How Ros Canter turned a one-week partnership into a Burghley Young Event Horse win
Ros 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
Ros Canter topped the four-year-old Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse final aboard Kilcorig Gotcha Talkin, an Irish Sport Horse gelding by Tyson out of Gotcha Nema (by Casall), owned by Patrick Murray and Lauren Painter – on a final score of 84.75, having only sat on the horse for the first time just over a week ago.
“I don’t know a huge amount about him – he only got dropped off to me just over a week ago,” Ros said. “But Lauren, who owns him, produced him in Ireland – he won a four-year-old class at Dublin Horse Show, so he’s quite experienced.
“They were bringing him over and asked whether he might be a horse I’d ride in the future anyway, so I thought it’d be a good opportunity to have a go here and see how we got on together. We were definitely still getting to know each other out there today, but he was just super easy, amazing temperament.”
The class assesses four-year-olds across four judged phases: dressage, jumping, suitability & type, and potential to gallop, with only the top 10 horses after the first three phases going forward to the gallop assessment, judged this year by Clayton Fredericks.
Ros and Kilcorig Gotcha Talkin led that leaderboard comfortably before the final phase, their combined score of 75.75 almost three points clear of Oliver Townend’s Stormbird in second on 72.85 – a lead a strong gallop score of 9 (second-best in the field) only extended further.
Ros also produced the best gallop score in the five-year-old class on Reuben, who went on to finish runner-up behind Caroline Powell and WLS Cula Bula. Asked how she consistently produces horses with such strong gallops, Ros explained: “I haven’t actually galloped them a lot, to be honest. I think it’s just trying to find the horse with the natural attributes and a good brain – get a good starting point, and then hopefully the work we do at home, getting all the basics in place, allows them to shine on a stage like this.”
Kilcorig Gotcha Talkin was first to go in the gallop phase, and his outstanding temperament was on display as he stood patiently in the collecting ring while others circled around him, waiting their turn.
“He was incredible,” Ros added. “He’s been standing at the box waiting his turn, fast asleep, happy as Larry, watching the deer, not bothered at all. Got on him, 15 minutes’ warm-up, and he’s ready to go. He just has the most incredible temperament – quiet as a lamb.”
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Asked what lies ahead for the young gelding, Ros was optimistic but realistic about how far it’s possible to predict at this stage. “It’s definitely bright,” she said. “Whatever he ends up doing, a horse with such a nice temperament like that will hopefully always go on to do great things.
“It's so hard to tell at this age quite how far they’ll go, but he certainly is ticking all the boxes at the moment.
“But temperament is absolutely his standout attribute. But he can move too, and he jumps as well – he does seem to have it all. It’s just hopefully trying to do a good job by him, and seeing where the future takes him.”
Top 10: Dubarry Young Event Horse four-year-old final at Burghley
- Kilcorig Gotcha Talkin (Ros Canter) – 84.75
- Longfordpass El Quality (Susie Berry) – 81.60
- WLS Kingston (Caroline Powell) – 78.60
- Stormbird (Oliver Townend) – 77.85
- MSHI Rockstar le Tot (Hayden Hankey) – 77.75
- Swarovski SW (Indie Vaughan-Jones) – 76.10
- Santessina (Josh Fearnley) – 72.55
- Royal Herald (Flora Harris) – 71.20
- Shadow Gesincklaer (Indie Vaughan-Jones) – 71.00
- Smiling (Georgia Bartlett) – 71.00
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).