Monica Spencer and Artist. Photo by Hannah Cole Photography.
We all have a horse that, inadvertently or not, wound up being our hero.
The one who carried you through a season where nothing else felt steady. The one who made you brave enough to try again. The one who quietly taught you that patience is a skill, not a personality trait. The one who didn’t win all that much, but saved you in more ways than one.
That’s the spirit behind the “Horse Hero” Contest, a new Eventing Nation collaboration with Five Star Eventing Tours that’s part giveaway, part love letter, and part rallying cry for the people who know the best stories in this sport aren’t always told in results sheets.
And the prize? Not small.
One winner will receive Five Star Eventing Tours’ complete 2026 Defender Burghley Horse Trials package (valued at $8,995 USD), plus roundtrip airfare up to $1,000 USD. The week-long experience runs August 31–September 7, 2026, built around Burghley’s competition dates of September 3–6, 2026 and packed with the ultimate Five Star experience.
Five Star’s Burghley tour is curated to be premium in all the ways that matter: airport transfers via Mercedes private hire, seven nights at the Talbot Hotel in Oundle, and dedicated transfers to/from Burghley so you’re not playing “Guess That English Roundabout” in a strange rental car.
You’ll have premium covered centerline seating for both days of dressage, plus members-area access and a private lakeside chalet at Lion’s Bridge (with indoor/outdoor seating, meal service, and closed-circuit coverage) from Thursday through Sunday, meaning you can watch, wander, shop, and still have a home base to take a rest or rendezvous with your travel companions.
But! That isn’t all. Five Star Eventing Tours founder Greg Paull – a former 4* level rider, international groom, High Performance Advisor, Chef d’Equip, etc – is taking you behind the scenes at the iconic Burghley House. Travelers will enjoy a private tour of Burghley House, a cocktail reception, and an exclusive three-course dinner in the Great Hall with special guests.
The list is pretty endless, and you can see the full schedule of events here.
Defender Burghley is the kind of event that expands your brain a little. The atmosphere, the access, the sheer number of world-class horses doing world-class things in every direction at once. It’s also the kind of event that can feel out of reach, which is exactly the gap Greg Paull has been trying to close.
Greg is the founder of Five Star Eventing Tours, and he’s not new to this sport, or to the behind-the-scenes work that makes big moments happen.
“Having been… an eventing sort of geek since I was a young boy, I’ve had the good fortune of being able to travel all over the place to so many different 5* events,” he said. He started out as a groom and went to the 1984 Olympics in that role.
Over time, Greg’s love of eventing paired with a professional background that’s basically tailor-made for this: he’s worked in corporate event logistics, planning and executing trips for everything from small teams to major launches, and he’s long believed there should be more ways for supporters of the sport to truly experience the top of it.
“So all of that to say… that’s how I felt confident in being able to tackle something like this,” he explained. He knew the equestrian side, knew the logistics side, and understood the communication side – “marrying all of those skills together” finally helped him “pull the trigger.”
He also brings serious high-performance context to the table. Greg has competed up the levels himself, served as a co-chair of the Canadian Eventing High Performance Advisory Group, and worked as team manager and chef d’équip for Canadian eventing through championship cycles from the late 1990s into the mid-2000s – an era that included World Championships trips, ending with Aachen as the final stop of that chapter.
And still, when he talks about Burghley, it’s not just nostalgia. It’s a specific kind of “I want other people to feel this” conviction.
“I just had the most amazing time by myself, with no pressures,” Greg said of attending Burghley recently in a way that let him fully soak it in, watching as many dressage tests as he wanted, hanging out at the warm-up, floating between vantage points, and taking in everything the event is beyond the competition. “You just feel so welcomed… I really need to figure out a way to show this experience to more people.”
That’s where the “Horse Hero” Contest comes in. The premise is simple: use the entry form below to tell us why your horse should be considered a Hero – 500 words maximum. The story can be big or small. A comeback. A lifeline. A horse who made you fall in love with eventing. A horse who taught you something you didn’t know you needed. If you’ve got the story, our judges want to read it!
Entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
A judging panel will choose the winning submission, comprised of Jessica Phoenix (CAN), Monica Spencer (NZ), Simon Grieve (GBR), Sally Spickard (Eventing Nation), and Greg Paull. The top 5 finalists, as determined by the judges, will have their stories shared on Eventing Nation.
After entries close, our judging panel (Jessica Phoenix, Monica Spencer, Simon Grieve, Sally Spickard, and Greg Paull) will read submissions in two rounds. Identifying information such as names, email addresses, etc. will be withheld from submissions during both judging rounds.
In Round 1, judges will score each entry to narrow the field to a final shortlist of five. Stories will be evaluated on things like how clearly the horse’s “hero” impact comes through, the emotional resonance of the story, and how well it’s told within the 500-word limit.
In Round 2, the judges will re-read the shortlist and score again to choose the winner. At this stage, we’ll be looking for the story that best captures the spirit of the contest – a horse who truly made a difference – plus strong storytelling, memorable details, and a message that will resonate with the wider eventing community.
The winner will be announced on Eventing Nation on April 1, 2026. Terms and conditions do apply and can be found on the entry form.
Greg hopes this is just the start. “I’m hoping that in the long term, I can graduate this to other events, if this one is successful, and try to just build on that,” he said.
For now, though, it begins with one trip, one story, and one horse. We can’t wait to hear about yours.
Enter the “Horse Hero” Contest using the form here.
If you’re interested in booking a spot on this year’s Defender Burghley adventure, we’ve also got a special deal for you! You can use the code “GoEventingBHT” when booking to receive $750 off your package price. (A few basic T&Cs for this code: Must be booked no later than April 15, 2026. $1000USD due within 5 days of registration. 50% must be paid by April 30, 2026. Must be paid in FULL by June 1, 2026)
