Chilli Morning III, one of three Chilli Morning clones, has moved to a new rider.

The nine-year-old gelding, owned by Chris and Lisa Stone, has switched from Alex Hua Tian to world number one Tim Price.

Chilli Morning III made his British Eventing debut in 2023 with Alex, who has produced him to three-star. Their last event together was the intermediate at Bishop Burton in May, where they finished 14th.

Tim took on the ride this autumn and their first event together was the open novice at Pontispool on 13 September. Two weeks later they were sixth in the open intermediate at Kelsall Hill.

Tim and Chilli Morning III have now enjoyed their first win, the intermediate A section at Little Downham on 7 October. They added 5.6 cross-country time-penalties to their 28.6 dressage to finish on 34.2.

“He’s cool, he’s my kind of horse,” Tim told H&H. “We’ve struck up a good partnership in a relatively short time. I’ve got to know him a bit and it’s a great finish to his season.

“Because he’s a fairly new ride, he’s going to have eight weeks off then come back into work and then maybe build up to a three-star long. He hasn’t done a lot really, Alex has done a great job producing him up to this stage and I intend to go out next year and have a good upward curve.”

Tim said it was a “natural transition” to try Chilli Morning III with a new rider.

“He’s one of the Chilli clones so there’s quite a few people eyeballing him, seeing how he goes. There’s obviously a bit of a dynasty there and intrigue,” he said.

“I just treat him as another horse from that point of view. I really like him, he’s a big horse but he’s compact and he’s just quite normal. But I like his type and so far I’ve got on with him really well.”

The other Chilli Morning clones

Chilli Morning IV is enjoying a successful season with Gemma Stevens, having stepped up to four-star. The pair finished eighth in the Blenheim eight- and nine-year-olds and were 15th at Boekelo on 1 October.

Chilli Morning II is ridden by Germany’s Julia Krajewski. He won a CCI3*-S in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, in April, but has not competed internationally since May.

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The rider of a home-bred who won his first novice event on the day she had to let his dam go said it was a day of sadness – but also joy, as a part of her beloved mare lives on.

Equine vet Charlotte (Lotty) Allwood and her own seven-year-old HHF Sexy Mail topped their section at Eland Lodge on 27 June. But Charlotte had been in two minds about going as she had had to put her mare Philippa down that morning owing to colic.

“It was the epitome of the highs and lows of horses, within 12 hours,” Lotty told H&H. “It was a strange day, such ups and downs, but she was such a special horse, who taught me so much, so to be out eventing with her baby and him to win was very special.”

Lotty bought Philippa as a teenager, with money she had saved from producing ponies, and they evented successfully together, after which she and her mother Sarah decided to put the mare in foal, and “Merlot” was born.

“We were a little bit drunk when we named him!” Lotty said. “There used to be a horse called Some Chick, which we thought was funny, and as he’s by Jaguar Mail, we thought it would sound funny to have ‘Charlotte Allwood riding sexy male’, and unfortunately that’s the one that stuck!”

Lotty said she produced Merlot slowly, as he is over 17hh, and they came third at their previous novice on 14 June. Then when she went out to feed the horses before the event last Saturday, she found Philippa down in the field.

“I examined her and I knew she was colicking and really poorly,” Lotty said. “It wasn’t a colic that could be saved by surgery so I went to get my mum. We said goodbye to her together and I put her to sleep.

“We were beside ourselves because she’s been in our family 14, 15 years and she’s the queen of the yard. We weren’t going to go but then said ‘What are we going to do, sit here and cry all day? Why don’t we go, it’s what Philippa would have wanted us to do’.”

HHF Sexy Mail dug deep

Lotty said it was not the best dressage test she had ridden but that Merlot is so good on the flat, they scored just over 30. They then went clear in the showjumping.

“I knew the time was really tight across country, and it was only his third novice, so he’s not really used to going at pace,” she said. “I didn’t really know how he was going to handle it, but he was just an absolute superstar, he really dug deep for me.

“Philippa was such a funny mare, she had a really good sense of humour, and was always really careful showjumping.

“She wasn’t the scopiest horse in the world but she had the heart of a lion, she tried for you all the time. She’d look for fences; any time you landed, she was looking for flags, and I really do feel like I went round that course the other day and he was the exact same. It was just like riding Philippa all over again.”

Philippa was buried at home, and Lotty said it was a privilege to be able to give her last and greatest gift to a horse she had loved for so long.

