 with Vinnie to sit atop the CCI4*-L leaderboard at the end of the first day of dressage.

“He’s been going really well, and I felt confident coming into this, but in the warm-up he got tense – and when he gets tense, it’s quite difficult to actually ride him forward and get him going,” says Will of the expressive eleven-year-old. “A couple of times in there I was like, ‘oh god, oh god, keep going!’ – but he kept a nice outline and a good rhythm, and he was with me most of the way. It’s more about me getting the corners and really preparing him for each movement.”

20 penalties across the country was the only black mark on their result here last year, where both made their CCI4*-L debut, but the pair have proven themselves an exciting combination to watch this season. In June, they finished third in the hotly-contested – and enormously difficult – under-25 CCI4*-L at Bramham, and they finished just shy of the top ten in a strong field at Burnham Market’s CCI4*-S at the dawn of the season. Despite a blip at Chatsworth, which was swiftly followed up by that Bramham result, Will feels ready to tackle a hot competition against a top field – and rightly so.

“Although it’s a very strong field, and full of very good riders, I did feel confident coming in in my ability and my horse’s ability,” he says. “This year we’ve had a couple of silly blips, which have been down to me not setting up right for the fence – and actually, the last time I rode him, I fell off, but it was all me! I know if I stick to my plan and ride him properly then we should be home safely. I just need to do my best on each day and then hopefully, we’ll all be smiling at the end.”

Will Rawlin and VIP Vinnie. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

For the 25-year-old up-and-comer, a top result would be understandably special – but it would be made even more so by his long partnership with his horse.

“He’s more like a pet – he’s the first horse I bought as a four-year-old, and my mum and dad own him wholly. We’d never sell him; he’s our baby,” he says with a smile.

Piggy French debuts the impressive Brookfield Inocent at CCI4*-L. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Piggy French holds second place overnight with Brookfield Inocent, the ten-year-old Irish Sport Horse on whom she took the ride in 2018. Though it’s the gelding’s first CCI4*-L, he demonstrated professionalism and pizazz – the right kind, fortunately – to post a 25.4. 

“I’m so pleased with him, and I know I made a couple of mistakes as well,” says Piggy, who finished second with the horse at Hartpury CCI4*-S last month. “But the thing I’m so pleased with is that he’s such a spooky horse, but going in there with the atmosphere and the flower pots – believe it or not, they seem to be the most terrifying things! – he just stayed with me the whole time. This is his first three-day with me, and I’m just over the moon. It’s so exciting for the future. I messed up the first flying change – that was my fault – and I did something radical in the halt, so there’s a couple of bits I thought I could have done better, but overall, I’m delighted. I just rode him like he’s an old one that’s done it plenty of times and he hasn’t.”

For Piggy, who is building up a multilayered and formidable string, Brookfield Inocent is a welcome addition.

“You hate to put the touch of bad luck on them, but he’s such a cool horse and an amazing cross-country horse,” she says. “At the beginning I thought, would that spookiness let him down, or am I going to find it difficult to manage or find him difficult to ride? But I’m starting to figure him out, and if I do figure him out and find the key to it all then there’s no reason he can’t be as good as any of them. I think he’s definitely a five-star horse because he’s got a lot of blood and he loves to gallop, and he’s easy to ride across the country. I’ll be interested [to see how he goes] on Saturday – it’s always a different game when you get to a three-day, because you haven’t had the other two phases first, but I’m hoping he’ll be as good as I know he can be.”

Pippa Funnell and Billy the Biz. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Brookfield Inocent’s former rider, Australia’s Kevin McNab, sits third overnight on a score of 25.7 with Scuderia 1918 A Best Friend, also making his CCI4*-L debut after a clear round in the eight- and nine-year-old class last year, and top-ten finishes in CCI4*-S classes at Hartpury and Millstreet this year. Burghley winner Pippa Funnell holds fourth with her Rio mount Billy the Biz, with whom she posted a 26.3.

“He’s a bit lacking match practice,” says Pippa of the fourteen-year-old, who last ran a long-format in 2017, when he finished tenth at Luhmühlen’s CCI5*. “He was so fresh yesterday that I had to give him enough work, and then with the sunshine today I thought that maybe I’d just overdone it a bit. His trot was very good but I felt that he just got a bit flat in his canter. But I have to be pleased with him; he’s not been on this sort of stage for a while. No, it’s not a winning test, but I’m happy enough.”

The experienced gelding’s preparation for Blenheim has been somewhat scuppered by Pip’s recent absences, which have seen her head to Luhmühlen as part of the silver-medal winning British team at the European Championships, and then straight on to Burghley, where she took the top spot with stablemate MGH Grafton Street.

“It’s made it a little bit difficult, because then they come out and they’re so fresh, and they’re fit, but obviously they haven’t had me on the flat so I have to give them a bit more work than I’d like to here,” she explains.

It’s certainly been a special day for local rider Kylie Roddie, who took an early lead and finished the day in fifth with Carden Earl Grey after scoring a 27.4.

“He’s so naughty at one-day events,” she laughs, “but he’s amazing at three-days – it just doesn’t play in his favour if you can’t work him in and relax him. But secretly, you always know what they can do at home, and I’ve always known that in the big picture, the test is there. He’s just a bit opinionated, and can be a bit wild – but they’re all the things you expect from a true three-day horse. The proper ones event horses have got to be a bit edgy.”

For Kylie, who runs a busy livery and competition yard, that it all came together in the shadow of Blenheim Palace is poignant for a number of reasons – not least because the thirteen-year-old British-bred gelding, who was piloted by Nick Gauntlett until 2015, has been something of a labour of love.

“He’s a fragile horse to manage from a veterinary standpoint, and he’s had injuries that have stopped him from coming out,” she explains. “He’s actually been in my yard for quite a while – over three years now – but it was only last year that I started to compete him, because he was rehabbing.”

When the horse’s longtime owner Madelaine White had to sell the horse, a group of Kylie’s close friends stepped in to secure him for the hard-working rider, who hails from a totally unhorsey background.

“I’ve had to tell them that [horse ownership] isn’t always like this,” she laughs.

Carden Earl Grey’s debutante ownership group aren’t Kylie’s only supporters on the ground this week: “I’ve been teaching my Riding Club and Pony Club groups all week, because they’re coming for the arena eventing,” explains the rider, who holds a BHSI qualification. “That’s why the event is so special for us – it’s so nice for them to be able to come here, have a great ride, and hopefully enjoy seeing someone who helps them, too.”

Buck Davidson and Park Trader. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Buck Davidson heads up the American efforts at this early stage with the first of his two rides, the experienced Park Trader. They sit tenth overnight on a score of 29.2, setting the second leg of Buck’s autumn UK tour off to a promising start.

“He’s so experienced now, and he’s been putting up some good scores,” says Buck, who competed at Burghley a fortnight ago with Jak My Style. “He’s not a big mover, and in his younger years he was fairly temperamental, but he knows his job now and we get along. I let him be him, and then he has to go in the ring and pay attention for five minutes, and then he can screw off. He’s my favourite and it’s a treat to have him.”

Park Trader’s mercurial nature means that Buck has had to refine his system to allow the gelding to perform at his peak.

“I would never ask him to be perfect two days in a row,” he explains. “I’m almost happy when he’s bad the day before – then he gets it out of his system! The day before, I just hack him and let him gallop, and buck, and play, and have a kick out at my leg – whatever he wants. Then I work him for about twenty minutes before the test and it works pretty well.”

Though Park Trader went to Burghley last year, Buck opted to aim him at Blenheim this season to allow his owners, the Segals, the experience of joining the fun.

“They weren’t able to go to Burghley this year, and they called me to tell me they couldn’t but if I’d like to take him I could go – but part of why I like doing this is doing it with them, so I said ‘no, we’ll do something else,'” he explains. “Then they said they’d never been to Blenheim – and I’d been here in 2008 and it got rained out after dressage, so we decided to come. Carlevo was supposed to come here last year but banged himself, so he came along too.”

Lexi Scovil and Chico’s Man VDF Z. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Lexi Scovil and Chico’s Man VDF Z have spent a busy season with William Fox-Pitt with one big goal in mind: a trip to Blenheim. They begin their week in provisional equal seventeenth on a score of 31.7 after producing a confident, expressive test that just lost out on marks at the end when the gelding offered up a lead change in the counter canter. But for Lexi, who makes her debut at the level this week alongside her horse, his calm, professional attitude in the ring was the real victory.

“Normally he goes in and just holds his breath a little bit,” she explains. “He typically scores anyway, because he’s quite fancy and round and correct, but he went in and let me ride him today. That’s such an exciting feeling – at Blenheim! In my experience, the big events like this are the ones where it all falls apart, so for him to go in and have one mistake the whole test was unbelievable.”

Lexi credits her season in the UK with helping to revolutionise her mindset towards competing – and the results along the way are tangible.

“I rode a little bit of a safe test, because I didn’t want to risk it, so for him to still score 8s is amazing. I didn’t expect it at all. In the past, [the big ones] are where I fail,” she says. “We’d always do well at the lower levels, but then we’d go to an international and it would all fall apart a bit. But being over here, there’s such a relaxation in the preparation – there’s attention to detail, but it’s also just another day of riding. You just do the same thing you’re always doing, and there’s no need to get worked up about it. Because I’ve been like that earlier in the season and it’s been proven to work, I’ve realised that as a rider, self-confidence is so important for success. That’s all I can say that’s changed – I don’t know that I have more skills, but I’m in a different place mentally. Normally I’d go into a three-day thinking, ‘oh my god, I’m so scared, why am I doing this?!’ But now, I’m walking the course thinking, ‘I’m capable of this!’ There have been big questions at all our prep events, so we’ve been building to this.”

The top ten at the conclusion of the first day of dressage in Blenheim’s CCI4*-L.

CCI4*-S

If the CCI4*-S level of competition is a college degree for up-and-coming top-level superstars, then Blenheim’s eight-and-nine-year-old iteration is the Ivy League – and its alumni line-up would make Harvard weep, frankly. So how good are we talking? Think five-star winning and flag-carrying good: William Fox-Pitt’s Pau winner Oslo, Mark Todd’s Badminton winner NZB Land Vision, Andrew Nicholson’s Kentucky-winning Quimbo, and Laura Collett’s Europeans ride London 52. And this year – Calling Card?

The Year of the Pig continues in fine style, as Piggy French holds onto the overnight lead with Calling Card. Owned by Jayne McGivern, also boasts ownership of the remarkably consistent Quarrycrest Echo, the debutante is quickly proving himself a star of the future.

“He’s a really beautiful horse – he’s stunning,” says Piggy. “Bar his changes, which he’s still a bit green at, he’s very impressive on the flat. He was beautiful to ride in there.”

But despite his promising early start, Piggy remains pragmatic and forward-thinking.

“He is green – this will be his first Advanced competition – and so I’ve come into the competition just really interested to see how he goes, and not really thinking that running flat out and getting the time will be what he’ll do this weekend,” she explains. “It’s more about the stepping stone. However, if he comes out of the start box and he feels really good, I am always quite competitive, so I’ll probably half have a go! But it’s a stepping stone rather than thinking this is his one to get. I really like the horse and I want to do what’s right for him at this stage in his career.”

Australia’s Sam Griffiths sits in second place aboard Freestyler, owned by Lady Rothermere of the Daily Mail empire.

“I’ve done about a season with him now – she bought him for herself to ride,” he explains. “She hadn’t had him that long and she asked me to do some events on him to get him some mileage, and it went from there.”

So will Sam have to relinquish the ride on the horse once the season ends?

“We’ll see how things go,” he says with a smile. “He’s a really good jumper, so he’s a really nice horse to have!”

The top ten in the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S at the halfway stage.

We’ll be back tomorrow with the final wrap-up from the first phase – stay tuned, and Go Eventing!

Blenheim: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

One Horse Spun in Blenheim First Horse Inspection

By on Sep 18, 2019 3:14 pm -

Not a bad setting for a trot up – Ginny Howe and Trendy Captain Clover strut their stuff in front of Blenheim Palace. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Spare a thought for poor old Blenheim Palace and its hard-working team behind the scenes. Just a week before it opened its grounds to host one of the world’s most prestigious three-day events, it was beleaguered by the greatest art heist the country has ever known – this month, anyway. The stolen object? A £4.8 million 18-carat gold toilet, designed by the Italian artist Maurizzio Catalan and named ‘America’. Excuse us while we hold an emergency meeting to name the portaloo nearest the media centre.

The crime does drum up rather a lot of questions: how do you steal a toilet without being spotted, for one? (As it turns out, the golden loo – anything but bog standard, amiright? – was plumbed in and open for use by the public. No one was guarding it because a) that’s a recipe for stage fright and b) yeah, as if anyone’s going to de-plumb the thing and run away giggling, clutching a gleaming throne with the ghost of someone’s breakfast lining the inside. Alas!

While we’d love to say that this week’s CCI4*-L and CCI4*-S competition will become a giant game of Cluedo (was it Francis Whittington, in the bathroom with a candlestick?!), two suspects – #1 and #2, you could say – have been flushed out. It’s nice to know the police had something to go on.

But moving onto the competition – and what a competition it is! A field of 87 horses and riders, flush (sorry, we will stop now) with the promise of fierce competition, came forward this afternoon before the ground jury of PollyAnn Huntington (AUS), Andrew Bennie (NZL), and Jane Holderness-Roddam (GBR).

US fans will have another jam-packed week to look forward to, with five horse-and-rider combinations (plus a bonus Canadian combo!) contesting the CCI4*-L and one – Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Quicksilver – in the CCI4*-S.

Daisy Berkeley and Ballinteskin Cooper S. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Four horses were held through the course of the afternoon: Max Gordon‘s Redwood Clover, Daisy Berkeley‘s Ballinteskin Cooper S, and Cornelia Dorr‘s Sir Patico MH were all passed upon re-presentation.

Rebecca Nicholson and Uno II. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Unfortunately, the competition ended before it began for Rebecca Nicholson and her own Uno II, who were not accepted after re-presenting from the hold box. 86 horses will proceed to dressage.

Country jewellers Hi Ho Silver were on hand to suss out the sartorial offerings on the strip, and they duly awarded two prizes for their best-dressed riders. Piggy French took the ladies’ prize, while Jack Pinkney  – one of many male riders to channel a little bit of Peaky Blinders realness this season – scooped the gents’.

Robbie Kearns leaves behind an essential element of his outfit – but at least his horse, Master McCormack, is suitably well-shod. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There was drama of a different sort for Ireland’s Robbie Kearns, who discovered he wasn’t quite as well-shod as his horse, Master McCormack. After losing a shoe on the strip, he bravely soldiered on, leaving one forlorn brogue behind.

Cornelia Dorr and Sir Patico MH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Want to follow along from afar? We’ll be bringing you full reports on both classes every day, but for those of you who want the action in real-time, there’ll be live-streams for each arena on the Blenheim website. 

Dressage gets underway tomorrow morning from 9.00 a.m. local time – that’s 4.00 a.m. Eastern, for you early risers – and we’ve got some considerable talent to keep an eye on throughout the day. Whether you’re tuning in for the whole show or you just want to keep an eye on our US representatives, here are the Thursday rides you shouldn’t miss:

CCI4*-L

  • Andrew Nicholson and Andrea BT4 – 9.30 a.m. BST/4.30 a.m. EST
  • Jesse Campbell and Amsterdam II – 9.37 a.m. BST/4.37 a.m. EST
  • Buck Davidson and Park Trader – 10.07 a.m. BST/5.07 a.m. EST
  • Cathal Daniels and LEB Lias Jewel – 11.00 a.m. BST/6.00 a.m. EST
  • Lexi Scovil and Chico’s Man VDF Z – 11.07 a.m. BST/6.07 a.m. EST
  • Millie Dumas and Fabian II – 11.15 a.m. BST/6.15 a.m. EST
  • Tom McEwen and CHF Cooliser – 11.45 a.m. BST/6.45 a.m. EST
  • Georgie Spence and Wii Limbo – 12.00 p.m. BST/7.00 a.m. EST
  • Piggy French and Brookfield Inocent – 3.07 p.m. BST/10.07 a.m. EST
  • Will Rawlin and VIP Vinnie – 3.22 p.m. BST/10.22 a.m. EST
  • Pippa Funnell and Billy the Biz – 3.52 p.m. BST/10.52 a.m. EST

CCI4*-S

  • Bubby Upton and Cola III – 9.30 a.m. BST/4.30 a.m. EST
  • Astier Nicolas and Babylon de Gamma – 9.37 a.m BST/4.37 a.m. EST
  • Cathal Daniels and OLS King Aragon – 9.52 a.m. BST/4.52 a.m. EST
  • William Fox-Pitt and Georgisaurus – 10.07 a.m. BST/5.07 a.m. EST
  • Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Quicksilver – 10.30 a.m. BST/5.30 a.m. EST
  • Tom Carlile and Birmane – 2.30 p.m. BST/9.30 a.m. EST

If this seems like a hefty viewing list, welcome to Blenheim – one of the most popular events in the calendar, it attracts a plethora of the very best riders in the world, for whom it’s a crucial autumn fixture. So buckle up and prepare yourselves, folks – this week, we’ll have the privilege of watching top-class athletes compete for CCI4*-L glory, and we’ll see the birth of a new superstar in the CCI4*-S, too. Churchill would be proud (were it not for the proliferation of petty crime in his humble abode).

