Watch 14.2hh intermediate eventer showjump without a bridle

Four-star event rider Imogen Murray set herself a challenge to steer a horse round a course of showjumps with no bridle — and called it part fun, part training.

“I wanted a winter challenge,” said Imogen, 25. “I like doing silly things sometimes — everything is so serious and it’s nice to have a bit of fun.

“I’ll never have to do that in competition, but it’s good to know I can — it improves your riding. It makes you more conscious of what you’re doing with the rest of your body — not being able to rely on the reins. And it’s good fun for the horses too, it improves their outlook.”

Imogen’s selected mount was the 14.2hh Ive Dun Talking — known as Petal — who has won at intermediate level this year.

“The girls [on the yard] said Petal would be wild, because she goes so fast with a bridle on, but she was great,” Imogen added. “She’s such fun to ride — she can go on a horse or a pony stride, so you can charge around.”

Imogen first tackled the course with a bridle, but the reins knotted. Then she added the neckstrap — and removed the bridle.

“This video was taken the first time I’d jumped without a bridle,” Imogen said. “We nearly jumped out of the arena when I just had the knotted reins, because I wasn’t looking exactly where I wanted to go and Petal locked on to the arena fence.”

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And Imogen is already eyeing up another dare.

“I want to do it without a bridle or saddle — just a neck strap,” she said, “but I need to find another horse, as Petal is too round.”

More’s the shame, as Petal is a honeypot for Imogen’s social media exposure.

“If people come to visit the yard, they’re not interested in seeing the four-star horse — everyone loves Petal,” Imogen says.

To read a full interview with Imogen Murray, don’t miss the latest issue of Horse & Hound magazine, out now

Martha Terry

H&H features editor

Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on dogs of all shapes and sizes. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs, one a street dog from Gambia who was abandoned at three weeks old. Now, her constant companion, whether by her feet at her desk or walking cross-country courses, is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.