“We had that conversation, and Mum said ‘You can’t do this, we’ll ring’ but I wasn’t going to let her struggle,” she said. “There was never any question in my mind. She knew we were there, and I was able to do that for her, surrounded by people she really knew, and it was so peaceful.

“The last good thing I could do for her”

“Everyone always says it must be so hard and it is, but one of the very kindest things we get to do as vets is relieve suffering. And when you can do that for a horse you really care about, in a situation where they really trust you and know you and they haven’t got a stranger doing it, it was such a special feeling.

“It was the last really good thing I could do for her, because I owed her so much. She gave me so much, not only competing but just through her personality, her bringing up these wonderful babies, being an incredible mum, looking after the herd when she got older. She did so much for us, and that was the kindest thing I could do for her. The last gift I could give her was that and I’m very glad I was able to do that for her.”

Lotty added that it was extra special to have the win on a horse she had bred and known from his first moment.

“It’s always been a dream of mine and my mum’s, to have a home-bred and be able to win with a home-bred, and he’s made that happen for us,” she said. “And on a day that was so poignant and heart-wrenching was incredible. It’s happy and sad at the same time, but I’m very lucky as I’ve got a part of her always now in Merlot – she lives on, which is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

“As a vet, you do steer away from that type of conversation, but it definitely did feel like she was there, and she was looking over us. And I hope we did her proud.”

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A 16-year-old eventer who swapped motorcycles for horses four years ago has been recognised for his “dedication and enthusiasm”, as he aims to step up to three-star next season.

West Yorkshire-based Alfie Dixon is the September winner of the British Eventing (BE) and the Howden Way spotlight award, having been nominated by his coach Will Murray.

The award is for grassroots members who “embody the shared values” of BE and Howden Way; prioritising horse and athlete welfare, embracing collaboration in training and or competition, emphasising personal growth and skill development and exhibiting sportsmanship. Every month BE coaches can nominate someone from their region and Laura Collett chooses the winner.

Alfie started riding in 2022. He did his first full BE season in 2024, having made his eventing debut in the Norton Disney BE80 in October 2023.

“My family is more into motor sport. I used to ride bikes and my older brother competed in motocross at European level,” said Alfie.

“It was only when my sister got a pony, about four years ago that I decided I wanted to ride. My parents bought me a pony to stop us arguing.”

On 9 September Alfie and his eight-year-old gelding Prince Louis B (Tommy) were 18th on their first two-star completion, at Cornbury. The following week they enjoyed their first win together, in the under-18 open novice at Succeed Kelsall Hill.

“My ultimate aim is to build a string of horses, ride for owners and compete at the highest level,” said Alfie.

Alfie said the spotlight award was a “fantastic surprise”.

“Tommy and I have had a fantastic season so far, hitting all our goals,” he said. “Next season is going to be another big step up and our goal is our first three-star.”

Will Murray said Alfie attended several BE coaching sessions at the start of the season “where he displayed obvious talent and enthusiasm”.

“He has worked incredibly hard at improving his and his horse’s performance throughout the season,” he said.

“His dedication and enthusiasm for the sport is fantastic, and I would like that to be recognised.”

On reading Alfie’s nomination, Laura Collett said she was impressed by his commitment to developing himself and Prince Louis B during the season.

“Talent is important, but so too are dedication, enthusiasm and a willingness to keep learning, and it sounds as though Alfie has shown all those qualities,” she said.

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“Her mother will be proud of her,” said Vittoria Panizzon, after finishing third in the Rathbones CCI3*-L at Aspen Cooling Osberton with Borough Tuppence.

The nine-year-old is a daughter of Vittoria’s London 2012 Olympic ride Borough Pennyz and by Timolin, a son of Totilas. A princess by name and by nature, Borough Tuppence is strikingly beautiful, light across the ground and extremely athletic.

“She’s stunning and moves beautifully. Timolin has given her fantastic paces and a lovely uphill presence,” said Vittoria, adding that the mare looks like her sire and has a similar character to her dam.

“She is very princessy and can be tricky if you don’t get the buttons right. But that’s what is great about mares – they can have quite a lot of character, but if you get them on side and loving their job, they’ll dig deeper for you.

“She’s brilliant across country and very athletic, which she gets from both sides. You come out of the start box, she puts on her game face and goes into lion mode.”

There’s a lovely family story behind Borough Tuppence and her full brother, Borough Threpence. Borough Pennyz is owned by Sally Bullen and Timolin belongs to her sister-in-law Jennie Lorriston-Clarke.

