Last week, Lordships Graffalo, the ride of Ros Canter, galloped into the Mars Badminton Horse Trials history books by becoming the first horse in the five-star event’s history to reclaim the title in non-consecutive years, after first winning it in 2023.
Here, we take a look back at how Ros and “Walter” won their second Mars Badminton trophy from start to finish…
First horse inspection
Ros and Walter kicked off their week looking fantastic at the first horse inspection, which is held in front of Badminton House. Ros wore a denim jacket that held a special emotional connection to her mentor Caroline Moore, who passed away recently.
Dressage
Ros and Walter performed their dressage test on Friday morning. The ground jury of Xavier Le Sauce, Nick Burton and Robert Stevenson awarded Ros a first phase score of 25.3, which left them in fourth going into cross-country.
Their otherwise splendid test was only marred by mistakes in the two double-marked flying-changes movements.
“I was really pleased with it,” said Ros. “His work was in line with what he’s doing at home now and he’s getting stronger all the time. I was delighted.
“I got a little bit distracted at the beginning as he started sneezing, which isn’t always a good sign, but he then settled and he was great.
“The changes have always been something he has struggled with a little bit, and I probably just didn’t help him quite enough in those. I thought he was a bit more established than he was, so that’s my fault – hand in the air for that one!”
Cross-country
On cross-country day, Ros gave her equine partner a masterful ride, with many quipping that it was one of the smoothest rounds they had ever seen at Badminton.
Ros and Walter finished comfortably within the 11min 40sec optimum time, with 11 seconds in hand. They were initially awarded a 15 penalty flag penalty at the second corner at Huntsman’s Close at fence 26b, but there was little doubt that it would be removed.
Ros was surprised by the news of the flag penalties saying: “I wouldn’t have said he did anything but jumped the jumps so hopefully it’s not another situation like the Olympics, but we’ll see.”
The 15 penalties were duly removed, which meant Ros moved into second going into the final day.
“He’s an extraordinary horse – I’m not the fastest rider in the world but Walter has such acceleration right until the end,” Ros said of her cross-country round.
Final horse inspection and showjumping
Walter flew through the final horse inspection on the Sunday morning, before entering the main arena to jump later in the afternoon. Ros admitted after that she had felt very nervous before jumping and the round wasn’t as slick as some of their previous performances, but all the fences remained in their cups and they jumped clear inside the time allowed.
This piled the pressure on overnight leader Oliver Townend, who was less than a rail ahead, and when Cooley Rosalent lowered a pole, victory was Ros and Walter’s, winning by one penalty
- To stay up to date with all the breaking news from major shows throughout 2025, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website
You may also be interested in:
‘Oh Walter!’: Ros Canter provides update on her 2025 Badminton winner
Lordships Graffalo makes Badminton history by regaining his title
Ros Canter puts in stunning cross-country round at Badminton, but flag penalty is under review
‘I wouldn’t train a horse like I trained myself!’ Ros Canter looks back on running London marathon 12 days before Badminton
‘That’s my fault – hand in the air for that one’: Ros Canter reflects on expensive flying changes with Badminton favourite
Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round