Until tomorrow, EN-ers – Go Eventing!

Blenheim: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Burghley: Pippa Funnell Gets By With a Little Help from her Friends

By on Sep 8, 2019 8:56 pm -

Pippa Funnell raises her silverware aloft. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Who among us didn’t grow up with a creased poster of Pippa Funnell taped to our wall, those yellow silks and that palpable derring-do inspiring an endless stream of daydreams where there probably should have been, you know, school work? When the British stalwart became the first person to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, a feat she finalised here at Burghley sixteen years ago, she cemented her status as the rider all aspiring riders want to be. Even, as it turns out, those aspiring riders who became five-star winners.

There are so many ways you can take inspiration from what happened today, when Pippa won the 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials with MGH Grafton Street. You can marvel at the margins – sixteen years since her last Burghley win, fourteen years since her last five-star victory, perhaps the longest gap between wins in the sports history. Or, you can watch and re-watch that cross-country round, unpicking the milliseconds to find out just how, exactly, she coaxed the eleven-year-old five-star debutante – a well-known ‘comedian’ with a penchant for practical jokes and jumping penalties – to a clear round, and one which very nearly made the time. You can catalogue the omens – the missing hat silk when Pip had lost her silk when winning Burghley last, the lucky number 77, a number so special that the rider has assigned it to the titular character in her Tilly’s Pony Tails book series. You can focus on love: the love of a doting, if exasperated, husband who flew back from a showjumping competition in Belgium to watch his wife at her best, the love of the horses in their expansive Surrey yard – “it’s the horses that have kept me going,” says Pip, after all. “They keep me young – it’s the belief in the horses, and the belief in their talent. It’s that pure love of the day-to-day graft working with them.” Or you can focus on something else entirely, something love-adjacent, something vital and vibrant and sewn up in colourful, crucial threads throughout the week. Something unsung and under-celebrated: the power of female friendship.

Pippa Funnell wins Burghley – again. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Pippa Funnell has, inarguably, been at peak confidence since last week’s European Championships in Luhmühlen. There, she took the mantle of pathfinder – with just seven hours’ notice that she’d even be going to Germany – and stormed home inside the time, helping the British team to silver. That week, she was surrounded by the women she’s known, loved, and swapped inspiration with over the years – Tina Cook, with whom she’s shared so many podiums and words of advice, and who spent this week supporting and helping her, Piggy French, who started out as someone to mentor and slowly became a lifelong friend. Consider Laura Collett, part of the next generation of British superstars, and very much of the sellotaped posters era. The point, though, is this: confidence, as Pippa has long acknowledged, is crushed easily and created with difficulty, but if you can plant the seeds with good horses, great rounds, and top results, you can help them grow by nurturing them with the joy, the laughter, and the inherent love that comes from being surrounded by good people. In other words, the Beatles were onto something, and getting some proximity to the friendships that helped make this win happen – friendships between fearless women who will support ferociously and give unremittingly – has been one of the most striking and poignant parts of this week’s win. In the final press conference, it took centre stage.

Piggy French scoops Burghley winner Pippa Funnell into a hug as both are interviewed by Clare Balding. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“Pippa’s been such a mentor to me for so many years,” says Piggy French, second-placed and jocular, swiftly alternating between joking around and speaking stoically about the week. “[My sister] Nini was head girl to her for five years when I was growing up, so just when I started eventing I would follow Pippa around quite a bit. She’s just been an amazing inspiration. I think it’s the attention to detail, which just goes beyond anything else that I’ve ever been a part of, and her absolute love for the horses, which is what comes first, and…oh, she’s going to start crying.”

Pippa grins at her, a lopsided, sheepish smile that suggests that yes, she might do, after all.

Piggy shakes her head, drily starts again: “She cried more than I did when…”

“…at your wedding?” chips in Pippa.

“No, when I won Badminton, you were blubbing like a lunatic,” replies Piggy, turning back to address the audience. “She’s a legend and just a proper professional, and no one deserves it more…but she is old to be doing this type of thing. Surely,” she turns back to Pippa, laughing, “you didn’t need to go that fast around Burghley?!”

Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street take top honours. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

But a 22.8 dressage, that gutsy, gritty round with its four time penalties, and today’s showjumping round – slightly agricultural, and with a rail down midway through – all add up to create the smallest of margins for an enormously popular win.

“I’ve just apologised to [showjumper husband] William [Funnell] and the owners, because it wasn’t my prettiest round today,” says Pippa. “I think I’m out of practice in going into that sort of situation with that many people. I didn’t do myself justice. Full credit to the horse – he’s been absolutely amazing, but he’s also been quite a comedian, and he’s owed us a big win because he should have won Blenheim twice, and he should have won Tattersalls. I said I was going to keep going because I was sure there was a big one in him – but I can honestly say I never thought it was going to be Burghley. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

To win with a difficult horse would be a eureka moment in and of itself, but for Pippa, it’s about overcoming more than just the challenges associated with a difficult mount. Two years ago, she was plagued by both injury-related pain and overwhelming confidence crises, both of which conspired to make her reconsider her career choices. But she was determined not be driven out of the sport she loves by it. Now, she’s enjoying her just rewards.

“I think I’ve been incredibly lucky to have so much amazing support over the years from all the owners I’ve had,” she says. “It’s been such an amazing journey, and hopefully it will continue, but it’s the horses that have kept me going. They keep me young – it’s the belief in the horses, and the belief in their talent. It’s that pure love of the day-to-day graft working with them. I know my husband will probably be a bit disappointed, because it means I’ll probably carry on for a bit longer, and I know he’d like me to stop and do things at home at the Billy stud. I didn’t really think there would be another big one, and I took the pressure off by thinking ‘I’m just going to do the sport I love and enjoy every moment of it.’ The last two weeks have been a surreal experience – I feel like I haven’t had time to touch the ground.”

Sometimes, you’ve just got to hug your horse. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

For Pippa, it’s important that the realities behind major victories are as tangible as the victories themselves – and she hopes that they’ll provide some motivation to her fellow riders.

“I hope in many ways that it does inspire a lot of other riders, because it took me a long time to win my first championship, and it’s taken me even longer to win another major,” she says. “There’s been a lot of sweat, graft, and tears in between, but there’s also been some very special moments, too.”

Perhaps it was all preordained – after all, who would have put their money on MGH Grafton Street? But then, who would have as much faith as Pippa did in that number 77, which she tied around her waist for luck in this final phase like a teenager in a working hunter class. If you caught a glimpse of it as she tore round, and round, and round on her lap of honour, you might have been persuaded to believe in the power of looking for good omens.

Piggy French and Vanir Kamira take second place by just a tenth of a penalty. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

But before we lose you to the clovers, back to business: Pippa’s solitary rail wasn’t merely a knocked pole – instead, it was a rather spectacular and dramatic miss, and one from which it took the enormously experienced rider a few strides to recover and begin riding actively again. She’d had that rail in hand, sure – but would she be able to keep herself up on the clock? Or would she slip a second over, handing the title to second-placed Piggy French and Vanir Kamira, just a tenth of a penalty behind her?

If it had happened, it might rather feel like deja-vu – after all, that’s how Piggy won Badminton this spring, although that was a moment won from Oliver Townend rather than Pippa – but the former Grand Slam victor got lucky: course designer Richard Jeffry had built a big, square, clever track, but he’d kept the time lenient enough that riders would have time to ride proper turns and approaches. While that didn’t make a clear round a doddle to achieve, it did mean that just three people added time penalties – and Pippa Funnell wasn’t one of them.

“It was one of the hardest things – and I said this to Piglet – because for the last however many years, when I haven’t been at this sort of level, I’ve been absolutely rooting for Piggy to win. I know what she’s gone through and we’ve been very close for many years,” says Pippa. “I’ve known little Piglet since she was a very little girl, and she’s very special. I’ve been cheering her on all the way, and it’s the first time ever that I’ve actually not wanted her to win!”

But settling for second isn’t too shabby, and it’s hard to imagine that Piggy will spend too long dwelling on second legs of Grand Slams, or anything quite as inconsequential as all that – after all, her great friend, her long-time mentor, and one of the great failsafe pillars of her life has just taken the win.

“I’m delighted, to be honest, to be second,” says Piggy, who toppled the first fence. “I think I’m lucky to be second, too – to take the first fence and hit it with both her front and hind legs…well, I thought, ‘this is a very long way to go, after this, to remain in second place.’ But this horse owes me nothing, and to be honest, it makes the Badminton result even more special, because she’s not a natural showjumper. I’m just glad it was only one down. She ran her heart on the line yesterday; it’s so hard, because people don’t realise what they go through out there, and then they have to get back on their hocks and try to be careful at these fences. I’m very proud of my horse, and lucky to have her.”

Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class take third, making it five top-five finishes at the level for the 12-year-old gelding. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

If Vanir Kamira has clear rounds – or near-clears – despite an unconventional showjumping style, Oliver Townend‘s Ballaghmor Class falls on the opposite end of the spectrum: despite a textbook approach to jumping fences, he’s prone to taking an unlucky rail, which is just what he did today to stay in third position.

“It was a bit of a cheap fence to have, really – of course he felt [like he] touched it, but barely, and I didn’t hear the clunk,” he says. “But I just go to the next one and jump the next one, and try to give him as good a ride and as smooth a ride as possible, like I’m at home rather than jumping at Burghley.”

For Oliver, who has now notched up five top-five finishes out of five runs at the level with the twelve-year-old gelding, it’s been a good week for the sport – despite much discussion on social media about yesterday’s competition.

“It’s been a fabulous week – although it would have been more fabulous [for me] if I’d won it,” he says with a grin, readily offering his congratulations to the event’s two leading ladies. “But at the same time, if you’re not winning it and you still think the event is amazing and better than ever, that makes it even more special. We’re at a special point at the top of the sport as British riders – this year I won Kentucky, Piggy won Badminton, and now Pippa has won Burghley. I kind of get sick of listening to people putting the Germans on this pedestal and saying they’re so far in front of us – put the Germans round [the Burghley course] and see where they are! I think we’re in a very good position.”

Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet take fourth place. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

For the second year running, Sarah Bullimore and the evergreen Reve du Rouet took fourth place. With a margin of over ten penalties separating the top three from fourth and fifth places after cross-country, there was an enormous bridge to cross and only so much the remarkably consistent rider could do to cross it. With a clear round over the poles in the bag, all she could do was wait to see how many more would tumble this afternoon.

It wouldn’t be enough for a top-three finish. But it would guarantee the pair their fourth five-star top-five finish and their twelfth five-star completion, demonstrating the longevity and reliability of the fifteen-year-old gelding who, despite a reputation gleaned from prior indiscretions in the first phase, has collected top-twenty finishes in all five of the Northern Hemisphere’s five-star events.

“He was fabulous in there – that’s a big atmosphere for him, and one that would have freaked him out in the past,” says Sarah, who has to carefully manage ‘Blou’s’ genuine anxiety over crowds. This anxiety, plus a need for almost machinated consistency in his day-to-day routine, has led to some tricky moments in their partnership, but Sarah is enjoying the fruits of her efforts now.

“It’s been a bit of a love-hate relationship with him, and there’s been blood, sweat, and tears,” she admits. “But he’s finally rewarding us – the past couple of years, he’s been so consistent. He’s a bit of a legend. The course seems to suit him here, and he loves coming to Burghley – he got off the lorry at the beginning of the week like, ‘okay, this is my place!’ As a rider, you always want to equal or better what you did the year before, so I’m delighted.”

Tim Price and Bango round out the top five, and finish the best of the non-British riders. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Last year’s winner Tim Price began the week with three horses and ended it with just one, after Xavier Faer knocked a frangible pin and was saved for another day and reigning champion Ringwood Sky Boy suffered a harmless – but enormously frustrating – fall in the Lions’ Brudge water. And so it was all about Bango, who was tenth here last season and seventh after cross-country yesterday.

The chance to be the star of the show suited the Irish Sport Horse gelding who, at thirteen years old, is still something of an up-and-comer in Tim’s string of superstars.

“It was a lovely round, and I’m so happy for him,” says the Kiwi, who added 12 time penalties with the horse on yesterday’s cross-country course. “He’s one that’s not been so easy – they all take their own time for everything to fall into place – but I’m very excited about the next few years with him.”

Although it’s not another trophy in the Price family cabinet, Tim looks at his fifth-place finish with Bango as a positive conclusion to a tumultuous week.

“After our cross-country, I was hoping his would be the weak round of the day for me, but it wasn’t to be – but I think this is the start of something really exciting for him, and it’s good practice for me and good mileage for him.”

Plus, he concedes, it was nice to pass the pressure to someone else for a change: “I tried to enjoy that it wasn’t me going in [last],” he says with a grin. “The winning bit is always nice, but the pressure isn’t!”

Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus finish ninth and best of the Americans. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Lauren Kieffer finished best of the US contingent, of which six of the original eleven would complete the competition. Her tight, impressive clear round aboard Vermiculus saw her finish ninth – her best result at the venue.

“You don’t know if you’ve got a Burghley horse ’till it’s over,” she says sagely, “and I can say he’s a Burghley horse now. I couldn’t be happier with him – yes, you always want to be quicker [across the country, where they added 26.4 time penalties], but I can confidently promise him that he’ll never do anything so hard in his life, now.”

Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan: best of the Burghley first-timers. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

For Burghley first-timers, just to complete can often seem like an impossible dream, but what about nailing down three solid phases and finishing in the top ten? Almost unfathomable – particularly over a course like this one. But that’s just what US combination Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan did, capitalising on their positive five-star debut at Kentucky this spring to deliver a level of attack that was wise beyond their years and record sheets. After coming home clear with 15.6 time penalties yesterday, they sat twelfth – and today, with Richard Jeffrey’s fair but square track allowing for just ten clear rounds, their four-faulter was still enough to allow them to climb to tenth and finish as best Burghley first-timers.

“It went pretty well in there, although I don’t think I’ve ever felt my horse get fatigued on the final day, not physically but mentally,” says Ariel, a recipient of the Jacqueline B. Mars International Grant. “I didn’t quite have the connection from fence one to two, and he got a bit spooked by the crowds. After we had our rail, though, we were a little bit more connected.”

Earning a spot in the coveted afternoon session meant that Ariel, who had to trot up Leamore Master Plan five-and-a-half hours before the start of the top 25, would have to wait to catch up on lost sleep: “I had a really hard time falling asleep last night,” she explains. “It was until I got back to my hotel that I was like, ‘I did that – I did Burghley!'”

Andrea Baxter and Indy 500. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Andrea Baxter had hoped to come back to Burghley and jump clear on her third attempt with Indy 500, and she did just that – but if twelfth place might have seemed like rather too much to hope for before the week began, it certainly didn’t at its tail end, when the combination adding just a single  rail and three additional seconds to the clock over the poles, in addition to their 56.8 time penalties yesterday.

“I’m very pleased,” says Andrea. “I didn’t ride as well as I’d have liked in there, but it is what it is.”

Last year, we saw the pair pull two rails because they had too much canter – this year, their single faller was the downside of trying for something more precise.

“She got a bit steeplechase-y last year, so I overdid it this year,” she says. “I held too much and added everywhere – dang it.”

With the Burghley box well and truly ticked, Andrea is keeping her options open with the diminutive Thoroughbred mare.

“I would love to do Badminton, she’s just a really bad traveller in the spring,” she explains, “Plus, we have Kentucky, so it’s hard to leave home and spend a fortune when that option’s there. But maybe we’ll slip [the trip] past her one day.”

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z write a new chapter in their 2019 story. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

One rail dropped for Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z, who stayed in fifteenth place and completed their redemption arc after tough trips to Kentucky and Aachen.

“I’m absolutely thrilled with him – what a horse,” says the rider, who learned a valuable lesson about the eleven-year-old gelding in the warm-up.

“Looking back, I needed just one more jump in the warm-up,” she explains. “I was trying to not overuse him, but he’s so careful and – a little bit like yesterday – he just gets so high that he nearly wows himself a little bit. He launched [at the triple bar] and sitting on a horse with a massive stride, I struggled to get to the second element. But god, he’s a brilliant horse – he’s tried, and he’s given me everything. It’s very disappointing to have a rail, but I couldn’t have asked for anything more – it’s just one of those things. It’s a dream to be here – we did it. We finished!”

Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

A pole down at the fourth didn’t stop Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby from improving their standing in the leaderboard, and they ultimately finished 18th – a 36-place rise through the week, and a two-place improvement upon yesterday’s ranking.

“I wanted to go clear, and he can go clear – I just went a little bit too fast,” she explains. “I’m a bit bummed, but it was riding a bit funny and I probably should have showed it to him. I knew it would be a place to ride well – and I tried to, but I must have missed the mark.”

Even so, she continues, “I’ve never jumped in the second group before!”

A classy clear for Will Coleman and Tight Lines moved them up three places to 25th, closing the book on an up-and-down weekend that saw the pick up 31 jumping penalties across yesterday’s influential track.

“It wasn’t the result we’d come for, but that’s eventing a little bit,” says Will. “We’ve had that a couple of times this year, where we’ve been ready but it just doesn’t come off – but he’ll be less green next year for it.”

The twelve-year-old gelding was as hot today as he had been while tackling yesterday’s challenge, but that only helped him in the ring: after an early low-bodied effort, he gave each fence more and more air time.

“My horse is on his toes in pretty much every phase,” Will says. “It’s like riding a balloon – do anything too strong, and he’ll pop. But he’s been a good horse for me, and he’s a fast horse – I had a double handful the whole way out there yesterday. He’s been a tricky horse, but he’s been my favourite horse.”

US-based Australian Dom Schramm, who is based at Phillip Dutton’s True Prospect Farm, tipped the Grand Slam upright at fence four with Bolytair B to finish 28th overall – a climb of 25 places from the beginning of the week and one place higher than his post-cross-country result.

“It’s good to have that one done and dusted,” says the Burghley debutante. “I’m thrilled to be here – it’s such a prestigious event.”

Dom’s conscientious riding on course yesterday meant that he found himself with plenty of horse for today’s final phase – though perhaps, he reflects, too much.

“I think I’m going to have to go see a chiropractor – my neck is really feeling [those big jumps],” he says with a laugh. “He was jumping out of his skin in there, and he’s fresh because he didn’t run so fast yesterday. But it’s a really good feeling to have your horse feeling good, especially after a day of carnage!”

And so we come to the conclusion of our coverage of the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials for 2019. It’s been a week of drama and excitement, reflection and dissection and, as always, a jolly good opportunity for a recreational weep into a glass of Pimms. We’ll be unpacking some of the finer details in a reporter’s notebook over the next few days, as well as revisiting that all-important question: how can we use what we’ve seen and learned this week to improve the sport across the board? But in the meantime, join us in lifting a glass to a woman who has inspired five-star day-dreams in countless pony-mad little girls – what a joy and a privilege to see her live the pony novel heroine dream once again. Always remember, folks: keep your brave pants on, grab life with one hand so you can hail a cab with the other, and never, ever let go of the eventing family around you. Go Pippa, and Go Eventing!

The top ten at the conclusion of an incredibly exciting, enormously emotional Burghley.

#LRBHT19: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Form Guide, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

The 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials coverage is brought to you in partnership with the team at Voltaire Design United Kingdom. Going to Burghley? Head to Voltaire Design in the World of the Horse and meet the team of Sports Saddle Specialists, arrange a free, totally no-obligation fitting for you and your horse, or indulge in the Deal of the Day. Put a deposit on a new saddle during the event, and you’ll receive a matching bridle – free! Looking for a bargain? Head to Voltaire Design’s sister stand, EquiTack, to check out their premium pre-loved saddles at rock-bottom prices.

 

One Horse Spun in Tense Final Horse Inspection at Burghley

By on Sep 8, 2019 7:11 am -

Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

31 horses will proceed to today’s showjumping finale after a speedy final horse inspection at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials this morning. After the overnight withdrawal of U.S. combination Chris Talley and Unmarked Bills, 32 combinations presented to the ground jury of Nick Burton (GBR), Christina Klingspor (SWE), and Xavier Le Sauce (FRA).

“Yesterday Unmarked Bills gave me his entire heart on cross country and fought his way around one of the most difficult tracks in the world,” says Chris, who was in 32nd place after cross-country, in a statement on his Instagram account. “Unfortunately this morning we have decided it is in his best interest to withdraw due to soreness in his stifle. We can’t be more thankful for the exceptional vets here in England as well as ours at home in the states, his owners, and our entire team who want nothing but the best for him. Billy has given me one amazing ride after another and owes me absolutely nothing. At the end of the day his wellbeing will always be our main priority.”

Four horses were sent to the holding box during the morning’s proceedings. Nicky Hill‘s MGH Bingo Boy (31st), Julia Norman‘s Carryon Bobby Boy (27th), and Gemma Tattersall‘s Santiago Bay (6th) were held but ultimately accepted upon re-presentation, but James Sommerville‘s Talent (23rd) was spun.

James Sommerville and Talent’s competition ends at the final horse inspection. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The Tattersalls Horse Care Prize for the top groom of the competition, judged throughout the week, was awarded to Tamsin Thurlow, groom of Sarah Bullimore‘s Reve du Rouet, who sits fifth going into the final phase. Unfortunately for poor ‘Blou’, this meant a return trip into the main arena to face his nemesis – an enthusiastic crowd.

Tamsin Thurlow and Reve du Rouet – “if I close my eyes, maybe they can’t see me?” Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“They’re very brave, these event horses, aren’t they?” quipped commentator Spencer Sturmey, as the gelding skittered away from the polite applause of the audience.

Dom Schramm and Bolytair B. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

All six of our remaining US competitors – plus US-based Aussie Dom Schramm and his Bolytair B (29th) – passed with flying colours, as did the the tightly-bunched top three, made up of Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class (3rd), Piggy French and Vanir Kamira (2nd), and Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street (1st).

Overnight leader Pippa Funnell shares a laugh with the ground jury. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The showjumping kicks off at 11.40 a.m./6.40 a.m. EST with the morning session, in which just the 25th – 31st-placed horses and riders will jump. Dom Schramm and Bolytair B will be the third to jump, with Will Coleman and Tight Lines following.

This afternoon’s session, featuring the top 24 combinations, will commence at 2.30 p.m./9.30 a.m. EST. Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby (20th) will be fifth in the arena, Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z (20th) will be tenth, and Andrea Baxter and Indy 500 (13th) will be twelfth in the order, followed by Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan (12th) and Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus (13th).

Here’s a reminder of the top ten as it stands going into showjumping:

Until then, folks – Go Eventing!

#LRBHT19: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Form Guide, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

The 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials coverage is brought to you in partnership with the team at Voltaire Design United Kingdom. Going to Burghley? Head to Voltaire Design in the World of the Horse and meet the team of Sports Saddle Specialists, arrange a free, totally no-obligation fitting for you and your horse, or indulge in the Deal of the Day. Put a deposit on a new saddle during the event, and you’ll receive a matching bridle – free! Looking for a bargain? Head to Voltaire Design’s sister stand, EquiTack, to check out their premium pre-loved saddles at rock-bottom prices.

Burghley Cross-Country: Pippa Funnell Puts Her Brave Pants On

By on Sep 7, 2019 5:42 pm -

Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street head for home. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

At the tail end of a long and tumultuous day over the toughest Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials track in recent memory, it must have made for frightening viewing for the last batch of riders to take to the course. But despite only half the field making it home, and myriad broken pins, missed distances, and unlucky tumbles along the way, dressage leader Pippa Funnell – who confesses to not being a particularly brave soul – was up. And her mount? Well, he’s certainly gained a reputation across the country – and it isn’t one that would fill most people with confidence.

“I’ve hidden away in my lorry all day,” she confesses. “I watched Sarah Bullimore’s round and thought she looked fantastic, so I walked away, sat in my lorry, and felt ill.”

But when her number was called, she knew what she had to do, and that was attack. And so she did: buoyed along by the irrepressible confidence granted her by her clear round inside the time at last week’s European Championships, she dug deep, gritted her teeth, and piloted the quirky, cheeky MGH Grafton Street home, adding just four time penalties to hold onto her overnight lead by the slimmest of margins. It was Funnell at her finest – and at her very grittiest.

“I’m a bit overwhelmed,” she laughs, breathless and beaming after the exertions of her round. “It’s a bit of a surreal day, really – I had no idea what to expect from the horse. He was a little monkey at Tattersalls, where he should have won, and he cost us the win at Blenheim a couple of years ago too, but I thought, ‘he’s not going to have the last laugh on this cross-country day!'”

The former Grand Slam winner’s inarguable experience shone through as she imparted endless positivity – and more than a modicum of gumption – to the eleven-year-old gelding, who makes his five-star debut here.

“It wasn’t a copybook round, and it wasn’t pretty – I had to reward him when I could, but I also had to say, ‘come on, mate!’ He can slip out through his shoulder on corners, and I often correct in a backwards way, but as he’s not as experienced, I had to stay with my brave pants on. If I could have, I would have looked like Piggy, but sometimes you have to throw away the style book.”

On a day when just one rider made the time, Pippa’s speed, too, was impressive.

“I often think I’m a bit of a granny, and so slow, because I don’t run at speed at one-day events,” she laughs. “But at this stage of my career, I can’t go racing around them all – I think about the rhythm, and that rhythm is how you ride these big courses. He’s got a turn of speed, which he probably learned when he was ridden by Andrew Nicholson – he can turn and run.”

The influential Joules at the Maltings was a particular highlight for Pippa, who has had issues with the horse at right-handed corners, and she showed her experience at the Leaf Pit where, she knew, he could stop with her at the drop, as he did at Tattersalls.

“I was lucky that we had enough engine there – he was green off the drop, but we had enough engine that he couldn’t go backwards,” she says.

That today has been her day is made even more special by the fact that Pippa knows the other end of the spectrum all too well.

“Two years ago, I was riding in pain and not confidence,” she says. “I said to Emily Philp earlier, ‘one thing you do learn the more you do is that yes, you do get nervous, but you learn to deal with disappointment.’ I’ve driven away disappointed enough times, and you still have your mates, you’ve still got washing to do, and you still go to the local pub and no one knows who you are.”

It’s all about the highs and lows – and it’s about persistence, too, which Pippa and owners Jonathan and Jane Clarke have exhibited in spades.

“I know the little bugger’s got it in him, but he’s cheeky, with a huge personality, and he’s always getting into trouble on the yard and attention-seeking,” she says with a smile. “But you just have to keep him between the flags without losing his shoulders, and he really dug deep today.”

Though a lifetime of hard-earned experience won the day, Pippa’s burgeoning confidence was bolstered by two good omens.

“I was delighted when they gave me the number 77,” says the rider, who wore back number 7 at the Europeans. “It’s a really lucky number for me – if you look at my Tilly’s Pony Tales books, Tilly wears the number 77.”

The early loss of her hat silk on course also signalled good things to come: “I thought, ‘oh my god, I’ve ridden around the whole course with an egghead, and I always make these faces like I’m hating every minute, so it’s going to look awful! But then I remembered – when I won here on Primmore’s Pride, I’d lost my hat silk and was an egghead then, too!”

So how will Pippa prepare for the final battle ahead?

“I’m going to sleep in my number bib tonight,” she laughs.

Piggy French and Vanir Kamira record the only clear round inside the time of the day. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Badminton winner Piggy French has never made the time at Burghley before, but she picked a good time to do so – she and Vanir Kamira were the only pair to stop the clock inside the optimum time, boosting them from fifth to close second place, just a tenth of a penalty behind the leaders.

“Me! I made the time!” she exclaims. “Usually she can be so quick, but I’ve never quite got there – we always have a few seconds, which is so frustrating.”

Piggy’s impressive round was delivered despite some pre-match concerns about the mare’s readiness, after a long break, a bout of foot-soreness, and a surprise stop at the water at her final prep run cast the team in doubt. And although she happily and comfortably delivered the goods on the day, Piggy had to change her plan slightly on course.

“She got tired between three and four minutes, which never happens,” she explains. “So I let her coast along and then freewheeled her downhill so she could fill her lungs, and then she hit the next hill fighting. I definitely went to my plan B and C on stride patterns in some places. I was definitely conscious of her – has her preparation been alright? And she’s getting older, too. She ran well here last year, but they’re not machines, and you don’t know how they wake up in the morning.”

After clearing the tricky Trout Hatchery, Piggy indulged in a cheer and a wave to the crowd – “I thought, ‘thank god that’s over with!'” – before getting swiftly back to business.

“Once you’ve got the Dairy Farm out of the way you can get home, and all the jumping is there in front of you – and the sizes eases up a bit, thank god,” she says with a grin. “She’s such a little fighter; she really grits her teeth and says, ‘come on, mum!’ She’s a little horse with an enormous heart, and she’s an experienced horse, which is an advantage that not many have. She’ll let me know when she’s hit her limit. She’s her own horse, and I definitely have to get in her mode – but you’re lucky when you have the blood and heart to go round on.”

Vanir Kamira, who remains the diva of Piggy’s yard with a laundry list of management demands, certainly didn’t hit her limit today, pulling up fresh and bright-eyed.

“She’s a pain in the ass 363 days of the year,” laughs Piggy. “Our lives revolve around her, and she’s a tricky little thing, but I’m so proud of her.”

“I feel like a new man”: Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class look at their best at Burghley. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

2017’s victors Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class headed out on course as the penultimate combination to run, and they made child’s play of the enormously influential track, adding just 2 time penalties to sit third overnight. Like Pippa, Oliver – who’s recovering from a slipped disc – only opted to watch a tiny amount of the day’s action.

“I went in the tent at one stage, watched about four people, and walked away. I wasn’t going to learn anything watching what went on,” he says. But Ballaghmor Class is established now – certainly more so than he was when he won here on his debut as a ten-year-old – and both horse and rider knew what they had to do to make an easy job of it.

“He feels completely professional now, like he could run around any course in the world,” says Oliver of the 12-year-old gelding, who has never finished outside the top five in four runs at this level. “Yes, the time penalties are frustrating, but it’s a marathon. We know what he’s capable of now, and we’re not going into the unknown, so the pressure is on me to make sure I give him a good ride. Those five seconds came from coaxing him and trying to give him a nice round – and it was probably the nicest round I’ve had on him at Burghley. It feels like he’s made for it.”

Ludwig Svennerstal and Stinger hold the lead for much of the day, but settle for fourth overnight. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Though the top three are tightly clustered, there’s more than ten marks between third and fourth place. The rollercoaster ride of the day meant that Ludwig Svennerstal and Stinger, placed 29th after dressage, held the lead for much of it – but the final cluster of experienced riders and world-class rounds meant that he was nudged down to fourth at the end of the day.

“He’s a very good horse, and it’s the first really long course for him,” he says. Ludwig started here last year with the gelding, but opted to pull up after knocking a pin at the Rolex Combination, and ultimately took him to the World Equestrian Games instead. His six time penalties were thus attributed to a tactical ride through the same part of the course today.

“Last year we were a bit too quick through there, so today I set up a bit more,” he explains. “Maybe I rode it too slow, but I wanted to give him a nice ride. I could have been quicker from the Cottesmore Leap; I was a bit slow from there, but I’m really happy with him. It’s all about riding the horse you’ve got, and riding your feeling – if you go too fast, you have a tired horse.”

Nonetheless, Ludwig showed committed, forward-thinking riding – particularly through the upright gates at 16AB, where he opted for the forward one-stride, rather than the short and bouncy two.

“It was very good – he was very honest,” he says.

Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet pop into the Trout Hatchery. Photo by William Carey.

It was all rather ‘will they or won’t they’ for Sarah Bullimore, who delivered an exceptionally classy clear round aboard the experienced Reve du Rouet, adding ten time penalties and, for a little while, 15 extra penalties for missing a flag. But those penalties were ultimately removed, much to the delight of the experienced British rider.

“He was absolutely awesome – he didn’t deserve that,” she says, a smile lighting up her face. “He’s a true cross-country horse, and so scopey, and so straight on the lines – he’s just unbelievable. We just had a little mishap when he slipped [after the first element at the Dairy Farm] and had to add an extra stride, but he tried his heart out and just screwed over the second egg box. He’s such a good horse, and he doesn’t deserve just to be here for the beer.”

At the tough Trout Hatchery, which claimed its fair share of broken hearts through the day, Reve du Rouet gave one of the best performances of the day: “he was absolutely foot-perfect – you always jump into the second part of the water thinking you might have to go left or right, but it was all right there.”

Santiago Bay ends Gemma Tattersall’s rollercoaster day on a high. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Gemma Tattersall‘s day started with heartbreak when she tumbled off her stalwart campaigner Arctic Soul at the Maltings, but disaster turned to triumph when she romped home clear with the inexperienced Santiago Bay, adding 11.2 time penalties for overnight sixth place.