“I put together a syndicate for her when she was still an embryo,” said Vittoria, who owns Borough Tuppence with Ann Dowty, Lucy Mackenzie, Dani Charleston-Gallacher, Ian Robinson and Eddie and Amanda Benson.

“I have produced her slowly because she is quite sensitive and needed time to strengthen and feel comfortable with the flat work mostly, and it's paid off.

“It is awfully special, and you've known the previous generation as well. Certainly with her more sensitive parts, it probably helps a bit having worked with her mother, who equally could have clear opinions.”

Vittoria credited Flo Dawes and Lisa White for their help with the mare’s dressage, which she said has “really progressed in the last year or two”.

“They really understand her and she’s taken a huge leap forward, which is what she needed as she’s always jumped a lot of double clears, we just needed to get the competitive marks,” said Vittoria, who finished on her dressage score of 29.5

Osberton was Borough Tuppence’s first long-format event; she already has one CCI4*-S under her belt, so the plan will be to move towards her becoming more established at four-star level with the hope she could be a team contender in future.

“Osberton has been a fantastic test because it was a pretty challenging course, it had a whole range of different questions and I feel there was plenty of variety that was educational for her to move up to the next level,” said Vittoria.

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It’s easy to hark back to the cross-country courses of yesteryear, and pit the traditional “rider-frighteners” versus today’s technical questions, but the reality is far more nuanced. Ginny Elliot, who won 10 gold medals as well as five Burghleys and three Badmintons in the 1980s, refutes the idea that accuracy is more important today.

“When Frank Weldon took over building Badminton [1966–1988] it was all about bravery and accuracy – accuracy was super important,” she says.

“Now, yes, they have to be very accurate too because of the skinnies – which are difficult – and various other challenging questions, but it’s a different sort of accuracy.

“Angles were the main question for us; we had to be pinpoint accurate on our line or we’d land in a ditch. There was such a wide space to get it wrong because the rail was 20ft wide from right to left, to another rail 20ft wide – your angle and accuracy had to be absolutely correct, you couldn’t deviate six inches.”

Ginny gives the example of the angles at Badminton’s Tom Smith’s Walls – now no longer jumped – and the “S-fence”, built of timber.

“You were running downhill,” she says. “There was one stride between each rail, so you had to find your way through on the right striding.”

Burghley’s infamous Brandy Glass in 1983 – so called because from aerial view it was shaped like its name – was another.

“It was angled post-and-rail to angled post-and-rail to a corner, super-difficult, and dear Priceless was perfection; he didn’t deviate an inch right or left,” says Ginny.

She’d been told by chef d’equipe Malcolm Wallace not to attempt the influential direct route if she was on time.

“I think I was the only one who jumped it straight – because my watch wasn’t working, so I had to!”

The onus was on riders of that era to decide their own line and stick to it.

“You had to choose something like a piece of bark on the timber, and a tree in the distance to line up, especially if there were three fences in a row or open corners on a bending line.

“We jumped very natural fences that sat well in the countryside, utilising the natural resources. In my memory, we didn’t have protective rails on ditches like at the Vicarage Vee nowadays, so if you were near the end of the day, the ditch was considerably bigger.

“We rarely had fillers or flower pots; the fences were less dressed,” she adds. “I remember at Badminton a massive parallel on an angle over an open ditch. So you had to make sure you’re on exactly the right line or you land in the ditch.”

“Frank Weldon was a genius course-designer. We often sat in our lorries the night before cross-country agreeing that there were two or three unjumpable fences – how wrong we were. Frank had certainly managed to frighten the riders, but the fences jumped well.”

The challenge was to solve the course-designer’s puzzle.

“One fence I couldn’t work out in my head was at Gawler World Championships in 1984,” she says. “It was a rail, one stride, rail drop into water and then bounce over another rail. I watched it for a while, and it wasn’t working out. Even Charisma fell there.

“A very few managed the bounce, but it was ugly to watch. My question was, having dropped a long way down landing in the water, physically how could the horse get his weight back on his hind feet to take off immediately over the rail?

“So I worked out that if I could get Priceless to take two strides in the one stride, he’d drop in short and then could fit in one stride to the rail instead of a bounce. I just prayed and he did it. It didn’t sit well in my tummy but I was reasonably confident he could do it.

“Priceless had a remarkable brain and sense of quick decisions, a genius.”

They won double gold.

The Gawler fence would be outlawed today – the track produced 26 fallers from 43 runners.

And sometimes, the fences were rightly deemed unjumpable.

