We are finally at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials and it’s so exciting to be here!
We arrived on Tuesday afternoon having worked all the horses at home that morning. Having let Bobby (Carryon Bobby Boy) gobble all the grass in his stable and have a rest after the journey, I then took him for a beautiful hack around Burghley estate, catching sight of the incredible Burghley House and gardens — as well as some resident deer, which certainly got Bobby’s heart racing!
Wednesday was trot-up day. I gave Bobby a school in the morning, then went to walk the course to get an initial feel… well it’s certainly BIG! But what a beautifully built track, with amazing ground, and simply beautiful surroundings. I’m so lucky to be able to compete at such an amazing venue.
Bobby sailed through the trot up, and behaved impeccably. Huge thanks to Fairfax & Favor for their beautiful boots and Moloh for their jacket.
Following the trot-up we had arena familiarisation, which is a great way for the horses to become acclimatised to the main arena, judges boxes and stands.
Article continues below…
You might also be interested in:
Julia Norman’s Burghley first-timer blog: Bobby was baffled
Julia has got her cotton wool and bubble wrap at the ready
Subscribe to Horse & Hound this spring for great savings
My dressage will be this afternoon at 4.13pm, which is just what I was hoping for so that he can have a quiet day on Friday to recharge ready for cross-country on Saturday!
I also have Chas Bright’s lovely four-year-old Kontendro WSH competing in the Burghley Young Event Horse class tomorrow, which will be an amazing experience for this lovely young horse.
That’s about all from me — fingers crossed for the dressage!
Julia
Don’t miss H&H’s Burghley preview, including a course walk with five-time winner Mark Todd, plus a full form guide and a scorecard to fill in for every rider, on sale now (issue dated Thursday 5 September). Read the full report in next week’s magazine (Thursday, 12 September).