“I can’t even explain the day – I was furious with myself this morning,” she says. “I was on the floor and he looked at me as if to say, ‘for god’s sake, get up – we’ve got loads more jumps to do!’ He’s got serious anger issues with me now – he’s an old-timer and he knows he should be out there.”

Watching the day unfold didn’t fill Gemma with confidence, either.

“It’s been quite challenging to get on a young horse and go round again, but she’s so scopey and so game, and we just talked each other through the course. I’m so proud of her for producing the most perfect jumping round over the toughest Burghley I’ve ever seen.”

Despite her earlier problem, Gemma made herself go the straight route at the tough Maltings combination – and when she cleared it, she made sure to enjoy the moment.

“I punched the air and cheered and told her how amazing she was when she jumped that bloomin’ fence,” she laughs.

Tim Price and Bango act as pathfinders. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Pathfinder Tim Price had a day of colossal ups and downs, too – he sits seventh overnight on his first horse, Bango, who looked considerably more rideable than he did at Badminton. He added 12 time penalties to climb from eleventh place after the dressage.

“I was tentative with this horse, because at Badminton he raced off with me,” he says. “I couldn’t go flat out with him at the beginning, but the course suited him down to the ground. He was super, and bold, and that’s why we persevere with him – he has so much ability, he just gives me a hard time in front a bit. I just had to get a bit cowboy and dig deep into the toolkit at the gates, but the one stride was there all day long – it’s just a tough stage of the course for us, going downhill, because he tends to run through the bridle.”

But what goes up must sometimes come down.  It would be an early end to the day for Xavier Faer, who was one of many to knock the pin at the oxer at the Trout Hatchery. Knowing he’d incurred the penalties, Tim added in a circle, popped through the Rolex Combination for the experience, and then opted to save the talented gelding for another day. And so all eyes were on last year’s winner Ringwood Sky Boy, the last horse on course. After making light work of almost the entirety of the course, he stumbled while cantering through the Lion’s Bridge water on the way home, and both horse and rider went down, ending their campaign for 2019 and leaving Tim with just one horse for tomorrow’s final phase.

Imogen Murray and Ivar Gooden climb a remarkable 52 places to sit eighth overnight. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Imogen Murray and Ivar Gooden once again showed their prowess in leaping up a leaderboard, climbing from 60th to 8th after zooming around to add four time penalties, while France’s Sebastien Cavaillon, thirteenth after dressage with Sarah d’Argouges, moved into ninth despite experiencing their first-ever stop on course – just before the Cottesmore Leap. “I said to the jury, you are crazy to stop me here!” But the hold – which was to check a minor surface injury that the mare picked up from a flag – didn’t stop them from regrouping, digging deep, and coming home with 19.2 time penalties added to their 29.8 dressage score. Becky Woolven and DHI Babette K romped home in the same time to round out the top ten.

It’s been a whirlwind day of ups and downs for our US contingent, and one which saw some experienced combinations come to grief and relative newcomers to the level impress over the tough track.

Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus end the day as the best of the US combinations in 11th place, dropping from fourth place after adding 26.4 penalties, partly due to a hold midway through the course.

“I did really go with the intention of being faster, but I had to take a few unplanned long routes,” she says. “But full credit to him, because he kept trucking on. It was the hardest course he’s ever seen, and it’s the hardest I’ve ever had to work. It’s really hard to get their adrenaline back up after a hold.”

A scrappy ride through the Trout Hatchery was held together by some committed riding on Lauren’s part, and when she reached the Dairy Farm – the last major question on the course – she opted to go long rather than take the risk of attempting to string together the direct route.

“It was just out of reach,” she explains, “and I had to fiddle my way to the option – but all the way, he was trucking on.”

Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan navigate the Trout Hatchery en route to 12th place. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Burghley debutantes Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan impressed in their five-star debut at Kentucky, and they backed it up today, too, notching up 15.6 time penalties and a clear round to sit twelfth overnight.

“It was just amazing – it’s been my goal all year,” says the hard-working rider, who received the Jacqueline B. Mars International Grant to fund her trip. “I’d never stepped on Burghley soil before, or even UK soil – everyone said it was big here, but I didn’t appreciate just how big. But I just went out with a plan, knowing the plan would probably go to pieces at some point. Bobby Costello and Erik Duvander told me to find the line and point, and he fought for me out there – I was just hoping to be a little bit faster.

One rein? No problem. Andrea Baxter and Indy 500 keep on trucking at the Trout Hatchery. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Andrea Baxter and Indy 500 got what they came for, and then some – they achieved the clear round they’d been hoping for, adding 19.2 time penalties, and they’re in an enviable position, too. They sit 13th as we head into the final phase.

“It wasn’t pretty, but Burghley doesn’t need to be pretty, huh?” laughs Andrea, reflecting on her determined round. “Last year I had a 20, but it was much prettier – I had visions in my head of being pretty again. But I was held at six, which ruined my flow, so I slapped her together a bit but never quite found the rhythm.”

Andrea’s first thoughts on being held were of a prior incident, in which she found herself held for an hour and a half.

“You never know how long it’ll be, or if you’ll be able to keep the adrenaline up.”

Through the Trout Hatchery, Andrea found herself having to dig deep to make up for the flow she hadn’t quite regained.

“I wasn’t planning on going long, but she drifted left – which is odd, because she usually drifts right! I could have made it, but I decided to go for the option – but then I dropped my rein, so we barely made it over. I hope we made it over, anyway – we certainly levitated over something!”

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z make it happen. Photo by William Carey.

Liz Halliday-Sharp put a tricky season with Deniro Z behind her, coming home clear with 34.4 time penalties to sit fifteenth overnight, dropping down from equal seventh after dressage. But despite their clear round, Liz found herself having to work hard to tick all the boxes.

“I had to do a couple of options that weren’t in my plan,” says the rider, whose last three-day with the horse was at Luhmühlen last year, where they finished eighth. “He got a little backwards in the middle part of the course, and I wasn’t quite getting the power I hoped for – I had to really kick on at the Maltings and he did a superman jump, so I knew I wouldn’t make the turn and rerouted. It’s disappointing to have the time – he’s a wonderful horse and could have been very competitive, but he’ll come away stronger for it. He’s an incredible horse and so game – but here we are, we’ve got round Burghley!”

Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Like Andrea Baxter before her, Lillian Heard had one big goal this week: to come home with a clear round on her third attempt with LCC Barnaby. She did just that, clocking up 28.8 time penalties to round out the top twenty after taking straight routes everywhere except the Leaf Pit – the former architect of her Burghley heartbreak.

“I have more experience out there now, but he was awesome,” she says. “Everything was smooth – who has a smooth ride at Burghley?! Now I’m back, I’m frustrated I wasn’t quicker, but I’ve failed here before and I didn’t today.”

With her Burghley demons banished, Lillian’s looking ahead – well beyond tomorrow’s showjumping.

“I promised myself that if I went clear here I’d go to Badminton – I’ve always wanted to go, and who knows when I’ll have the horse again.”

Prior experience, too, meant that Lillian wasn’t put off by how many people failed to complete throughout the day.

“I wasn’t surprised when they weren’t coming back,” she says. “Last year, I was like, ‘what is this?!’ This year I was like, ‘this is what it’s like.’ I stuck to my plan, and I’d usually change it.”

Will Coleman and Tight Lines. Photo by William Carey.

Will Coleman and Tight Lines were the first US combination on course, but they also had one of the trickier rounds of the day: shellshocked by the crowds, ‘Phish’ proved tough to manage on course, and they ultimately added 20 penalties for a run-out at the C element of the Leaf Pit and 11 penalties for a broken pin at the Trout Hatchery oxer, plus 23.2 time penalties, to their dressage score of 32.4, putting them 28th overnight.

“The plan certainly wasn’t a run-out and a pin, but it happened,” he says. “He was really just pulling like a train, and I couldn’t get him to settle – he got right under the oxer and froze a bit. The whole round, his body was going faster than his brain. But he’s a pretty worrisome horse, and that might be the root cause – he didn’t settle in the crowds. He’s not dishonest and he got it done, and we’ve got to start there, I guess – he came out frenetic and the whole occasion got to him, but he’ll be better for it.”

Dom Schramm and Bolytair B notch up a near-clear at Burghley. Photo by William Carey.

Honourary American Dom Schramm and Bolytair B, who ride for Australia but are based in the States, tackled their first Burghley and second five-star with aplomb to sit 29th overnight after adding 37.2 time penalties and eleven for a knocked pin, picked up at the Trout Hatchery – but that didn’t stop Dom from storming home with an enormous smile on his face.

“I’m happy to be home in one piece,” he grins. “I was surprised how backed off he was by the crowds at the beginning, and I couldn’t really get his head down. But what a horse! I came here for redemption – I rode like an idiot at Kentucky. It’s amazing what an outstanding horse can make an average rider look like!”

A big jump at the Maltings prompted Dom to take an unplanned long route, while a ‘pegasus distance’ at the Dairy Farm sharpened the pair up for the trip home – “that fence kept me awake at 4am!” – which they cruised through in style.

“It’s unbelievable, and it kind of feels like I’ve paid my bit back to all the people who support me,” says Dom, who was astonished by the scale and difficulty of the challenge set. “I kept looking at my watch and thinking, ‘how the hell does anyone make the time here?!’ Mark Phillips is a genius course designer, and it’s a privilege to ride around here.”

Chris Talley and Unmarked Bills. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Chris Talley and Unmarked Bills also added eleven penalties, though they picked theirs up at the Maltings, and a further 38 time penalties sees them sit 32nd going into the final phase.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to stand in the finish box,” says Chris, who rode with his late grandmother’s favourite flower tucked in his armband. “It’s difficult out there today and a lot’s not going to plan – I was a bit off over at the Maltings, so we had a pin. I overrode it and he tried to use his scope, but couldn’t quite make the rail. It was scrappy, and it was tough, but it was an unbelievable feeling.”

Chris had to ride conscientiously after ‘Billy’ lost his right front shoe at fence 5: “I tried to save him and get him home, and I didn’t want him to lose confidence when he’d been going so well. It’s more than I could have asked for – I was all okay with having a green moment, but he exceeded my expectations in every way. He’s shown me around some of the biggest courses in the world – he’s amazing, and it still hasn’t set in that we’ve crossed the finish line.”

Woodge Fulton and Captain Jack. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The day ended rather earlier for several US combinations. Hannah-Sue Burnett and Harbour Pilot retired at the Dairy Farm after a problem, despite showing early flair and promise, particularly at the Trout Hatchery. Doug Payne fell from Vandiver at the Maltings, while Buck Davidson and Jak My Style tipped up over the second upright gate at the Lake, with Buck getting hung up from the stirrup iron as the horse clambered back up, and Woodge Fulton and Captain Jack took an ostensibly nasty but ultimately harmless tumble at the Dairy Mound. We’re pleased to report that all are uninjured.

The Post-Mortem: A Closer Look at Burghley’s Inimitable Influence

After three withdrawals – Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On, who will run at Blenheim instead, Michael Owen and Jims Pal, whose running was contingent on how the course was riding, and Georgie Spence and Wii Limbo – 64 horse-and-rider combinations came forward to tackle today’s phase. Of these, we saw just 33 complete – and only 23 do so without picking up jumping penalties. That’s a 52% completion rate, and a 36% clear rate – interestingly, although Burghley is the biggest track in the world, it ordinarily has the highest completion rate at around 62%.

Though the problems came up thick, fast, and well-spread through the intense middle section of the course, the consensus from riders as they came home was universal: the course was a fair one, and one lacking in gimmicks.

“It’s tough, but there’s no trickery like you see in a lot of European courses, where there are things coming up off blind bends and it feels like they’re trying to catch you out,” says Oliver Townend. Piggy French, who was vocal about her dislike of the white gates at 16AB, agreed, citing her faith in Captain Mark Phillips – and nodding her agreement that this is a course that’s meant to be attacked, not intimidated by.

“I thought it was an enormous course when I walked it – the oxers at the Maltings (13ABC) rode as big as they walked, which was a scary feeling,” she says. “But [before my round], I thought the double of gates were really hideous – nearly unjumpable – and maybe that’s personal, because they wouldn’t suit my horse. But we have so much faith in Mark, and they were there to be attacked.”

But nonetheless, the problems did appear – sometimes as a result of bad luck, like in the case of George Hilton-Jones, who took a tumble from Efraim when the horse’s front shoe got stuck in his martingale, or in the case of 2018 winners Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy who, as the last out of the start box, had made light work of 90% of the course but took an enormously unfortunate tumble when the horse stumbled while cantering through the final Lion’s Bridge water. More often than not, though, issues cropped up because of an error in the approach or in the line, and some fences on the course were particularly prolific in catching out these lapses in concentration – or gaps in knowledge.

Becky Woolven and DHI Babette K, 10th overnight, demonstrate a good effort at the Maltings. Photo by Peter Nixon/Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.

The Joules at the Maltings combination at 13ABC claimed the most victims throughout the day, with fourteen riders picking up faults at the question, which consisted of two wide oxers on a variable six-stride line followed by a four- or five-stride line to an open corner. This question also saw the highest number of pins break, with seven riders picking up eleven penalties here. Dimensionally enormous, these fences required an aggressive and positive ride, and commitment – though liberally sprinkled with some flexibility – to the chosen stride pattern, but all too often, we saw staid and sedate rides through here, which meant that several horses – left to rely on scope – failed to make the width, taking the frangible elements down in the process.

Michael Owen and Bradeley Law jump the influential timber oxer at the Trout Hatchery. Photo by Peter Nixon/Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.

The timber oxer at 10, which was the first question at the new-look Trout Hatchery, also proved influential, with eight combinations faulting here – but while the Maltings claimed as many unseated riders and runouts as pins, the oxer here was fundamentally a frangible issue, with six breaking through the day. We saw many horses try for an ambitious leap here, ultimately landing short before the water and kicking out the back rail, effectively making it look like a showjumping question, though three riders did pick up 20 penalties here.

Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet pop through the middle element of the Rolex Combination. Photo by Peter Nixon/Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.

The Rolex Combination at 14ABCD, with its Vicarage Vee-style middle element, saw seven faulters, no broken pins, and the only missed flag penalty of the day, which was notched up by Richard Skelt and Credo III, who were ultimately eliminated two fences later. Mistakes here largely came down to runouts at that middle element, which required a precise stride and an even more precise line, and many other riders through the day opted to take the long route at the expense of a small handful of seconds.

One of the combinations that proved to be a surprise snake in the grass was Clarence Court at the Dairy Farm which, at 20ABCDE, was the last significant question on course. It was the combination, too, that the Captain vowed to change last year, saying, “it didn’t cause any problems – but it could have done.” This year, its three route options provided a fair question, but a tough one, and five riders faulted here. Three picked up stops or runouts, often for failing to make their line after a poor effort over the first fence, and we saw Hannah-Sue Burnett and Harbour Pilot retire after a problem here. There was one significant fall, too, when Woodge Fulton and Captain Jack took a tumble that, fortunately, looked considerably nastier than it actually was. And then there was an elimination of a rather different sort: Francis Whittington, who had to make a quick decision to go long with Evento after his approach didn’t quite go to plan, completed the course before discovering he’d been eliminated for piecing together different elements from the two different long routes and doubling up on lettered elements in the process.

All this might add up to look like that grand oversimplification, ‘a bad day for the sport.’ But was it? Or was it indicative of a deeper-rooted problem and, as such, a welcome opportunity to make a positive change within our sport?

Consider this: although it’s an inarguably tough course, Burghley was made to look smooth, sensible, and almost easy by the cream of the crop, who rightly rose to the top throughout the day. Compare this to some of the more contentious courses of the past few years, like Pierre Michelet‘s Pau course in 2017 – even the fast rounds from top riders looked difficult on that track, which saw some of the very best in the world falter. So are the problems today the result of a track that was too tough – a notion most of the week’s competitors would appear to disagree with – or are they a spotlight on a gap in the education of less experienced riders?

Overnight leader Pippa Funnell thinks so.

“It’s really important on the national circuit that the courses add up to become a solid preparation for this level,” she says. “There isn’t be an easy track for qualification, a cheap qualification. Bramham is always a good indicator for [riders] coming here, but they have to be able to see a distance, or the accumulative effect can take its toll on the horses.”

Qualification, after all, doesn’t indicate readiness – and course designer Captain Mark Phillips points out that his job is to create a course that tests the best, and so riders need to be prepared for a suitably tough course.