“At the Denmark Euros [Horsens, 1981] there was an upright on top of a bank like the Hickstead Derby bank, so horses would have landed right at the bottom,” Ginny remembers. “I walked the course with Richard Meade and I was just a child with nappies on!

“Richard looked at my face when we finished the course and said, ‘don’t worry, they will have to change two of those fences’. They removed them after the chef d’equipes’ meeting and thank goodness, because I was number one to go!”

Bouncing and bucking through bullfinches

Bullfinches were quite a feature in the ’80s. They still pop up today, but they’re arguably less frequent – and certainly less taxing. Ginny remembers a bounce of bullfinches at Burghley, where Night Cap cleverly scrambled in a stride.

“A bounce of bullfinches didn’t make any sense in my head and he must have been suspicious – but he was very clever and luckily I managed to stay on board. I hated that fence.”

Priceless managed to negotiate a huge bullfinch with a massive ditch in front on a steep downhill approach, bucking after Ginny tapped him on the shoulder to tell him to pay attention to the enormous obstacle ahead.

“Bucking was not what I needed when I felt we should be going 80mph! The crowds watching must have thought this very amusing,” she says. “Priceless, renowned for his cheeky behaviour, managed to stop bucking just in time and jumped it really well – goodness knows how.”

Another natural feature, banks, were also more prevalent, with iconic fences such as Luckington Lane and the Normandy Bank now no longer in use. These were a useful method of slowing horses down to make the optimum time sufficiently tough, but from a designer’s perspective, steps and staircases use up too many of the permitted number of jumping efforts.

Mastering the cross-country test

Despite – or perhaps because of – all these taxing fences, Ginny was a consummate cross-country rider, her smooth style belying the difficulty of the tracks. Two of her top horses – Priceless and Master Craftsman – never had a cross-country jumping fault, through their careers of multiple five-stars and championships.

“I was told early on in my career that a horse already knows he is a horse – the art of horsemanship lies solely with the rider,” says Ginny.

“I’ve always asked what the designer is asking from the rider, in terms of how to present their horse in the best way to negotiate a particular fence,” she explains. “Gear-changing is nearly the most important, and the smoother this happens, the less time you use.

“All horses are different and have their Achilles’ heels. As a rider, it’s our responsibility to do the gear changes, the rhythm and accuracy. And if you did all that you should have a high chance of jumping the fence happily.

“You can’t afford to take money out of the bank, so you don’t want a hairy moment at fence four,” she adds. “I would be very cross with myself if my horse hit a fence in front. I had another job to do on Sunday, so my horses had to finish in the best possible shape.”

And with Ginny’s extraordinary tally of medals and trophies, she certainly fulfilled her mission.

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New Zealand’s Tim Price stays at the top of the eventing world rankings – as brilliant performances from Tom Jackson, Gemma Stevens and Katie Magee move them into the top 10.

In the October FEI rankings update, Tim is world number one for a fifth month, on 534 points. He took the top spot in June, having finished second at Mars Badminton with Falco.

At the time, Tim said being world number one was “something to be proud of”.

“Of course, the key to maintaining such a high level of performance is consistency, having good horses that are well prepared and can go and do a good job at the highest level,” he said.

US rider Boyd Martin is second on 528 points, and his countryman Will Coleman is third with 500 points. The pair have had strong seasons; Boyd was third at Longines Luhmuhlen CCI5* in June and has had multiple four-star placings including a win in the Tryon CCI4*-S last month. Will was fourth at the Aachen World Championships and seventh at Defender Burghley.

There are five Brits in the eventing world rankings top 10; Tom McEwen has moved up from fifth to fourth and Ros Canter dropped from sixth to seventh. Tom Jackson, who was fourth at Burghley with Hawk Eye and at Agria Blenheim on My Star Turn, has moved from 11th to fifth. He is on 430 points, 39 behind Tom McEwen.

Gemma Stevens has enjoyed a phenomenal autumn to jump from 25th to eighth. Gemma won Scone Palace CCI4*-S on Cooley Park Muze then a week later won Burghley with Chilli Knight. She had top-10 placings at Blenheim and was fifth individually at Boekelo last weekend, where she helped Britain win the Nations Cup final.

Another big mover is Katie Magee, up from 34th to ninth. Katie is also having a season to remember, having recorded top-10 four-star placings at Bramham, Alnwick Ford and Hartpury. She was runner-up at Burghley with Treworra, second in the Blenheim eight- and-nine-year-olds with Cushlas Indigo and second at Boekelo, where she joined Gemma on the team.

