‘The one to take me all the way’: meet the youngest horse competing at Burghley this year

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Harry Mutch riding Shanbeg Cooley
Harry Mutch riding Shanbeg Cooley for GBR in the dressage phase at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials, in the parkland of Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire in the UK on the 30th August to 3 September 2023.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

“He’s a very exciting young horse for the future,” enthused 26-year-old Harry Mutch, of his mother Carole Mutch’s nine-year-old gelding Shanbeg Cooley (Jager), who is the youngest horse competing at the 2023 Defender Burghley Horse Trials.

This is the OBOS Quality son’s first time performing on such a big stage, and the atmosphere got to him slightly as Wesko Equestrian Foundation student Harry explained: “He does struggle in the dressage so today was a case of risk management. I know where his weaknesses are, and he’s still very green at this level. He’s a serious jumper, and he doesn’t really want to go and do circles in the dressage arena. But, we now have a score on the board, and I can’t wait to go and see what he does next.”

Alex Robinson
Alex Robinson
Former H&H showing editor and deputy features editor

Born and raised in the Lake District, Alex has grown up on the showing scene. She has qualified and competed ponies at the Royal International, Horse of the Year Show and Olympia and has first-hand knowledge of the current issues in the showing world as well as the horses, ponies and riders who compete in the sport. Alex joined H&H in January 2018 as showing editor, cementing its place as the leading equestrian publication for both showing reports and current showing news in the UK. She moved on in October 2024 to pursue other opportunities, but continues to write for us on a freelance basis.