“I feel a bit battered and bruised – I’ve always been told to make Burghley Burghley, and it was Burghley. I have very mixed emotions,” he says. “You don’t set out to see half the field finish – you want to see a lot more. But everyone said at the beginning that you’ve got to ride forward, and it’s sad that we saw too many people not riding forward. We were really missing the likes of Mark Todd, Andrew Nicholson, Tina Cook, and so on in this field. In many ways, we had a weakened field today, and to be honest, that showed. What pleased me is that [through the day] we saw every fence ridden well, and a lot of people made it look really easy, which is what should happen. There wasn’t one fence I thought I shouldn’t have, or that I thought was unfair – in my heart of hearts, I don’t think I made it too hard. If you have to lower the standard for the field, I don’t think that’s what the sport should be about.”

But, continues the Captain, “it was a wonderful day for frangible technology. We’ve probably broken a record [for the most pins broken, 16] but no horse or rider got hurt. We’re still working on the technology – a couple of people broke frangibles and I thought they were unlucky, but others hit the fences harder and they didn’t. The world of frangible technology is a developing one, and there will always be good and bad luck stories.”

So what’s next? Before we head into the showjumping, there’s the final horse inspection to get through – that takes place at 9.00 a.m. local time/4.00 a.m. EST, and as always, we’ll be bringing you a full report and image gallery, as well as live-tweeting throughout. Then, we’ll head into the first session of showjumping at 10.30 a.m./5.30 a.m. EST. Look out for times in the trot-up report – and until then, Go Eventing!

#LRBHT19: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Form Guide, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

The 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials coverage is brought to you in partnership with the team at Voltaire Design United Kingdom. Going to Burghley? Head to Voltaire Design in the World of the Horse and meet the team of Sports Saddle Specialists, arrange a free, totally no-obligation fitting for you and your horse, or indulge in the Deal of the Day. Put a deposit on a new saddle during the event, and you’ll receive a matching bridle – free! Looking for a bargain? Head to Voltaire Design’s sister stand, EquiTack, to check out their premium pre-loved saddles at rock-bottom prices.

Riders React to the Burghley Cross-Country Course

By on Sep 6, 2019 7:32 pm -

The feeling as you finish: Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy cross the line in 2018. Photo by Peter Nixon.

And so the big one looms once again: it’s cross-country time at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. Want to brush up on your knowledge of the course? Check out our comprehensive preview, featuring an in-depth and fascinating course walk video with course designer Captain Mark Phillips. Find your favourites to follow on the live-stream by checking the ride times for tomorrow. Then, check out what some of our competitors have to say about the challenge ahead…

THE RIDERS REACT:

Pippa Funnell (1st): “I’ve walked it with my best friend, Tina Cook – so any problems tomorrow, I can blame on her! He’s had some blips, but we want to try to eradicate the blips – he’s a horse I’ve thought a lot of, but he’s had hiccups along the way. I’ll have to ride his balance a little bit – he can fall on his head and shoulders on cross-country. He’s a rookie, so I’ve got to ride him in the frame of mind I rode with last week [at the European Championships]. You can’t do a nice easy trip – you’ve got to get stuck in and be bold.

Because of the size of the fences, it’s important to give them as good a ride as possible. If you start seeing bad strides, it makes them much bigger. I’ll have to concentrate from beginning to end, because of [MGH Grafton Street’s] sense of humour.”

Oliver Townend (2nd): “I don’t look forward to jumping any of them! I’ve only managed to walk it once so far, as I’ve been suffering a little bit.”

Izzy Taylor (3rd): “It’s a big track and a tough track, and we’ll have to think from the beginning to the very end. There’s no fence to not be concentrating on; the middle of the course is very intense, but that doesn’t take away from the rest of the course. The ground walks very well, but it often rides softer – but they manage it very well here.

[Springpower] is very positive and wants to get on with life, so I need to make sure he’s staying with me as he does so.”

Lauren Kieffer (4th): “I’m not here for experience – I promised the owner that if I came, I’d give it a crack, so we’ll give it a crack or go home trying. But we have Plan Bs, too, as anything can go wrong in the combinations and you need to think really fast to be able to get out of it. He may go out there and say, ‘holy crap! This is different than anything I’ve ever seen!’ Or he might attack it, which is much more him. He’s an Arabian, so the fitness will be okay.”

Piggy French (=5th): “You’ve got to wipe the slate clean before cross-country and take each stage as it comes. She’s a true Burghley horse – our preparation hasn’t been great since Badminton, and I won’t have that in the back of my mind, but I need to make sure she’s feeling her best. She’s got a massive heart and is such a trier – all that helps.

I hate the double of gates [at the lake, fence 16]. I think it’s a horrible fence and Mark Phillips has been brave at that stage in the course. When I jump gates I always turn around to check they’re still standing. We all trust Mark completely, but I’d quite like to bypass it!

The course is enormous, but it’s fair – there’s nothing there to catch us out.”

Jonelle Price (=7th): “The ground here is world class – the best I’ve ever seen in the world.[What make the course tough] is the accumulative effect of big fence after big fence – that’s unique to Burghley. [Faerie Dianimo] is such a dynamic, careful little jumper, which is why I’ve looked after her  a little bit. You never know if you’ve got a Burghley horse until you’re out there, but I think she is, which is why I’ve brought her.”

Eliza Stoddart (=9th): “The first time I walked it, I did it in the dark – so luckily, I couldn’t see some of the fences!

Having not ridden here before, I don’t know what [Priorspark Opposition Free] should feel like at each stage, so I walked the course again with Pippa Funnell and Piggy French, and they told me what he might feel like, and then Chris Bartle said, ‘Eliza, you’re not here for experience – you’re here to do well.’ He’s a very genuine horse, and there are quite a lot of long routes, so you just have to be sensible for your horse. I’ll just break it up into manageable pieces.

I used to come to hunter trials here when I was a kid, and I’d sit on the edge of the Leaf Pit with my mates. We’d say we were the Three Musketeers and we’d do Burghley one day.”

Tim Price (=9th, =11th, and 20th): “Everyone knows what they’re about – you’ve got to do your own job, and your own game, and I’ve got three chances to get it right. The course, by and large, is very cleverly designed. It’s challenging, and I look forward to it.

You’ve got to start in a way that allows them to get into the course, but not at the expense of the time. It’s intense, and you’ve got a lot of obstacles early on. That will affect my three in different ways – Xavier Faer needs to be on his game early on. Once you get up Winners’ Avenue and through the Dairy Mound, you’re ticking boxes – though I don’t say that in a casual way.”

The aftermath. Photo by Peter Nixon.

Sarah Bullimore (=11th): “The first part is heavy with questions, and you have to negotiate them and also be quick. There’s a couple of similar questions, but an awful lot of new questions – some of them are similar but have been tweaked. The terrain here is massively influential, not just on the fences, but on the time.

Reve du Rouet has got so much scope and ability – I just have to direct it in the right way. It’s not like riding a machine; they have a brain too.”

Sebastien Cavaillon (13th): “Its bigger in the middle of the course, though the technicality is similar [to other five-stars]. It’s uphill, it’s downhill – it’s much more difficult than Badminton or Pau.”

Gemma Tattersall (=14th and 28th): “I have two different plans, but they’re both fast, bold cross-country horses. I can bring the information back from Arctic Soul’s round to use for Santiago Bay. It’s the biggest track I’ve ever seen in my life, and that suits me! Obviously anything can happen, and Arctic Soul is still a horse, but this is his best event and I’m looking forward to taking the handbrake off.”

Zara Tindall (17th): “I’m going to go out meaning business – with [Class Affair], it’s easier to go straight than to keep turning around. He almost needs a big occasion to make him back off and not be so buzzy. Obviously you have to have a plan B, but we want to be economical.”

Georgie Spence (18th): “It’s big – it’s always big! – but it looks particularly big in some places. The Maltings seems to walk on four-and-a-half strides, and it’s hard to decide whether to do the four of the five. It all seems jumpable, bit it’s all there.”

Will Furlong (19th): “We’ve done a couple of Badmintons now, and I think I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be! The middle section from the water onward will be intense, and where the problems will come. If you can get around to the Cottesmore Leap, it’s quite a nice ride home and downhill, too. I’m seventh on so I’ll have to stick to my plan – it’s nice, actually, because you can overanalyse by watching and really, you know your horse best.”

Ludwig Svennerstal (=21st): “It’s a good course, and always Mark Phillips builds a good course. It’s going to be very demanding, but it walks very fair. It’s very tough, but that’s what you expect here.”

Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet at the Maltings. Photo by Peter Nixon.

Doug Payne (=21st): “It’s a tremendous place – just having a walk around, it’s incredible. There’s no stone or blade of grass left unturned, and the course is beautifully presented. I watched as many videos as possible, and I find the most value in helmet cams – I watched Tim Price’s round from last year, which gives you an idea of where you’re going and what comes up next.

I might go long at the Leaf Pit, as it’s unpredictable, and you won’t lose too much time. There’s trouble that can be had from beginning to end. I’m lucky to have the horse I have – he’s an absolute machine on cross-country. You just have to hope you’re fit enough. You wouldn’t want to enter here questioning if you’re ready – you need an abundance of confidence.”

Ben Hobday (=21st): “[Harelaw Wizard] has got it in him to go fast – with him, it’s the brakes that can sometimes go wrong! He’s very brave, and he’s also very strong.”

Will Coleman (26th): “This, to me, is the epitome of our sport – I value it above all others. It’s the most pure form of our sport that’s left – it’s a true cross-country dominated event. The Maltings fences are the biggest jumps I’ve ever seen.”

Johan Lundin (27th): “This is one of the biggest courses I’ve ever seen – it’s inviting for the horses, but frightening for the riders!”

Becky Woolven (30th): “It’s very hilly, and there are a lot of questions in one area. I do feel happy having done Luhmühlen with DHI Babette K – she was bold and straight, which does give me confidence, but she’ll never have experienced a test like this.”

David Britnell (32nd): “I’m itching to get out there! There’s a little bit more width in places [than at Badminton], but nothing Continuity can’t read. [Having a long partnership] gives you a feeling of ease where others may have anxiety and doubt – you know how he’ll read things. It’s organic; you feel, you don’t think.”

Buck Davidson (=34th): “Of any event, this is the biggest, and it’s always a dream come true to be here. I’d like to see Mark Phillips’ measuring tape, though! The Dairy Mound and the Maltings are for real serious – and my little horse has never seen crowds, and is a little bit spooky. You need a galloping horse, and a brave horse, and I think Jak is that.”

Emma Hyslop-Webb (=34th): “The Maltings will be tough – it’s not the fences, it’s putting them together, and you have to decide whether to go on four or five strides. The nice thing is that the Captain releases the course video, so you can train the lines at home – I train with Caroline Moore, and we’ve trained over a lot of them. Burghley really is the pinnacle of the sport – I’ve got my whole team here so they know what the end goal is that we’re producing the young horses for.”

James Sommerville (=37th): “I got run away with at the end of Blair last year, so stamina shouldn’t be a problem! Everything here seems to have extra elements – I don’t remember seeing Ds and Es at Badminton. It’s big jumping all the way with very few let-up fences. Winners’ Avenue is certainly a long way – I knew it was a long gallop, but you don’t quite realise how long it is from the gates to the Cottesmore Leap. It’s a good minute of galloping.

Some of the long routes are quite long, but some are as quick as the short routes. I’m having half a glance at the Leaf Pit, though. I’m in a good position in that I’ll get to see how it rides.”

Francis Whittington (=39th): “I intend to go long at the Leaf Pit – I don’t see a reason to jump that big drop, and it’s better to keep him moving round. How do you prepare for the Leaf Pit? I remember coming to the edge of it the first time I ever walked it and thinking, ‘I’m a goner!’ I’ve got a VHS tape that I watch sometimes of that round, and the commentator says, ‘Francis Whittington – reckless at the Leaf Pit!’ I like to think I’ve improved since then! For Evento, it’s an ideal course – we’ll grab it with both hands.”

Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class take the scenic route. Photo by Peter Nixon.

Andrea Baxter (46th): “It’s the same track as last year – in a way, it’s not as technical, but it’s bigger, and when the technical things come up, they come out of nowhere.”

Dom Schramm (53rd): “They’re huge – I got up to the Leaf Pit and was like, ‘I don’t even know if this is possible!’ I guess it is, because they do it every year – part of me is terrified, and part of me wants to give it everything we’ve got. I wouldn’t want to be on a whippet that runs out of jump at the end.”

Matt Heath (=54th): “I’ve been here six times, and it’s the hardest I’ve ever seen. It’s tough out there this year – because it’s different, you start to think it’s bigger and stronger. But Mark has been very kind in that once you’ve got to the top of the hill, he helps us out from there – last year, there was a nasty skinny at the Dairy Mound, but he’s taken that out this year.

I’ll watch the first group of riders go, because you’ve got some of the best in the world in there – they’ll give us an indication of how it’s riding, but I won’t watch after that.”

Lillian Heard (=54th): “I don’t want to have a 20 but I want to be quicker, too, so I won’t take too many long routes. I’m not very good with drops, so the Leaf Pit is my concern – but it’s a long long-route. [LCC Barnaby] is good on cross-country, so I have to be too – but he’s up for it!

I love Kentucky, but this feels like a different sport – it’s as big and as bad as it gets, which makes the first phase a little less important.”

Imogen Murray (60th): “There’s a couple of places where you have options, where one route isn’t actually quicker than the other. The Trout Hatchery is a lot scarier this year – it’s very big. You can’t go to sleep on course out there at any point.”

George Hilton-Jones (=63rd): “I’m still not sure what I’m going to do at the Rolex Combination – the two routes don’t have much of a time difference. It’s a big, impressive track, and it’s what most of us have dreamt of, tackling the biggest course in the world. I’ll probably go long at the Leaf Pit – [Efraim] gets quite strong and forward, so I’ll have to see whether I can get enough control to just step off.”

Woodge Fulton (65th): “He’s an excellent practice horse and super honest – if I don’t mess up, he’ll jump all the jumps.”

Ginny Howe (66th): “As a child, you always look at the Cottesmore Leap, so it’ll be nice to get over that and get a nice picture. I’ll go long at the Rolex Combination – it’s [Undalgo de Windsor’s] first time at the level, and it’s a strong enough middle question – and you don’t lose that much time on the long route. There’s not one small fence, really, but you don’t come to Burghley for any other reason. I’m hoping he’s the right horse to take me round.”

Kirsty Short (67th): “After fence eight, it’s our course – but up till then, I’ll need to keep [Bouncer] steady and together. They’ve got to come into the main arena and be short and nippy, and then there’s a skinny before the Leap Pit where there’s normally a big oxer – and it’s a tight turn, too. It’ll be tough for a big-jumping horse. From then on, it’s a good galloping course.”

The US riders (plus honorary yank Dom Schramm) will ride at the following times:

  • Will Coleman & Tight Lines – 11:55 a.m. (6:55 a.m. EST)
  • Andrea Baxter & Indy 500 – 12:11 p.m. (7:11 a.m. EST)
  • Ariel Grald & Leamore Master Plan – 12:31 p.m. (7:31 a.m EST)
  • Dom Schramm & Bolytair B – 12:47 p.m. (7:47 a.m. EST)
  • Doug Payne & Vandiver – 1:07 p.m. (8:07 a.m. EST)
  • Liz Halliday-Sharp & Deniro Z – 1:35 p.m. (8:35 a.m. EST)
  • Chris Talley & Unmarked Bills – 1:55 p.m. (8:55 a.m. EST)
  • Hannah Sue Burnett & Harbour Pilot – 2:03 p.m. (9:03 a.m. EST)
  • Buck Davidson & Jak My Style – 2:19 p.m. (9:19 a.m. EST)
  • Lillian Heard & LCC Barnaby – 2:27 p.m. (9:27 p.m. EST)
  • Woodge Fulton & Captain Jack – 3:03 p.m. (10:03 a.m. EST)
  • Lauren Kieffer & Vermiculus – 3:07 p.m. (10:07 a.m. EST)

To all our competitors heading out of the start box tomorrow: have fun, stay safe, and we’ll see you on the other side. Go Eventing.

#LRBHT19: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Form Guide, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

The 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials coverage is brought to you in partnership with the team at Voltaire Design United Kingdom. Going to Burghley? Head to Voltaire Design in the World of the Horse and meet the team of Sports Saddle Specialists, arrange a free, totally no-obligation fitting for you and your horse, or indulge in the Deal of the Day. Put a deposit on a new saddle during the event, and you’ll receive a matching bridle – free! Looking for a bargain? Head to Voltaire Design’s sister stand, EquiTack, to check out their premium pre-loved saddles at rock-bottom prices.