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The future of Maryland 5 Star is in doubt once again after its lead organisers pulled out of running the US horse trials in 2027.

Maryland has hosted an autumn CCI5* five times since its introduction in 2021. H&H reported this spring that the 2026 Maryland 5 Star had been cancelled following months of rumours, but that Select Event Group had “assumed the role of lead organiser” and was “preparing its application to organise and put on the 2027 Maryland 5 Star Event”.

On Thursday (8 October) Select Event Group announced that it “will withdraw as the prospective license holder for a future Maryland 5 Star event at this time”.

“The organising group supporting the future of the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill remains committed to the long-term vision of restoring one of the world’s premier eventing competitions and continues to work collaboratively with public, private, and community stakeholders to identify a sustainable path forward. That commitment has not changed,” said a Select Event Group spokesperson.

“However, after careful evaluation of current timelines, funding requirements, and organisational responsibilities, Select Event Group has informed the United States Equestrian Federation that it will withdraw as the prospective license holder for a future Maryland 5 Star event at this time.

“This decision reflects the practical realities of the current situation, not a lack of enthusiasm for the event’s return.”

The spokesperson added that “encouraging discussions continue” over potential funding, governance and operating structures, but that “the certainty necessary to responsibly relaunch an event of this scale has not yet materialised”.

“Rather than misrepresent the status or timing of those efforts, we believe it is important to be transparent with the governing body and the broader equestrian community regarding where things stand today,” said the spokesperson.

“This decision does not affect the USEF three-star or young event horse competitions scheduled at Fair Hill next week. It relates only to the timing and structure of a future Maryland 5 Star license and does not signal any concern regarding next week’s competitions.

“Select remains ready and excited to support, participate in, or potentially lead a future organising effort as a viable long-term funding model emerges.

“Fair Hill remains a world-class venue, and many dedicated stakeholders continue working toward a solution that can ensure the Maryland 5 Star’s successful return. We remain hopeful that opportunity will present itself in the future and stand ready to assist when it does.”

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Aston-le-Walls hosted the British Riding Clubs Howden Combined Championships (26–27 September).

There were 14 classes for Riding Club members – with scores counting for both individual and team results. These included a mix of combined training (dressage and showjumping), and combined challenge (showjumping and cross-country), over heights from 60cm–100cm.

Darc Legend’s competitive career came to an end in the best way when he was crowned overall champion in the open combined training with Joanne Watts.

The 18-year-old home-bred gelding has represented Carleton RC at numerous British Riding Clubs championships over the past 11 years and has multiple national titles to his name – including this one in 2022.

“He’s been an amazing stalwart and has never let us down,” said Joanne.

“He felt great today, and I was really pleased to finish on our dressage score. We’ve had some of our most enjoyable days at riding club events and to finish on a win is special.”

Winners from the Riding Clubs Combined Championships

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Imogen King’s win at Aspen Cooling Osberton (1-4 October) on MS Team’s Camaro was a triumph in more ways than simply the colour of the rosette.

Imogen and the 10-year-old added nothing to their dressage score of 30.1 to head the Arena Saddles CCI2*-L.

“I’m really pleased with him, we’ve had an up and down year and came here to have a nice party at Osberton and hopefully have a really enjoyable end to the season,” said Imogen.

“To come and win, I can’t really believe it! We only came to have a good time.”

She added: “I had quite a nasty rotational fall last year with a different horse. I wasn’t feeling overly confident across country before that anyway, and it really knocked my confidence.

Imogen explained that she has been regaining her own confidence, but as her current string is relatively inexperienced, it has also taken time to feed that back into her horses.

“It’s just taken a bit of time to put all of that back together,” she said. “He’s a good horse, he’s done a couple of three-stars, we just hadn’t been seeing eye to eye across country, so I’m more pleased that he came out on Saturday, flew round and had a good time than I am about winning. The winning is a bonus, more importantly we both enjoyed the cross-country.”

Imogen said that the key to rebuilding her confidence has been time and finding the right plan for herself and her horses, rather than feeling pressured by what she felt she “should” be doing owing to the level a horse is capable of jumping or has competed at previously.

“I’m not a particularly brave cross-country rider, everyone thinks I am because Sir Charles [Ivar Gooden, Imogen’s late five-star horse] was really good across country. But to be honest, most of the time I used to hold on and he would jump all the jumps,” she said.

“Since then, we’ve had horses who are really capable in all three phases, but probably just need a little more of a hand-hold across country. I found that quite difficult and it’s just been a case of time, backing off, taking the pressure off and trying to make it fun.

