Laura Birley grew up on Bramham’s doorstep, hoping one day to watch the four-star unfold not from the ground, but between a pair of ears.
Now, having completed that event three times, the 28-year-old rider is gearing up for arguably her biggest challenge yet – Defender Burghley Horse Trials – and one that sounds as if she were born to do.
“My friends won’t stop pointing out the similarity,” she says of her name. “Birley at Burghley – I’ve not heard the end of it!”
Laura will be heading to Wednesday’s trot-up with 17-year-old Bob Cotton Bandit, her top – and only – horse. As an elite amateur rider, Laura balances training with contract work four days a week for the NHS and, more recently, marathon running.
“It’s fantastic for fitness,” comments Laura, who completed her first marathon in Florence last year. “Usually at the start of the season, by halfway round the cross-country I’m dying. But this season, I wasn’t!
“Because I’m fitter, I can focus much better on what I’m doing, rather than thinking ‘I need to breathe’.”
Now based in Northern Ireland, where she’s been since 2021, Laura’s career so far has seen her compete up to three-star on her young riders horse, Boxtree and I (Dan).
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“Bandit was coming up in the background, but Dan got arthritis in his hocks and started feeling sore. He was such a lovely horse; we tried to step him up to four-star, but it just wasn’t to be.”
As Dan stepped down from the competition, Bandit stepped up, carrying Laura to her first four-star, Ballindenisk, in 2022. The pair made their five-star debut at Luhmühlen in 2024.
Bob Cotton Bandit – Laura Birley’s Burghley ride
Bandit, bought nearly 11 years ago, was originally Laura’s mum Jan’s horse. However, after two years, she decided to pass him on to her daughter.
“My long-time trainer Dee Kennedy brought him over from Tipperary,” Laura Birley explains. “He has a white passport, we don’t know how he’s bred but he’s got some Irish Draught in there for sure. He’s a proper Irish Sports Horse type, but with a pony face.”
Bandit turned out to be a little wild in the beginning, but seemed to enjoy channelling his energy into eventing.
“We thought we’d compete him until he reached his peak, then sell him,” says Laura. “Luckily for us, he just kept giving!”
Laura says cross-country is Bandit’s strength, and she “never has to worry” about him over solid fences.
“It did take us a while to qualify for four-star, because he just knows showjumps fall down,” she explains. “I think we had about 10 runs at three-star. He always went clear cross-country, but would have five fences down!”
Laura trains with eventer Tracy Garside and has dressage lessons with Lucy Adams, with whom she’s been working on Bandit’s changes.
“The trouble with one horse is that I was trying to teach Bandit changes without having done them before myself,” she explains. “It was a bit like the blind leading the blind!
“He’ll quite happily do his changes at full gallop. In the dressage arena, though? That’s another story!”
Laura Birley at her first Burghley
Laura’s been back in England for the last week and a half to prepare and train ahead of Burghley. “I’ve been staying and training with Tracy Garside and had a session with Chris Bartle – basically, I’ve had a lot of lessons over the last week,” she laughs.
She recollects watching Dee Kennedy ride around the Lincolnshire track at her only previous visit as a child. “The fences just seemed massive!”
Her most recent five-star appearance was at Pau last year where, despite biblical rain, she and Bandit went clear across country. They finished 53rd.
“Dressage day was roasting hot, and then it started raining and didn’t stop,” she recalls. “We were walking the cross-country course on the Saturday and the water on the track was ankle-deep in places.
“But it was a great experience, and I quite like travelling the long distance to these big events. Bandit’s so good and easy to do, I never have to worry about him on the lorry. I often take him on the ferry by myself.”
Laura has the benefit of advice from Tracy, who finished in the top 30 at Burghley in 2008, and says her aim for the week is to complete.
“I’m very excited, but very nervous,” she says. “It’ll be the biggest atmosphere Bandit and I have ever experienced.”
Riding a horse she’s trained herself from grassroots, Laura is partnered with not just a home-produced athlete, but a best friend. “He’s like a dog the way he follows me around,” says Laura of Bandit. “He’s the most lovely horse to deal with and never gives me any reason to worry.”
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A horse owner and rider with more than 20 years experience, Bethany has been writing for equestrian publications since 2017. Over the course of her career, she has reported from major British Riding Clubs and British Dressage championships, covered Badminton Horse Trials and interviewed equestrian sport’s best athletes. Her work can also be found in Country Life, The Field and Breathe magazine.