Friday Afternoon at Burghley: Phenomenal Funnell Leads the Way

By on Sep 6, 2019 1:43 pm -

Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street take their biggest leaderboard yet. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

“At Tattersalls my exact words were, ‘I’m not retiring until I get to the bottom of this little bugger!'” laughs Pippa Funnell, the former Grand Slam victor and our dressage leader with MGH Grafton Street. For those of you who keenly follow the sport – and, indeed, our reports from across the country – it should come as no surprise to see the Padraig McCarthy-sourced gelding at the top once again, nor to see him boasting such a considerable lead on his score of 22.8. But if you know MGH Grafton Street as a reliable first-phase performer you know, too, that he can be somewhat less consistent across the country. It’s that Tattersalls performance that Pippa holds onto: in a commanding lead after the first-phase, the gelding stopped at an innocuous drop as Pippa adjusted him for the following corner, dropping them well out of contention.

“He’s got loads of ability, but he can just get the last laugh – he’s a real comedian,” says Pippa, who rides the horse for long-time owners Jonathan and Jane Clarke. “But I’ve walked the course with my best friend, Tina Cook, so if I have any problems tomorrow I can blame them on her!”

Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The first battle, though, was the first phase – and although the horse scores remarkably well each time he comes out, today’s test was the first time that Pippa thought he felt as good as the scores suggested.

“He’s an attractive horse to look at, but the judges actually tend to like him more than the feeling I get – which is a nice way around to have it,” concedes Pippa. “He’s short-coupled and can feel stiff in the back, and it’s a bit like riding round on a pogo stick.”

Pippa’s decisive, precise riding today came down to two things: firstly, a stern word with herself – “last night I was thinking, ‘it’s ridiculous to have Billy Walk On so far down the field when he’s usually right up there’; I told myself off!” – and secondly, an interesting warm-up tactic, taught to her by long-term coach and mentor Ruth McMullen. In the collecting ring, just moments before her test, she continued to school the horse as normal – but with one hand behind her back.

“It means I can’t start niggling with my hands, and it’s a reminder to turn with my legs, not my reins,” she explains. “For the last few minutes, I can just focus on myself, not him – it’s actually something I used at the Olympics with Billy the Biz, too. It really helped me, and it brought him up through his withers. It gives him something to focus on, and it puts me in a little zone, rather than focusing on everyone else. Yesterday, I got too hooked up on riding the movements from the test – with this horse, I know he can do the movements, but I needed to get the basics. If they’re there, everything else slots into place.”

Pippa will bring just the overnight leader forward to cross-country – Billy Walk On, placed fourteenth after dressage, will reroute to Blenheim, a manoeuvre designed to give the rangy youngster his best chance of a positive, competitive run after Pippa’s week away at the Europeans fractured her training plans.

Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class settle for second. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

2017 champions Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class couldn’t quite usurp the lead, though their 25.3 and second place should be well worth raising a glass of something naughty to, anyway. Or, well, it would be – but for the fact that Oliver hasn’t been able to actually walk tomorrow’s course properly yet.

“I’ve been suffering a little bit,” admits Oliver, who injured his back earlier in the week, and has barely been able to walk or ride since. As a result, he had to withdraw his second entry, the first-timer Ulises. “It’s been a little bit tricky. I’ve had a lot of physio in my career, obviously, but what Ash Wallace, the Team GBR physic, has done since Wednesday has been nothing short of a miracle.”

Despite his own physical limitations, he produced a test with all the consistency and sprinkling of sparkle we’ve come to expect from the Courage II gelding, who has never finished outside of the top five in his four five-star runs.

“Two years ago [when he won here on his debut], he was a novice, really – I remember I was still putting flying changes into him in the warm-up,” says Oliver. “He’s become a lot stronger, and a lot more established since then – but if I could go in again, I’d just get him revved up a bit more. He was very relaxed, and I actually had to kick him on a bit in the walk.”

Although ‘Thomas’ is a reliable low-20s performer – and briefly held the record for the lowest-ever dressage score at Badminton, quickly eclipsed by stablemate Cillnabradden Evo – Oliver doesn’t consider this the horse’s best phase.

“That’s not his strongest bit, I don’t think – but tomorrow’s another day, and the best bits are hopefully to come,” he says. “He’s proven himself here before, and hopefully he’ll do it again, but it’s just lovely to have a horse of this calibre at these sort of events. He’s still only twelve, and he’s not yet finished improving – we’ve not seen his best, yet.”

But how will Oliver make sure he’s at his best before giving the Burghley course another go?

“I don’t know what Izzy’s got planned for me tonight,” he laughs, shooting a sidelong glance at his girlfriend, who sits just behind him on the leaderboard. “She’ll probably spike my drink and give me a kick in the back!”

Springpower shows off his potential with Izzy Taylor. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

“He’s got a lot of movement, but he’s not entirely able to control it at the moment,” says Izzy Taylor, placed third overnight with the ‘cheeky’ Springpower, who was second in the Blenheim eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S last season. Though he’s always shown enormous promise in this phase, his previous marks have been somewhat scuppered by a proclivity for naughtiness – but today, in his second five-star start, he looked nothing if not professional, scoring 25.6 to slot in less than half a penalty behind the 2017 winners.

“He’s still green at the level – he went to Badminton [and did his test] on the Friday afternoon, which went to his head a bit, so we had a lot of work to do,” says Izzy. “The cameras are very close in there, so he got a bit tense, but it’s still so exciting – there’s so much more to come, and I’ve always been excited about him since day one. I just had to say to him, ‘it’s alright, we’re still together, I’m still here – let’s go and do this.’ The experience will be fantastic for him.”

Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus battle the elements. Photo by Tim Wilkinson/Eventing Images.

Lauren Kieffer and the diminutive Anglo-Arab Vermiculus stormed into a late lead this afternoon, and by the end of the day, they remain in fourth place and best of the US riders on their score of 26.7 – yet another personal best, despite some grumblings of harsh marking across the board.

“I’m thrilled with him,” says Lauren, who began her test in heavy rain showers. “He hates the rain, and when it started coming down in [the collecting ring] he kept trying to turn his butt to it – I thought we’d just be trying to survive in there!”

Ultimately, though, the rain proved a surprise advantage to the gelding, who lives out all year round and goes into ‘survival mode’ against the elements as a result.

“In canter he can get a bit stuck and fresh, and he can throw in some changes – but the rain was letting up, and I think he was so thrilled that he was like, ‘I’ll behave, just give me the sun!'”

For Lauren, who finished twelfth here in 2017 with Veronica, Vermiculus isn’t just an exciting part of her competitive string – he’s a poignant link to the past, too. He’s a full brother to Snooze Alarm, the horse with whom she made the transition from childhood rider to five-star competition.

“He was my first-ever horse, and it was a bit of a fairytale – I got him as a kid, and did my first Kentucky on him,” she explains. “After he retired, I didn’t really have any other horses, so I thought I’d start with what I knew, and so I brought his full brother – Vermiculus. He was a two-year-old at the time, and he was so feral that I didn’t manage to catch him until he was four.”

Now, Vermiculus is part of a formidable group of US event horses owned by Jacqueline Mars, arguably the patron saint of upper-level eventing in the country.

“She’s a godsend, and our fairy godmother – she deserves this more than any of us,” says Lauren. “I promised that if I came, I’d give it a crack – so we’ll give it a crack or go home crying.”

Jonelle Price and Faerie Dianimo dazzle in the early movements. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The Price family are a formidable force at any event, and even after the late withdrawal of top contender Classic Moet, Jonelle Price still finds herself comfortably within the top ten after dressage. Riding Burghley debutante and Luhmühlen winner Faerie Dianimo, she scored a 28.4 to sit in equal seventh place with Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z. She started her test with a bang, scoring a 10 for her first halt, and produced a nearly impeccable test for the first two-thirds, in which the flashy mare – a maternal half-sister to fellow entrant Xavier Faer – showed her remarkable trot work at its best. ‘Like Marilyn Monroe,’ reads the horse’s bio on the Prices’ website, ‘she’s at her best in front of a crowd’ – and that certainly shone through for the first half of today’s test. But while the medium trots were a highlight, some marks slipped away in the latter part of the canter work, in which she showed some tension and began to slip behind the vertical.

“It’s not quite the start I’d hoped for,” says Jonelle, who scored a 27.1 when winning the German five-star last year with the mare. “If I can get her right in those seven minute, she can be quite special. I thought, at the grand old age of fourteen, that she’d grown a bit more sedentary – but she surprised me by being a little hot in there, and then we had a bit of tension.”

Jonelle had tried a new tactic with the mare this week, riding and preparing her slightly less than usual for this phase – “but it caught up with me,” she says with a rueful smile. “She dances to the beat of her own drum, for sure – she’s certainly a hot little thing, and hopefully that serves us well tomorrow, but it would have been nice to have a few extra seconds up our sleeves!”

But a spot in the top ten at Burghley is enough to continue the fight for the win and, as Jonelle laughs, “we’re in front of the hubby, so that’s always a good start!”

Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy round out a star-studded top ten. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The reigning Burghley champions might have hoped for something better, but a 28.7 isn’t too shabby a place to start for Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy, who sit in equal ninth place with yesterday’s leaders Eliza Stoddart and Priorspark Opposition Free – the only competitors in yesterday’s group to remain in the top ten.

“That’s the best he’s been at this level, but I was disappointed with the score,” says Tim. “He’s not flashy, but he’s a serious workman. I’d hoped and thought that this guy would be higher up the leaderboard; he stayed right with me, but he doesn’t have that ‘wow’ that some of the others do.”

Tim is the only rider in the field with three horses this week, and all three sit in the top twenty as we move ahead to cross-country: Bango, tenth here last year, sits just behind stablemate Oz in equal eleventh, while Xavier Faer, who was third at Kentucky this spring, sits twentieth.

Woodge Fulton and Captain Jack begin their last hurrah in a busy summer abroad. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

It’s been a long and productive summer for Woodge Fulton who, powered by the $45,000 Wilton Fair Grant, has spent a season training in Germany with Dirk Schrade. Her adventure began with a successful first trip to Badminton, and now she’s back at Burghley for her last hurrah before she heads home – and this, for her, is the event that matters the most, and the one at which she and her ex-racehorse Captain Jack have unfinished business. Though they came here in 2017 and jumped clear across the country – and, in fact, they’ve never done otherwise in their four five-star starts – they ultimately withdrew before the final phase.

Today, the heavens opened just in time for their dressage, though wise-beyond-her-years Woodge and the experienced sixteen-year-old gelding didn’t succumb to the conditions. Their score of 45.4 might leave them out of the hunt competitively in 65th place overnight but, she sagely points out, “you have to be prepared to be a little bit embarrassed if you want to improve.”

“He’s a bit of a new man, but I’m still riding the old one,” she says. “Dirk has been great in getting him better, but now it’s on me to ride this new horse I’m on.”

Woodge’s go-for-it ethos has been the driving force behind her year abroad, which has seen her compete not just her own horse, but a number of young horses owned by Dirk.

“I think it’s really important to get out of your comfort zone,” she explains. “We [US riders] can’t just compete against each other all the time and lose sight of the bigger picture.”

Riding with Dirk hasn’t just been a positive influence competitively – it’s also allowed her a comprehensive insight into training.

“I can’t remember a time I’ve been riding in the ring alone there, which has been so useful,” says the 23-year-old rider, who shares arena space at Dirk’s with dressage riders, showjumpers, eventers, and stable jockey, who produce the myriad sales horses at the property. All roads lead here – and, most pertinently, to tomorrow’s cross-country track, over which Woodge is hoping to produce the goods yet again.

“I had a text from Dirk this morning, saying ‘good luck – try not to mess it up!'” she grins. “I mean, thanks, coach!”

Cross-country commences tomorrow morning from 11.15 a.m. local time/6.15 a.m. Eastern time, with Tim Price and Bango leading the way. Stay tuned for a look at the course from the riders’ perspective, and in the meantime, revisit our course preview to prepare yourself for the exciting day ahead.

Until then? We’ll be off to light a candle under our poster of Pippa and Supreme Rock, which has been Sellotaped to the walls of EN HQ since the mid-90s. Fangirls? Guilty as charged.

Go Eventing!

The top ten at the conclusion of dressage at the 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.

#LRBHT19: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Form Guide, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

The 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials coverage is brought to you in partnership with the team at Voltaire Design United Kingdom. Going to Burghley? Head to Voltaire Design in the World of the Horse and meet the team of Sports Saddle Specialists, arrange a free, totally no-obligation fitting for you and your horse, or indulge in the Deal of the Day. Put a deposit on a new saddle during the event, and you’ll receive a matching bridle – free! Looking for a bargain? Head to Voltaire Design’s sister stand, EquiTack, to check out their premium pre-loved saddles at rock-bottom prices.

Friday Morning at Burghley: A British/American Face-Off

By on Sep 6, 2019 9:10 am -

Big pats for Vanir Kamira after a lead-equalling performance. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

There’s nothing we value more than consistency over two days of dressage, but the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials took our pleas to Eventing Jesus perhaps a little too literally, dishing out more of the same blustery, spooky weather that plagued us yesterday. But despite the conditions – and the little bit of extra pizzazz they can bring to a fit horse’s dressage test – we were witness to some top-class performances across the board in the penultimate session of dressage this morning.

To add to the excitement? We saw a total changing of the guard in the top three – and a tie for first place, held by one of Britain’s finest and one of the USA’s best.

Hannah-Sue Burnett and Harbour Pilot move into a joint lead. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Hannah Sue Burnett could have been forgiven if she’d come to Burghley fearing the worst for this phase – after all, Harbour Pilot had fizzed over entirely at Kentucky, putting a 39.6 on the board and precluding a top-ten finish for the pair. But what’s life, and sport, without keeping those competitive embers well-stoked? And so Hannah Sue rode for every mark, delivering a five-star personal best of 26.9 for the horse to hold onto provisional equal-first place.

“He was awesome – that was definitely the best test we’ve done at this level, and for him to come out and let me really ride him was so exciting,” she says with a broad smile. “He’s normally pretty good, but we had a really disappointing test at Kentucky, where he exploded, so I rode him in a lot more here to make sure he didn’t get nervous. He just got better and better in the ring – he was like my old reliable horse that I used to have.”

Ever the competitor, a nevertheless delighted Hannah Sue reflects, “I could have gone a bit crazier in the extended canter, but I didn’t want to push it! But we’ve got to get it at its best, because these guys over here are pretty good.”

Piggy French and Vanir Kamira start their quest for a second Grand Slam leg. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Pretty good may be a bit of an understatement, and Hannah Sue shares the top spot with one of the very best: Badminton winners Piggy French and Vanir Kamira equalled their 26.9, despite a less-than-ideal summer of preparation.

“She’s not a dressage horse, so nailing the ‘clear round’ is what’s important with her,” explains Piggy, who took her first five-star victory this spring from a starting score of 26. “She finds some things hard – like the canter to trot transition on the centre line. It’s the simple things that are hard for her, but she kept her head and had presence. She’s not naturally a fancy horse, so it’s about keeping her on the right side of the line – and it’s a very fine line.”

Piggy came forward with some trepidation about how the quirky Irish Sport Horse mare might react to the main arena. Though the mare has become a consistent mid-to-high 20s performer, this is her first major appearance since that Badminton, at which she enjoyed a lengthy and exciting victory gallop.

“I really milked the Badminton prize-giving – I went round and round, so I thought maybe she’d go in and get excited, but she’s obvious getting older and wiser,” she laughs. So old and wise, in fact, that we saw her deliver a textbook transition into the tough stretchy canter circle, which remained supple, through, and expressive.

‘Tilly’, who went to stud for her post-Badminton holiday to make use of the embryo transfer she won for being the competition’s best mare, has had larger hurdles to overcome on her way back to five-star, though. Her stay at the stud lasted eight weeks – longer than usual – while they waited for her to cycle, and in the meantime, they opted to make a farriery change. For the mare, who Piggy describes as “a high-maintenance gal,” it was a big step in the wrong direction.

“She’s gone there enough times that we expected it all to stay the same,” says Piggy. “Then, we had eight weeks to get her fit enough – and she was fat from being out, so when you’ve got a horse with delicate feet, it’s not an ideal length of time.”

After noticing that the mare was walking cautiously when being led out to the field, Piggy opted for drastic action, and now the mare has pads to redistribute and diminish some of the pressure. But the rider, who currently ranks third in the world, remains cautious – particularly after a surprise stop at a water jump in a one-day event at Keysoe.

“Some horses have a stop and need to go school water and get revved up again – she’s not one of them,” says Piggy. “Obviously you’ve got to wipe the slate clean before you go cross-country [at a five-star] and take each stage as it comes – but I wouldn’t say I’m confident. If she gets to the Leaf Pit and doesn’t want to jump or isn’t comfortable, I’ll put my hand up.”

