Lynn Symansky and Donner Score Personal Best at Burghley, Move into Top 15

Lynn Symanksy and Donner score a personal best at this level after an accurate test

Lynn Symanksy and Donner score a personal best at this level after an accurate test. Photo by Samantha Clark.

Lynn Symansky rode Donner absolutely perfectly this afternoon to score a personal best for them both at this level and move into 13th place at the moment on 47.7. Although Lynn was obviously riding very tactfully to contain his nerves she didn’t sacrifice any of his movement, and the overall picture was of an accurate, correct test, nice and forward just maybe a tiny bit more careful than those we’ve seen at the very top of the leaderboard.

Rightfully, Lynn was thrilled, “He’s been quite fit and a little wild since I got here. He felt a little bit tired in his body because I’ve  had to mentally just wear him out a bit over the last two days but I’m really, really happy with him, I’ll take it! We’ve had a wild last two days, he’s been more how he was at the trot-up yesterday, but I felt in the warm-up that he was ready to put on his big boy pants and step up to the plate, and he did, I’m really proud of him.”

As she told us earlier, Lynn has only walked about three quarters of the course so far but is quietly confident, “Endurance wise this course is made for him, he’ll run all day long and into tomorrow. He’s a bit tricky in that he’s sometimes quite a spooky horse so I have to be a little creative on some of my lines; anything that’s right in front of him he’s pretty good at but this has a lot of turning questions this year.

I think he’s definitely up to the challenge, I’m glad I’m sitting on him but I’ll just have to ride it according to the horse. It’s been a dream to ride at Burghley since I was a kid, and you don’t always have the opportunity to have a horse that’s right for Burghley and Donner’s right in the prime of his career, and it couldn’t have been a clearer choice for me to come here this fall.”

Lauren Kieffer watches Lynn Symansky's test. Photo by Nico Morgan

Lauren Kieffer watches Lynn Symansky’s test. Photo by Nico Morgan.

It was great to see Lauren Kieffer and Shannon Kinsley supporting Lynn this afternoon, and also fellow US competitor Colleen Rutledge. I hope to bump into Lauren and Shannon again later and catch up with them, but I did manage to talk to Colleen about the last few weeks, and how Covert Rights (CR) feels now that they’re here.

“He’s feeling great, I’m really happy with how he’s been going for the past week or so; we’ll see how he goes tomorrow but I’ve been quite pleased with him.” Colleen has been staying at a friend’s  farm near Burghley since Aachen, “It’s been very low-key and relaxed, it’s been really quite good.”

Her thoughts on Saturday’s cross country are short and succinct, “It’s Burghley!” but when I pressed her to elaborate, “It is very different from the year I was here on Shiraz and it’s going to ask some really great questions, it’s definitely got a very fresh look to it but it’s Burghley, definitely, there is no doubt we’re at Burghley!”

Does she think it will suit the greener, less experienced CR?”It all depends on which one of my horses shows up on the day! I know he can jump the fences, it’s not the size of the fences, it’s whether or not we can string all the questions together. I’m excited to see what he’s picked up and what he’s learned over the past few months.

“I think at Aachen the amount of travel we had to do just took it’s toll on him, and it was essentially a perfect storm of stupid, minor mistakes that when they compounded and then I’m sitting on a tired horse…you can’t do it. I’m disappointed in the result at Aachen but it was such a great learning experience that I can’t really be upset. I had a bad dressage, bad show-jumping and bad cross country and hopefully I got it all out there!”

"That's my OCD coming out!" Collen has painted her nails in her XC colours for the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2015

“That’s my OCD coming out!” Collen has painted her nails in her XC colours for the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2015. Photo by Samantha Clark.

All of Colleen’s family are here this weekend to support her which means the world she told me, “I’m just thrilled that my family gets to come, I’m so much more comfortable here than I was the first time and I know a little bit more of what to expect, and it’s a much different experience in that aspect, but I’m still just as excited to be here; every time I get to come to one of these it’s just fantastic.”

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