‘It’s never happened before’: wardrobe malfunction provides extra challenge during Badminton dressage
Twenty-six-year-old Felicity Collins is making her third consecutive Mars Badminton Horse Trials appearance this week (8–12 May) with the late Vicky Collins and Avrina Milton’s 15-year-old gelding RSH Contend OR.
Felicity and “Mickey” completed their dressage test on Friday morning, where they scored a solid 34.5, but it wasn’t all pain sailing.
“My right-hand [riding] boot came loose at the start of my test, which has never happened before,” explained Felicity. “I could notice it when I was putting my right leg on, which was a little bit frustrating.
“It’s never happened before, but I was saying to myself ‘no, you just need to stay focused’. I could feel it flapping in the right shoulder-in and I thought the judges would be staring at it, but I’m sure they were looking more at the horse. Then I started to worry it might fall off completely!”
Badminton final scores
Felicity Collins said she was a “little bit distracted” by her boot malfunction.
“I might have ridden a few more movements better had it not happened, but Mickey was really good – he tried really hard and I’m not here to just do the dressage, so I’m not worried.”
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Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.