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Burghley has been a major goal for UK-based American Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z, who are on the hunt for redemption after unlucky blips at Kentucky and Aachen this year. But if there’s one phase in which their performance never comes into doubt, it’s this one: despite an ongoing struggle to nail down the changes, they’re perennially correct, geometrically accurate, and flashy between the boards. Today, they find themselves in provisional third place after putting a 28.4 on the board, once again hinting that when those changes are solidified, they’ll be flirting with the very low 20s.

“He was such a good boy – I’m absolutely thrilled,” says Liz, who has worked closely with leading dressage trainer Pammy Hutton to fine-tune the buttons. “He finds the flying changes mechanically difficult, and they’re still definitely a work in progress, so I really concentrated on trying to get as many eights as I could elsewhere. He always give his all for me, though.”

This is a first Burghley for the prolific and talented Liz, who combines a busy career eventing in the UK and the US with a sideline in race driving. That proclivity for speed and toughness should serve her well this week – and so, too, should the learning curves of this season, which haven’t dented the incredibly talented gelding’s enthusiasm at all.

From fourth to eighth place, the lay of the land looks familiar: yesterday’s leaders Eliza Stoddart and Priorspark Opposition Free sit fourth, followed by Tim Price and Bango (5th), Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet (6th), Sebastien Cavaillon and Sarah d’Argouges (7th), and Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On (8th).

Richard Jones and Alfies Clover chase down the big guns. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Richard Jones and Alfies Clover recorded a career-best result here last year, when they finished seventh – but this year, the local rider has the top three in his sights. He made great strides towards that goal this morning, delivering a 30.7 – a significant personal best at the level.

“I’m absolutely delighted with him – dressage isn’t his forte, but that’s four marks better than he’s been in a five-star before. He doesn’t find it easy, but the thing with him is, he doesn’t have a weak link: he’s got everything, all the lateral work, the changes, and he’s not reluctant, but it’s just not easy for him,” says Richard, who lost his wedding ring finger in a lorry park accident in 2017 but debuted the gelding here just three months later for 22nd place.

With an improved finishing result on his mind, Richard puts himself well in the hunt.

“The main thing,” he says, “was getting close to the top guys, and we’ve done that. If you look at the track, and look at the field, I’d still be thinking [I could get] a top-five finish on a 35.”

Buck Davidson and Jak My Style sit just outside the top twenty: “he’s a super cool horse to be around.” Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Although Jak My Style isn’t a true five-star debutante – he did a test at Kentucky, though was withdrawn before cross-country after Buck Davidson suffered a broken collarbone in an earlier round – he comes to Burghley wet behind the ears at the upper levels. But the fourteen-year-old full Thoroughbred, who was struck off before making his racing debut as a result of his bad behaviour, made a professional start to his week, posting a 34.3 to very nearly match his Kentucky test and sit 22nd at the lunch break.

“For him, it’s good – it’s a work in progress in the dressage. The trot is still weak, but his canter and his changes are really good,” says Buck, who took over the ride from former student Justine Dutton after she suffered a plethora of injuries in a rotational fall from the horse in 2017. “She did a great job on him, and I’ve hopefully been able to take it to another level.”

Though Jak flunked out of his racing career, Buck maintains that his brain is one of his greatest assets: “You can teach him something and he does it. He lacks a bit of trot, but he’s got a great brain and he’s a super cool horse to be around. Of course, you’d always like to be better, but it’s [nearly] his personal best, so you can’t really ask for more.”

A run at Kentucky in the spring may have been a crucial part of Buck’s Plan A, but in hindsight, he’s found a silver lining – the horse, he says, “has had six months to get stronger and better. It may have been the best thing for him.”

Now, there’s one goal in mind for the rider, who finished in the top twenty here last year with Park Trader: “If I can stay on [this score] for the whole weekend, I’ll be happy. I’m so fortunate to be here; of any event, this is the biggest, and it’s always a dream come true to be here. I just hope I’ve brought the right horse.”

Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby make their third consecutive Burghley appearance. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Lillian Heard is becoming something of a mainstay at the Lincolnshire five-star, and just like Andrea Baxter yesterday, she returns for a third consecutive year to chase the ultimate goal: a clear round over the biggest course in the world.  Like Andrea, too, she’s followed a trajectory of clear improvement – she failed to complete after falling on course with LCC Barnaby in 2017, and returned last year to complete, incurring 20 penalties along the way.

“It’s nice to be going somewhere you’ve been before – it’s a bit more comfortable every year, because I know where I’m going and what I’m doing,” she says. “I’ve been here three times, yes, but I don’t know when I’ll come again, so I don’t take it for granted.”

Today, she ticked the first-phase box, putting a score of 39.1 on the board for equal 39th place. Their calm, steady test lost some marks in the canter work, in which the Irish Sport Horse gelding lacked in some hind-end activity.

“He can get really hot in the ring and I never know where the line is, but today he was really calm and I rode on the safe side of that line,” explains Lillian. “I should have ridden for more, so I actually got a worse mark than normal – I’m a bit frustrated with myself.”

But this is just one phase of three, and Lillian remains pragmatic and focused on the task ahead: “I love Kentucky so much, but Burghley feels like a different sport. It’s as big and bad as it gets, which makes this bit a little less important.”

Chris Talley and Unmarked Bills add some sparkle – though perhaps a sprinkle too much – between the boards. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Burghley debutantes Chris Talley and Unmarked Bills have had a long road to get here, and it’s been one paved by crowdfunding, rather than grant money. But for the rider, who made his five-star debut at Kentucky this spring with the Thoroughbred gelding, it’s been worth all the hard work.

“It’s pretty special – it’s a pretty magical place, so it’s been an incredible experience so far,” says the rider, who has been hard at work confirming his horse’s connection and rideability in this phase. But preparing for Burghley isn’t just about nailing the dressage, as Chris well knows – and after finishing Kentucky “with plenty of gas in the tank,” he began to build Billy’s fitness further to ready him for the hills. And what do you get when you ask a Burghley-fit horse to stay sedate between the boards? Well, sometimes you end up having to nurture, rather than push.

“It was pretty wild,” laughs Chris of his test, which earned a mark of 40.6 for provisional 46th place. “He struggles with tension a bit in there, and he was quite hot. He’s very fit right now, and so the changes were a little bit early and a little bit excited, and putting my leg on wasn’t quite easy, but he stayed with me, so I’m happy with him.”

We’ve got sixteen combinations left to come in the final session of dressage, so stay tuned for a wrap-up of all the action and the riders’ thoughts on tomorrow’s cross-country challenge, too. Until next time, folks!

The top ten after Friday morning’s dressage session.

#LRBHT19: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Form Guide, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

The 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials coverage is brought to you in partnership with the team at Voltaire Design United Kingdom. Going to Burghley? Head to Voltaire Design in the World of the Horse and meet the team of Sports Saddle Specialists, arrange a free, totally no-obligation fitting for you and your horse, or indulge in the Deal of the Day. Put a deposit on a new saddle during the event, and you’ll receive a matching bridle – free! Looking for a bargain? Head to Voltaire Design’s sister stand, EquiTack, to check out their premium pre-loved saddles at rock-bottom prices.

Thursday Afternoon at Burghley: Bullimore Bangs on the Door

By on Sep 5, 2019 5:33 pm -

Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet move into equal second overnight. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The first day of Burghley dawned cool, crisp, and enormously competitive – but after 34 of the 67 combinations, debutantes Eliza Stoddart and Priorspark Opposition Free still lead the pack on their score of 28.7. But there were big strides made – and an enviable amount of sheer joie de vivre – throughout the leaderboard this afternoon.

(Missed the morning report? Jog your memory here!)

The perennially consistent and enormously tactful Sarah Bullimore moved into equal second place with Tim Price and Bango this afternoon, delivering a score of 29.6 with the fifteen-year-old Reve du Rouet, a son of the notoriously mercurial Balou du Rouet.

“He was a really good boy,” she says. “This wouldn’t be his best phase – he’s very capable, but he doesn’t enjoy it, and he gets nervous of the crowd. But he’s an old pro, really, and he was in the right frame of mind today. It’s never about excitability with him – [any problems are due to] panic and worry.”

Today, though, ‘Blou’ didn’t boil over when faced with the full house – in fact, Sarah found herself sitting on quite the opposite.

“He went a bit quiet in there and when he does that, he just holds himself a bit. It’s a bit frustrating, because it could be great, and it would be lovely to be sat on a 25. There’s a lot of pressure have gone well last year – you always want to better it. But we had a few little mistakes and threw away some marks, and because he went a little shy in the arena, he didn’t show himself as well as he can. I really have to bring out the best in him – he can look relaxed on the outside, but there are voices in his head and all this inner turmoil.”

Reve de Rouet has become – perhaps unfairly – known for his blow-ups in the arena, which have subsided over the last couple of seasons, but which previously saw him attempt to escape at speed from big atmospheres. Sarah, who produced the horse from a three-year-old – “so it’s all my fault,” she laughs – has demonstrated a remarkable level of tact and patience in bringing the best out of the gelding, who missed out on a five-star win by a tenth of a penalty at Pau in 2017.

“We understand each other a lot better now,” she says. “We genuinely believe he’s autistic, because of the way he has to do things – even things like putting him in his stable. He has to turn a certain way, or he gets confused and upset. It’s all a compromise – I have to keep my promises, and I have to hope that he does, too.”

This means that the dressage warm-up has to remain consistent – unlike other horses, Blou can’t be brought up to the collecting ring for a schooling session earlier in the day, and instead, is only brought out just before his test.

“Otherwise,” she says, “he gets upset and offended. I’ve had trainers in the past who have said we have to dominate him, and that’s where we’ve really seen him put his dummy out – and he’s a horse who will hold a grudge.”

But despite his tricky nature, Blou is, and always has been, “a good horse – it’s just about finding what works for him.”

The pair, who were reserves for the British team at the European Championships, are almost certainly one of the most underrated combinations in the sport, and although the Oldenburg gelding is a quirky character, Sarah can’t help but smile when she talks about him. For our part? We look at this combination in much the same way we looked at Jonelle and Classic Moet in early 2018, or Tim and Ringwood Sky last year – the big one is coming, it’s just a matter of when.

Sebastien Cavaillon and Sarah d’Argouges. Photo by Tim Wilkinson/Eventing Images.

France’s Sebastien Cavaillon and his smokey-eyed mare Sarah d’Argouges produced a flashy, polished test to score 29.8 and sit fourth overnight. Though they lost some marks in the end of the test, in which the naturally uphill mare began to over-shorten through the front end – or, as one of our press area pals remarked, concertina! Fancy words! – in the canter work, she still executed clean changes and transitions to remain in the seven-plus zone.

“I’m very happy – it’s a few points better than Badminton,” says Sebastien, who made his five-star debut with the mare at Pau last year, before contesting the Gloucestershire fixture this spring. “She’s a good dressage mare with beautiful paces, but she’s very hot – but here, she was with me, so I’m happy.”

Tim Price makes a second entry into the top ten, taking overnight eighth with Xavier Faer. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On move into fifth overnight, followed by Georgie Spence and Wii Limbo in sixth, and Will Furlong and Collien P 2 in seventh. Reigning champion Tim Price remains in equal second place with Bango, but he adds another horse to the top ten in the form of Xavier Faer, who finished third at Kentucky this year. But unlike his stablemates, ‘Hugo’ struggles in this phase: “he’s a bit of a spooky character, but he kept it together in there,” says Tim, who earned a 31.5 with the gelding, a maternal half-brother to wife Jonelle’s Luhmühlen winner Faerie Dianimo. “There were a few technical problems, and the changes weren’t so flash – but he’s a cross-country horse, not a dressage horse.”

It was accurate riding that saved the day for the occasionally quirky Hugo. “That’s called mopping up marks were you can,” says Tim with a laugh. “He’s not one of those where you go ‘wow!’ in the cadence and the paces. I was a little bit disappointed in myself – he struggles with the connection required for flying changes. I knew what I needed to do, and I didn’t quite get it. I’m pleased with him, but disappointed with myself.”

Doug Payne and Vandiver round out the top ten at the culmination of the first day of dressage. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

A familiar face in an unfamiliar setting completes the top ten. Despite his well-stamped passport, Doug Payne has never been to Burghley – well, not since he was a toddler, anyway.

“I was about my son’s age,” he laughs, “and all I remember is the knee-deep mud – although it could have been about two inches deep!”

But despite a lack of prior experience with the venue, Doug has found a novel way to familiarise himself with the challenge ahead.

“I watched as many videos as possible, and actually, I found the most value in helmet cams,” says Doug, who is a prolific helmet-cam user himself. “I watched Tim Price’s round from last year a few times, and I know a number of the team took advantage, too – you get an idea of where you’re going and what’s going to come up.”

Riding Vandiver, he put a score of 32.1 on the board, matching the horse’s personal best at the level, scored at Kentucky in 2017. This puts them into equal ninth overnight.

“That’s about as good as it gets at the moment,” he says. “It sets us up well – not just here, but for the future, too. He just ran out of gas a little bit as we got to the stretchy canter circle. But the score’s the score, and it won’t be a dressage show – so now, my goal is to finish on it.”

With the first phase in the bag, Doug is making sure to take time to enjoy the experience: “It’s a tremendous place – just having a walk around is incredible, there’s been no stone or blade of grass unturned, and the course is beautifully presented.”

Ben Hobday and Harelaw Wizard. Photo by Tim Wilkinson/Eventing Images.

Fan favourite Ben Hobday holds equal ninth place overnight with the half-Clydesdale Harelaw Wizard, who posted a 32.1 despite a tricky warm-up.

“He’s quite a hot horse,” he says. “He just fluffed one of the changes behind. We have to do a lot of walking just before a test just to keep his heart rate down – he’s half Clydesdale, but also half Thoroughbred, and that Thoroughbred side does come out. But if he’d done in there what he did outside this morning, I might have cried!”

Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan sit 24th after the first day. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Whether you’ve lived twenty minutes down the road all your life, like overnight leader Eliza Stoddart, or whether you’ve had to pack yourself, your horse, and all your hopes and dreams on a plane to get here, there’s one thread that runs consistently through all our riders’ stories: simply to ride on this hallowed turf is the culmination of a childhood dream. For US representative Ariel Grald, who comes here with Leamore Master Plan after a successful debut at Kentucky this spring, it almost beggars belief.

“It’s everything I hoped for and more,” she enthuses after her test, which scored a 38.1 for overnight 24th place. “It’s a real honour to be able to come over from the US, and it’s been a real dream of mine to compete abroad.”

Ariel, who received the Jacqueline B. Mars International Grant from the USET Foundation last month, finished 12th at Kentucky this spring with the ten-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Master Imp x Ardragh Bash), demonstrating a remarkable level of focus when completing the cross-country course with just 6.4 time penalties, despite bringing a flag along for the ride. But there, as today, the dressage proved to be a work-in-progress for the young horse, who suffered some stage fright in the atmospheric main arena.

“He warmed up well, and then just got nervous in there,” explains Ariel. “It’ll be time, strength, and practice with him – I can’t fault him for being nervous. He internalises, but it’ll just take time and mileage for both of us – I’m green, too. Compared to Kentucky, too, you don’t have a lot of room [in the arena here] – and the grass means that there’s less margin for error.”

Ariel’s trip abroad hasn’t brought her straight to Burghley – instead, she’s come via Ireland’s Millstreet International Horse Trials, at which she recorded a top-20 CCI4*-S finish. But the biggest eye-opener for her in Ireland didn’t have anything to do with training or production – instead, it was cultural.

“I was so excited just to see a different atmosphere, and Millstreet was so different from anything in the US,” she explains. “It’s a real cultural thing – you’d never get crowds like this on a Thursday afternoon in the States, so I’ll need to prepare him for that on Saturday, too.”

Dom Schramm and Bolytair B. Photo by Tim Wilkinson/Eventing Images.

Australia’s Dom Schramm – an honourary American, by any standards – posted a 38.7 with Bolytair B for overnight 28th. But in spite of a tumultuous time in between the boards, Dom is thrilled to have finally made it to the UK – a long-term goal that’s been thwarted by roadblocks.

“I felt like I was a bit cursed here, but we finally got on the plane – and everything’s gone to plan so far. He’s come back great from Kentucky, and finally, we’ve had a non-dramatic prep,” he says with a smile. “But he’s a bit of a ticking time bomb – we got into the canter and he was like, ‘HEY! We’re in the Burghley ring!’ I was like, ‘yeah, buddy, keep up – we’ve been in here the whole time!'”

Like Ariel, Eliza, and so many others before him, Dom has been fuelled by dreaming.

“We all grow up with childhood dreams,” he says. “It’s a fire that burns in you from the Pony Club days.”

Dom’s path to the UK has been well-supported by his American copatriots, despite not flying the Stars and Stripes himself.

