The US put up a strong showing on the second day of Defender Burghley Horse Trials dressage, with three riders slotting into the top 11.
Caroline Pamukcu leads the way in fifth on a score of 32, with HSH Blake, an 11-year-old who belongs to Mollie Hoff, his rider, her mother Sherrie Martin and husband Deniz.
“He’s so lovely to ride,” said Caroline. “Anything I wanted to do in the arena, he was giving it to me. If I wanted to go a little more forward here or a little more shoulders in here, he was like, ‘Okay, yes, mom, no problem.’
“I love that sort of feeling. He’s so professional. It doesn’t matter where in the world you go, he gives me 200%. I’m lucky to ride him.”
The pair were trending in the lead in the trotwork, when Caroline was able to show off Blake‘s flashy paces, but had a mistake in their first flying change.
“It’s heartbreaking for me. I hate to let my country down, especially my teammates. I had to put a lot of pressure on Boyd Martin and Will Coleman – my job at the end of the day as second out was to provide a good, consistent round, give them feedback, and silly me to fall at minute five,” she said.
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“But hopefully I’ll put that behind me, make my country proud and redeem myself in a way here.”
“I thought about submitting myself for a psychiatric evaluation”
Will Coleman holds ninth on 33.2 with Very Dignified, owned by Jerome Broussard, Gloria Callen and Elizabeth Lendrum.
He brought plenty of skill to his test on the inexperienced mare, with the performance just marred by some tightness in the changes. He has recently started to ride her in a nose net.
“She has some allergenic symptoms – she suffered from Inflammatory Airway Disease pretty bad when we got her back to the States for the first time,” said Will, who has been riding the mare less than two years; she was produced by Ireland’s Robbie Kearns.
“She can be a snorter – she will be clearing her airway a lot when I ride her and I think some of that is nerves, but I think some of it is that she has a very sensitive nasal passage that might be related to the allergies that she's battled.
“So Karyn [Shuter, US eventing high performance advisor] actually suggested that we try the nose net. We’ve really only been using it for a few weeks, but I do think it helped her.”
Will Coleman and Very Digified put up a strong performance in the dressage at Burghley 2026
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
Very Digified was one of Will’s direct reserve horses for the World Championships, where he rode his first-choice Diabolo, leading the US to team bronze.
Talking about bringing “Dora” here for her first five-star, he said: “I thought about submitting myself for a psychiatric evaluation upon arriving here, but we do feel that she’s a horse that has five-star qualities and that she’s ready to contest one. This season it was either Burghley or Pau and I think in some ways Burghley will suit her better.
“It’s a big ask and a big challenge, but we do feel like she at least is worthy of having a shot. It’s my job to look after her out there tomorrow and make sure that she leaves a better horse than she arrived, and maybe not to be so result-driven.
“She’s an aggressive fighter mentality. She’s an alpha female and she has a lot of spirit and a lot of blood in the way that she goes cross-country. I’m hoping that she brings that to the course tomorrow.”
Burghley was Will’s first five-star in 2003 when he was 20. He finished 26th on Fox In Flight.
“I really had no idea what to expect. I came here and I think fell in love with eventing because of this place. I just think it’s an amazing piece of property and it’s kind of the crown jewel of our sport. It represents all the things that makes eventing so special.”
Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
