Oscar Williams
Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport.
Raised in Lancashire, Oscar started riding aged 12 and quickly became hooked. A keen member of the Lancaster & District branch of the Pony Club, he learnt to ride on a succession of hand-me-down ponies before persuading his parents to buy him his own horse – a wholly unsuitable but much-loved Welsh section C.
Oscar went on to study equine science at Myerscough College and, after deciding jumping wasn’t his strong suit, turned to dressage. Inspired by the London 2012 Olympics, he later spent four years working for leading trainer Emile Faurie. During that time, he competed at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelled with the yard to CDIs at Aachen, Vidauban, Saumur and Achleiten.
He also holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021), combining his equestrian background with a passion for writing about the sport.
He regularly reports on elite dressage, breeding and welfare issues, as well as the science and policy shaping modern equestrian sport.
Oscar now lives in Cumbria with his two boisterous spaniels, Miffy and Dougal, and is interested in making equestrian sport more inclusive and accessible.
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‘The greatest dressage drama to be seen in Britain’: the 1996 Horse of the Year Show dressage freestyle that descended into fiascoBetween 1994 and 1996, HOYS hosted a dressage World Cup qualifier. The final edition, 30 years ago this month, had everything: a missing tape, a dash to the horsebox and a crowd in uproar
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘I always seem to end up with massive horses’: over 18hh eight-year-old won over all three judges to take the HOYS Future Elite dressage titleOlympic gold medallist Laura Tomlinson won the Dressage Future Elite Championship at HOYS for the second time in three years, on Ostmarks Digal, who came from the same German yard as her former top ride, Rose Of Bavaria
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘The best test we’ve ever done’: two-time world dressage champion Lottie Fry reveals how it all came together for her and Glamourdale in AachenFrom legs shaking in the special to the calmest she’s ever felt in the ring, Lottie Fry relives her history-making double double at the World Championships in an interview with H&H dressage editor Oscar Williams
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘I thought she was dead’: one year on, the survivor mare who nearly died on way home from National Championships returns to win an emotional titleA year after a horsebox accident on the M6 left her fighting for her life, River Rise Onassis was back at the National Championships – and on top of the leaderboard with Sadie Smith
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘He’d literally never done the floorplan before’: Charlotte Dujardin wins the freestyle to be crowned national championCharlotte Dujardin secured her third national champion title in some style, riding Brave Heart II to a stunning freestyle win on their first kür together
By Oscar Williams Published
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Relive all the action from the 2026 National Dressage ChampionshipsCatch-up with all the LeMieux National Dressage Championships 2026 results, plus news and more from Somerford Park
By Oscar Williams Last updated
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‘I couldn’t be happier’: Charlotte Dujardin storms to grand prix victory at the National ChampionshipsCharlotte Dujardin topped the grand prix at the National Championships with a new personal best on Brave Heart II; the overall title is up for grabs tomorrow
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘Everything I’d want to feel in a future superstar’: meet Laura Tomlinson’s exciting new rideLaura Tomlinson has swept two titles at the National Dressage Championships on eight-year-old Ostmarks Digal – and she’s not the only one convinced he’s one to watch
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘I just can’t believe it’: the new face on Burghley’s podium, just two years into a five-star careerFrom a non-horsey family, hooked on riding by her cousins’ ponies – how one rider’s rapid rise led to an emotional Burghley result with “one in a billion” Treworra
By Oscar Williams Published
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Burghley Horse Trials 2026 as it happened: review every day’s actionReplay every moment in the contest for the 2026 Defender Burghley title
By Pippa Roome Last updated
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‘No shortcuts, and lots of purple shampoo’: Paige Watson on winning Burghley’s £1,000 groom’s prize with Deerpairc Revelry“2am starts and 10pm finishes” are all part of the job – Paige Watson on what it took to win Burghley’s Spillers groom’s prize
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘I could just be normal and go home for dinner’: the lawyer trading courtrooms for cross-country at BurghleyEma Klugman on the early mornings, late nights and health insurance that come with a double life as a lawyer and five-star rider
By Oscar Williams Published
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How an afternoon nap to ‘reboot’ turned Harry Meade’s Burghley cross-country day around: ‘I rode like an absolute moron’A retirement, some self-flagellation, and an hour’s sleep – how Harry Meade bounced back to finish seventh with Cavalier Crystal
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘I don’t know why I was worried’: Yasmin Ingham leads Burghley’s British first-timers through a mixed cross-country dayFrom a joyful debut to a fall and a withdrawal, here’s how Britain’s five Burghley first-timers fared on cross-country day
By Oscar Williams Published
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Pre-event Burghley favourite’s competition comes to a disappointing end on cross-country day: ‘Up until there, he was amazing’A smooth, largely error-free round from Sarah Bullimore and Corimiro ended in the cruellest fashion
By Oscar Williams Published
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A new name will lead Burghley after cross-country, as the dressage leader drops down the orderGemma Stevens and Chilli Knight jump clear three seconds inside the time, while overnight leader Nadja Minder drops down with time penalties
By Oscar Williams Published
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How Ros Canter turned a one-week partnership into a Burghley Young Event Horse winRos Canter had ridden Kilcorig Gotcha Talkin for just over a week before the Young Event Horse four-year-old final at Burghley – and still came away with the title
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘Who are you without the horses?’: Nicola Wilson’s former head girl Ruth Asquith on losing everything and finding her way backRuth opens up about grooming through tragedy, rebuilding a life around horses and her hopes for new charge Katie Magee at Burghley
By Oscar Williams Published
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How a horse ‘like a spaniel on speed’ earned a perfect 10 at BurghleyD’Artagnan gives Tiana Coudray “his entire heart and soul” – even if that means testing her nerves along the way
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘So nice, so balanced, so gorgeous’: how this five-year-old stole the show at BurghleyWLS Cula Bula and Caroline Powell topped this year’s Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse five-year-old final – and Caroline already has her sights on a return in four years’ time
By Oscar Williams Published
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Yasmin Ingham’s other Du Loir: meet Goliath, the horse following in Banzai’s hoofprintsA stablemate of her World Championship gold medallist is making his own mark – on his Burghley and five-star debut
By Oscar Williams Published
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A 19-year-old horse stands top after day one, but disappointment for Harry Meade: how things stand at BurghleyNadja Minder and Toblerone head the leaderboard after the first day of dressage, but the day brought mixed fortunes elsewhere in the field.
By Oscar Williams Published
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Meet two quite distinct Burghley first-timers: the one who started mucking out horses aged 17, and the one who’s dreamed of this since childhoodJack Pinkney and Mary Edmundson are both first-timers at Defender Burghley this week – but their journeys to this moment are quite different
By Oscar Williams Published
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‘I’m doing it on her behalf’ – Tim Price on riding the late Georgie Campbell’s favourite horse at BurghleySecond at Thursday’s lunch break on his first Burghley outing with the gelding, Tim Price opens up on carrying out the late Georgie Campbell’s five-star ambitions
By Oscar Williams Published