“I got here, and I was in a separate barn,” says the affable rider, who has been based in the States for nine years. “I wasn’t sure where to put my tack trunks, and those guys said, ‘no, you’re one of us, come use our tack rooms!'”

We’ve got one more action-packed day of dressage ahead of us – but who should you be tuning in for?

  • Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z – 9.38 a.m./4.38 a.m. EST
  • Chris Talley and Unmarked Bills – 10.18 a.m./5.18 a.m. EST
  • Hannah Sue Burnett and Harbour Pilot – 10.34 a.m./5.34 a.m. EST
  • Buck Davidson and Jak My Style – 11.24 a.m./6.24 a.m. EST
  • Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby – 11.40 a.m./6.40 a.m. EST
  • Piggy French and Vanir Kamira – 11.56 a.m./6.56 a.m. EST
  • Jonelle Price and Faerie Dianimo – 2.32 p.m./9.32 a.m. EST
  • Woodge Fulton and Captain Jack – 2.48 p.m./9.48 a.m. EST
  • Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus – 2.56 p.m./9.56 a.m. EST
  • Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street – 3.49 p.m./10.49 a.m. EST
  • Gemma Tattersall and Santiago Bay – 3.57 p.m/10.57 p.m. EST
  • Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class – 4.13 p.m./11.13 a.m. EST
  • Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy – 4.21 p.m./11.21 a.m. EST

Until next time, folks – stay cool and Go Eventing!

The top ten after the first day of dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.

#LRBHT19: Website, Entries, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

The 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials coverage is brought to you in partnership with the team at Voltaire Design United Kingdom. Going to Burghley? Head to Voltaire Design in the World of the Horse and meet the team of Sports Saddle Specialists, arrange a free, totally no-obligation fitting for you and your horse, or indulge in the Deal of the Day. Put a deposit on a new saddle during the event, and you’ll receive a matching bridle – free! Looking for a bargain? Head to Voltaire Design’s sister stand, EquiTack, to check out their premium pre-loved saddles at rock-bottom prices.

Thursday Morning at Burghley: Debutante Delights for Early Lead

By on Sep 5, 2019 9:04 am -

A double of debs come good: Eliza Stoddart and Priorspark Opposition Free take an early lead at Burghley. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

“It’s a wonderful moment – god, I’ve got so many people supporting me here,” says 26-year-old Eliza Stoddart, wiping the tears from her eyes in disbelief. You can’t blame her for being overcome with emotion – after all, it’s not every day you go into the lead in your first crack at Burghley. But while a debutante performance like Eliza’s, which saw her score an impressive 28.7 with Bruce and Anna Staley’s homebred Priorspark Opposition Free, would be an emotional experience for anyone, it’s made even more poignant by the fact that Eliza is a local.

“I’ve come here every year of my life,” she says. “I’ve been here as a Pony Clubber, for the Young Event Horse classes, and just with my friends. It’s awesome to be here – and quite strange, when you’re usually a spectator! I had so many pairs of eyes on me that I knew, so I wanted to do it for them.”

Eliza Stoddart and ‘Razor’ leave no marks behind, presenting a classic picture – helped along by a lucky charm in the form of a silk top hat, originally worn by Eliza’s great-grandmother on the hunting field. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Eliza made her five-star debut earlier this summer, starting – though not completing – at Luhmühlen with Dick O’Malley. But Priorspark Opposition Free, whose stablename is Razor – because he’s so sharp – was never an obvious compatriot for this level. But today, we saw none of his characteristic quirks in the arena, and we even saw our first 10 of the week, which the pair earned in the first halt.

“My horse really tried very hard and was very rideable, so I tried for every inch of every mark. I’ve ridden maybe seven horses for [owner Anna], and he was the one we maybe didn’t expect to make it this far – but he’s awesome. He’s very genuine and he tries; he might not be flashy, but he does the job. At the end of the day, flash isn’t everything – they’ve got to do what you say, and if he gets the marks as a result, that’s amazing,” explains Eliza.

The pair picked up particularly good marks in the canter work, where they demonstrated a correct, supple, and appropriately ambitious stretchy circle and clean, correct changes. But, says Eliza, who learned the art of the trade (and the art of continuous improvement) from Pippa Funnell and Oliver Townend, “I’m annoyed we stepped back in the halt – I heard [judge at C] Nick Burton give it a nine, and then he changed it to a four.”

But if eventing is about winning one moment, and then the next, and then the one after that, then Eliza can certainly sleep well tonight, knowing she eked everything out of this morning’s performance. So, too, can she take pride in the eleven-year-old British-Bred Sport Horse (Fleetwater Opposition x Raunds Freeway), who put in short and sweet international seasons in 2015 and 2017, but only lodged his first full season of FEI competitions last year. We suspect the hard-working up-and-comer won’t take too long to celebrate, though: “I’ve just got some youngsters to school,” she could be heard saying as she dashed across the collecting ring, “but I promise I’ll come back in time for the press conference!”

Reigning Burghley champion Tim Price got the day off to a rollicking good start when he posted a 29.6 with Bango, who was placed tenth here last year.

“It’s the best test of the day, right?” he quipped, making his first appearance of many in the media mixed zone. Tim has saddled himself with a remarkably busy schedule this week – if riding just once around the big, bad Burghley course sounds like more than enough to you, spare a thought for the Kiwi, who’ll tackle it three times, and probably won’t stop grinning throughout. But first, it’s all about laying down those performances between the boards – and the thirteen-year-old Irish Sport Horse Bango set the ball rolling with a personal best at the level.

“He’s not always the most easy in this phase, as most people in the game will know,” says Tim with a laugh. “He’s a redhead, and you have to take everything that comes along with that, generally speaking. We’d call him brittle – he’s good at home, and then he comes out for a test like he’s on eggshells, so my priority was for the test to be smooth and flowing, which it was.”

Tim is the only rider in the field to bring forward three horses – but is it part of a tactical manoeuvre, or is he just a glutton for punishment?

“I had no logical reason not to,” he explains. “I have three horses that are very much this type of horse; they’re brave, bold-jumping geldings, and when you’re preparing for something like this, things can go wrong in the lead-up – just look at Jonelle, who was meant to bring Classic Moet and now she can’t, for a silly little reason. These guys just kept pitching up for work, and here we are with three healthy horses suited to the course. If I have to work a bit harder, that’s my problem, not theirs.”

Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Pippa Funnell must scarcely have landed back at home from the European Championships before she was on the road again, but if she felt lacking in any preparation, it certainly didn’t show in the ring with Billy Walk On. The rangy young horse scored a 29.9, despite losing marks for halting in the wrong place at the end of the test – this is enough to see them sit third at the lunch break.

“I’d like to say that was a blonde moment, but I think it was more of a senior moment,” she laughs, shaking her head. “But it was nearly a clear round, and it’s all very much a work in progress with him – he’s a big, young horse and there are still areas he needs to strengthen. He was a little bit more off the floor at Badminton, but I’ve had to be careful how much work I’ve done this week – I was back on Monday, and we came here on Tuesday, but you can’t overload them with [the missed work] because you’ll make them sore in their bodies.”

Both of Pippa’s entries missed their final planned runs when the rider received an eleventh-hour call-up to head to the Europeans, which throws a spanner in the works of Pippa’s carefully-honed pre-three-day routine: “In they’re training, they’re all established, and that shouldn’t affect it, but I plan a system and it’s all gone to pot.” But, she says, she’s indebted to stable rider Lily Wilson – “the most amazing girl; she’s like gold dust to me” – for holding down the fort and maintaining the horses’ fitness and training in her absence. And, she explains, being part of last week’s silver medal-winning British team does wonders for one’s mindset: “It gave me a huge buzz,” she says. “This is a totally different competition – if you’re having a bad day, you can make a judgment call without letting the whole team down – but I’m in a really good frame of mind.”

Georgie Spence and the experienced Wii Limbo hold onto fourth place on 31.

“I’m delighted with him, and with his performance – he had a few small errors, and though we’d have liked to break into the 20s, there was some inconsistent judging,” she says, citing the wide margin between the 172.5 good marks awarded by Xavier Le Sauce and the 186 granted by Christina Klingspor. But when her horse’s remarkable hind leg activity is pointed out, she laughs: “yes, he likes to stand up on them quite a lot!”

Will Furlong and Collien P 2. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Fifth place is held by Will Furlong and Collien P 2, tackling their first-ever Burghley. They earned a first-phase mark of 31.2 which, though competitive at this early stage, doesn’t quite rival the mid-20s territory we’ve seen them hit before.

“The draw for me probably wasn’t ideal – there’s a common feeling that judges don’t get warmed up until later,” he says. “You always feel like you did a bit better than the marks suggest, though.”

With two Badmintons and a Pau run under his belt, does the former under-21 and under-25 National Champion feel ready to grab Burghley by the horns?

“I think I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be,” he laughs. “I’m seventh on, so I’ll have to just stick to my plan – but that’s nice, actually, because I think you can overanalyse by watching too much and really, you know your own horse the best.”

William Coleman and Tight Lines lead the way for the US invasion. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The first of our eleven US riders took to the centreline this morning, and Will Coleman made every movement count, scoring a level personal best for the horse of 32.4 to sit sixth provisionally. Will, who did his first-ever five-star here at the tender age of nineteen, seems to be working on an eight-year Burghley rotation: he came back eight years after that first appearance, though had to withdraw when Twizzel went lame in the collecting ring, and is now back for another go eight years after that. This time, he’s brought a Thoroughbred horse for a Thoroughbred course – and ‘Phish’ has set himself up for a good week already.

“He’s a real trier, and we’ve worked really hard on a formula to get him ready for tests, with a lot of help from Ian Woodhead and my wife, Katie – but he can be a pretty tricky number in the dressage,” says Will. “32 is a good mark for him, and a steady improvement – you don’t improve by 10% overnight. The track will be the biggest he’s ever seen, he’s a good galloper and has been a good cross-country horse.”

For Will, coming back to Burghley is a pivotal moment – and doing well here would mean an enormous amount, too.

“This, to me, is the epitome of our sport – I value it above all others,” he says, explaining: “It’s the most pure form of our sport that’s left; it’s a truly cross-country dominated event. A top placement here would best any other.”

Gemma Tattersall and Arctic Soul. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Gemma Tattersall and Arctic Soul sit seventh on a 32.8, though the cross-country machines hope to climb on Saturday.

“He was really good and really relaxed, and he let me ride him today, which is so nice – though I managed to miss two changes coming off the diagonal because we’ve been practicing not doing the changes there,” she says. “He was a bit surprised, so that was a shame. This is our aim all year – Burghley suits ‘Spike’ down to the ground, and it won’t be a dressage competition, so my aim now will just be to stay on this score.”

Despite being big and strong, Spike is actually a sensitive sort – and Gemma, who struggled to hold him over the Badminton course, has struggled to find a bit that he can tolerate, but that will also do the job.

“He’s ever so difficult to bit,” she says. “I used to ride him in a Waterford running gag, and he became more rideable, so for the last couple of years I’ve had him in a lozenge. But he’s gotten stronger again – before Badminton, I toyed with the idea of going back, but I thought, ‘don’t be silly.’ But then, he was pretty much impossible. We tried the old bit in an Advanced run at Aston and he was very polite, and so we’ve gone back to it – and I’m hoping, now, that I can let the handbrake off and then slow him down. I didn’t dare hit that eighth gear of his at Badminton. It’s a fine line with him, though. At home he goes in a rubber pelham, but there’s no way I could do that here – I’d be off to Scotland!”

Andrea Baxter and Indy 500. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Andrea Baxter and Indy 500 make their third appearance at Burghley, and this time, there’s just one, crystal-clear goal on the agenda: come home with a big, fat ‘0’ in the jumping penalties column on Saturday. This is their third Burghley, and after falling in 2017, they completed last year – but that clear round has eluded them. But this year, they’re back with a bang – and Indy at her very best. This morning, they scored a 37.6, which pops them into twelfth at the lunch break.

“She was great, and the lightest in the bridle she’s ever been – now I just need to be braver and more forward,” says Andrea, who nearly lost her way twice in the test when Indy spooked at the atmosphere, but who deftly got back on track without incurring errors. “The preparation for the shoulder-in probably wasn’t ideal, but I was confident in her frame, and her suppleness was better.”

Though Burghley success has always been a major goal for Andrea, her California base makes it tricky – and expensive – to factor it into her plans.

“I came here on my own dime, and actually, I wasn’t going to come until two weeks ago,” she explains. “But then I thought, ‘it’s only money’ – I mean, I don’t have any, but I do have credit cards, and you’ve got to hit it while it’s hot!”

That’s all from the morning session at Burghley – we’ll be back this afternoon with the full report from today’s competition!

The top ten at the lunch break on the first day of dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.

#LRBHT19: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Form Guide, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

The 2019 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials coverage is brought to you in partnership with the team at Voltaire Design United Kingdom. Going to Burghley? Head to Voltaire Design in the World of the Horse and meet the team of Sports Saddle Specialists, arrange a free, totally no-obligation fitting for you and your horse, or indulge in the Deal of the Day. Put a deposit on a new saddle during the event, and you’ll receive a matching bridle – free! Looking for a bargain? Head to Voltaire Design’s sister stand, EquiTack, to check out their premium pre-loved saddles at rock-bottom prices.

Burghley At-a-Glance: Meet the Horses

By on Sep 5, 2019 4:27 am -

Welcome to dressage day one at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. Yesterday, we introduced you to the riders taking part in this year’s competition – today, we’re delving into the details of the 67 horses entered. Who’s the smallest? The tallest? Which horses have won five-stars before? And which breed reigns supreme? Let’s dive in…

#LRBHT19: Website, Entries, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

The Golden Chinch Awards: Burghley Edition

By on Sep 4, 2019 8:22 pm -

Welcome to the Burghley edition of the Golden Chinch Awards, in which we celebrate many things, but especially riders who look like they should be on the cover of Jilly Cooper novels. Emma Hyslop-Webb nails the brief.

Trot-ups are a serious, stoic, and straight-laced affair, full of jolly good tweed and Very Important People making Very Important Decisions. They’re also a time for prizes to be awarded – Best-Dressed Lady, Best-Dressed Gent, Best-Shod Horse…you know the drill. But here at EN, we can’t help but feel that a few essential accolades are always left off the official roster, and so we’ve made it our job to make sure that everyone gets the recognition they’re owed. Welcome to the Golden Chinch Awards – often (quite literally never) compared to the Oscars of eventing, they’re the prizes that everyone (quite literally no one) truly wants.

The Golden Chinch for Yogic Neck Elongation goes to…

De Beers Dilletante, who is a #longboi and loving it. Get thee to a zoo, Giraffe Man.

Best Lateral Work in a Situation that calls for Absolutely No Lateral Work

Undalgo de Windsor hits them angles. A day early, mind you, but still a formidable effort.

The Golden Chinch for Sustainability Goes to…

Caroline Powell, whose Moloh coat is made from a recycled bed-spread. No, we haven’t made that up.

The Horse Most Likely to be Caught Smuggling Corgis

As Ludacris once (never) said: “what in the world is in those EARS? What you got in them EARS? A couple of gats, a couple of knives, a couple of rats, a couple of wives?” (Just kidding, Santiago Bay. We love your well-stocked ears.)

The Golden Chinch for the Best Reenactment of a Meme goes to…

Sarah Bullimore and a suspicious Reve du Rouet. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet, who did a passably good job of nailing the ‘distracted boyfriend’ meme.

The “Did I leave my straighteners on?” Award goes to…

Francis Whittington. And for what it’s worth, Frannie, we’re guessing not.

The Best Audition to be Willow Smith’s Back-Up Dancer

Continuity whips his hurrr back and forth, he whips his hurrr back and forth…

The Rider Most Likely to Appear in a 90s Computer Game

Where in the World is Alicia Hawker? Stamford, actually.

The Rear of the Year Award

Firmness, roundness, and an almost impossible level of lift – MGH Bingo Boy‘s peachy cheeks have it all. *chef’s kiss*

The Horse Most Likely to Have a Photo of Himself Next to a Sedated Tiger on his Tinder Profile

Arctic Soul, it’s time to settle down, find a nice lady, and stop sending those naughty photos to girls on the internet.

The Best Mare Glare (as Executed by a Gelding)

Hey Billy Walk On – u ok, hun? xoxo

The Best Impression of a Questionable Politician

Ludwig Svennerstal and Balham Mist. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We’re not sure if you’re going for the Donald Trump combover or the Boris Johnson barnet, but whatever it is, Ludwig Svennerstal, you’re werking it. Come see us tomorrow and we’ll tenderly apply a hairnet to that mop.

Congratulations (apologies) to all our lucky (?) winners. Stay safe, have fun, and please do still talk to us in the mixed zone.

#LRBHT19: Website, Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream, Form Guide, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram