As this strange Covid-19 2020 “non-season” rolls on, our thoughts turn sadly to Bramham, the Yorkshire four-star event which should be running this week.
Since the coronavirus pandemic means we can’t enjoy our usual Bramham bonanza, we’re bringing you a selection of quotes from successful riders at last year’s event…
“He’s a comedian, the sort of horse who is up to mischief. Because he’s so cheeky, you go to an event knowing he has all the ability to win, but you don’t know what you’ll get on the day” – Kitty King on CCI4*-L winner Vendredi Biats (pictured)
“At home, he can’t walk across the yard without having a nervous breakdown about something and you’d never think he could jump a thing, but at an event, he knows he has a job to do. I say what we are going to do and he does it. I don’t think he’s got the brainpower to do anything else” – Gemma Tattersall on Chilli Knight, sixth in the CCI4*-L
“She hosed round the cross-country and she’s getting better on the flat. Ian Woodhead has put blood, sweat and tears into working with her” – under-25 champion Cathal Daniels on the Irish team dressage coach’s work with Rioghan Rua
“I came here just wanting to grow as a partnership, so this is quite surreal, really” – national under-25 champion Yasmin Ingham after piloting Sandman 7, her ride of less than a year, to finish second to Cathal
“Some people still can’t ride a coffin and they have to learn. Some did a brilliant job of setting up for it, but some still gallop at it. I think it is a great fence. If it’s ridden properly and horses are trained properly, they understand it. Riders are the problem, not the horses, and I’m not going to back off using coffins” – cross-country course-designer Ian Stark on the influential rail-ditch-rail combination
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“Thank God I’ve finally found some form. I was this close to booking a holiday and not coming. Every time I went into the yard this spring, something was wrong with a horse. I love my horses and it is horrible when they are injured” – Gemma Tattersall after winning the CCI4*-S with Quicklook V and finishing second in the CCI4*-L with Jalapeño III
“He means the world to me. He taught me everything and he’s so happy to be back doing this. He’s been bucking and squealing round the place” – Emily King on Brookleigh, third in the CCI4*-S on his return from an injury at Badminton 2016
“He was A1 48 hours after Badminton. He made the cross-country here feel like a BE100” – Harry Meade on Away Cruising, seventh in the CCI4*-S here after having to withdraw after dressage at Badminton when the horse suffered a severe reaction to an injection
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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.
