Kirsty Chabert and her husband Arthur: Badminton Horse Trials 2022

There are two married couples competing at this year’s Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian. One of them is New Zealand’s Tim and Jonelle Price, and the other is Kirsty and Arthur Chabert. But, unlike Tim and Jonelle, who are both full-time event riders, the dynamic is slightly different for Kirsty and Arthur.

Kirsty events full-time, while Arthur works full-time as a building site manager.

Kirsty and Arthur married in December 2016 and make up Team Opposition, based near Salisbury in Wiltshire at Landford Common Stud, which was set up by Kirsty’s parents, John and Debbie Johnston. At this year’s Badminton, Kirsty is riding Classic VI, and was first to go, posting a 32.8 dressage score this morning (5 May). Arthur, who competes under the French flag, rides Goldsmiths Imber and the pair will perform their dressage on Friday.

“I was in labour for quite a few days and then ended up having an emergency C-section,” explains Kirsty, who has a number of five-star completions to her name. “I had quite a few complications following that in 2020 when the pandemic hit. I came back to riding, but I was in so much pain while trying to ride sitting trot that I very nearly gave up – that was horrible, because I really like doing dressage, but the pain made it very hard and the feeling of not enjoying dressage was horrible.”

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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.

Meet a married couple competing at Badminton: a building site manager and a rider who almost gave up after pregnancy complications

Badminton final scores

“We’ve competed as a couple for a while now, so we’re in sync with it,” says Kirsty. “We’re both here for the same reason, but we have different plans as we are riding very, very different horses. Classic is a fiery little thing, while Arthur’s is a much rangier type.

“I sent them both to Burghley in 2019 for their first five-star and they made it like a BE90 track – there’s not many horses that could do that for you to be confident enough to go to Burghley for your first five-star and pick up a rosette at the end of it for finishing 17th.

“At these sorts of competitions we try and keep ourselves to ourselves on the plan side of things, and then we can discuss elements as and when we need to.”

Kirsty gave birth to Henry in December 2018, and things were far from straightforward.

Thankfully Kirsty says she is feeling much better now.

“I’ve had some surgery and that’s all sorted now so we’re looking forward to the rest of this week.”

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