Burghley Horse Trials first-timer Phil Brown speaks to Horse & Hound about realising his ‘childhood dream’ and why there were two horses with him when he passed the cross-country finish line on Saturday.... *please be patient for video to load*
Five-star first-timer Phil Brown realised a childhood dream by completing the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials on his debut – with two very special horses with him as he crossed the cross-country finish line.
The 35-year-old, who hails from a non-horsey background, was given a hero’s welcome as he completed his clear cross-country jumping round with the 14-year-old Harry Robinson on Saturday.
“The whole week has been incredible. It’s a childhood dream, I think it’s every Pony Club kid’s dream even to get here. Even just to arrive at the gates with a fit, sound, healthy horse ready to start is an achievement in itself,” said Phil.
“So to have the week I’ve had, with a personal best in the dressage, clear round yesterday and, yes, a few poles fell today, but that would be his tricky phase. I couldn’t be more over the moon with him.”
Phil, who is originally from North Yorkshire, has been living in Stamford, next-door to Burghley, for the past two years.
“My parents aren’t horsey at all. They are both very supportive, but Mum in particular absolutely loves it,” he said, with a laugh.
“We can see Burghley House from our yard, so if that’s not motivation to get here, I don’t know what is.
“I was maybe a little bit over the top when I came through, but it was just the elation to even finish from that dream of getting here to then to jump a clear round. The cheers from the crowd, being local, was just amazing. It all came out when I crossed the finish line.”
He found his love of cross-country riding through Pony Club tetrathlon and didn’t compete at his first affiliated event until he was 18. A year with Ruth Edge confirmed that this was the career path for him.
His five-star achievement is made all the more special as his dream has been on ice for six years. In 2016, Phil came within a whisker of riding at the iconic five-star. Fate had a different plan, but his 2022 achievement carries a poignant connection to that year.
“I had a wonderful horse called Miss Brodie, I actually wore a bracelet of her hair when I went cross-country yesterday – she’s still with us, but she’s 20 now,” he said.
“She qualified to come here in 2016, then a rule change meant I had to go and do another long-format [four-star]. She picked up an injury at that. She did come back from that, but to four-star so we never quite finished that five-star dream. Being from North Yorkshire, my initial aim was Bramham and she achieved that for me. I thought maybe a five-star is possible, it’s taken six long years to do that – and Harry has just done that for me.
“Weirdly, when I got the draw and saw I was number 59, I was quite stressed about being late in the day and wondering how I was going to hold it together. Then I looked up at the wall at my pictures from Bramham and saw I was number 59 there as well – I believed that was a bit of a sign and thought ‘if it was good enough for then, it’s good enough for now’.”
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