“By stepping back and saying, ‘Let’s do a level that’s fun for everyone’, then everyone is having a good time and then the horses have actually gone up the levels. You’ve got to do what’s right for both of you, not necessarily what you think you ‘should’ be doing.”

Will Rawlin and Mackenzy were second – they finished on the same score as the winner (30.1), but Imogen was closer to the cross-country optimum time. Third-placed Dani Stewart-Richardson (Oblensky’s Heartbreaker) and Harry Dzenis (Arkadium) in fourth also finished on the same score of 31.8, also separated only by proximity to the optimum.

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Ros Canter led from the front to win the Rathbones CCI3*-L at Aspen Cooling Osberton (1-4 October) with “real three-day horse” Broadstone Lion Man.

Ros and “Leo”, owned by Jo Needler and Kate James, added nothing to their class-topping dressage score of 24.8 to land victory in the ring.

The Billy Tudor son, bred by Amy Foulstone (née Hawley), oozed effortless athleticism through his showjumping round on Sunday. It was that class and jumping ability that first attracted Ros’s attention.

“I knew Amy from when I rode for Judy Bradwell,” said Ros. “I taught Amy on him at a clinic when he was a young horse and he really caught my eye.

“I asked that if she ever decided to sell him, would she think of me. She came back to me the next week and said, ‘I’ve been thinking that I need to sell one anyway.’”

Ros added that Kate was looking to become involved in another horse after co-owning Pencos Crown Jewel was sold and that family friend Jo was also interested in ownership, so a plan came together. The now nine-year-old joined Ros in 2024 and the pair enjoyed a couple of great runs, before a setback put the brakes on their progress.

“I did two events on him and then he went through some fencing in a field,” said Ros. “He had to have a little operation, and he also had a fully blocked tear duct at the same time, so he had a very quiet year the first year that we had him, which means that he’s a year behind where we thought he would be.

“He is fantastic. He’s a real three-day horse – he loves sleeping, so being in a stable all week and only coming out for a few minutes of work is perfect for him! He came out for his dressage nine minutes before, we had it all planned, and he showed his best work in the test.”

Course-designer Stuart Buntine’s flowing three-star track, run over excellent ground, received much praise from riders. It encouraged competitors into a forward rhythm, before looping through the woods and over a decent selection of questions.

Faults were well spread. The Bucas Angled Brushes (4ab) caught out a handful, as did the Foran Equine Triple Bars (6ab) arrowheads. The Woodhouses Rail, Ditch, Hedge (8abc) was another influential question, so too was the vertiginous drop to two brush corners at the Uvex Cracking Bank (12abc) and the Aspen Cooling Water (22abc).

Scores were so tightly bunched in this 80-strong class that none in the top 10 could afford a rail and to keep their place. Emma Lawton and Dinarthall Sea King held the runner-up spot after cross-country, but one rolled pole dropped them to fifth and opened the door for Emily King and HG Woods to rise into second (27.4).

The 10-year-old HG Woods, who is owned by Alex Wilcox and Helen Morris, bounded over the coloured poles with charming enthusiasm.

“I adore riding him, he’s the coolest little chap. He was third in the two-star here last year, so nice to go a level up and a notch better,” said Emily. “He’s a pleasure in all phases – he feels like he has everything to be a top one.”

Italy’s Vittoria Panizzon turned her week around, after finding herself on the floor following Borough Tupence’s particularly athletic bronc on Wednesday, ending Sunday on the podium.

“She’s taken time as she is very sensitive and just needed to become stronger and more mature,” said Vittoria. “Her dressage has really progressed in the last year or two, particularly thanks to Flo Dawes and Lisa White. They really understand her.”

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Sofia Sjöborg’s 2025 European Championships ride Govalent will not travel to France for Pau CCI5*, after a “traumatic few days” caused by a freak stable injury.

The British-based Swedish rider had to call the vet to “Zack” this week when he was found with a wound.

“All of mine live out overnight and are in during the day to be fed and worked,” she said. “So nothing was any different when Georgy Killengray came back after lunch. Except that she found Zack in his stable with a head wound.

“We are so lucky to have the best vet ever in Fiona Jacob who was out very quickly to discover it was a lot more extensive than just a graze.”

By yesterday (6 October), 11-year-old Zack had X-rays and a CT scan.

Graphic video in post below

“We are so thankful that everything should heal ok,” Sofia said. “He luckily missed the eye structure itself and the nerve. He has two fractures as well as a fully displaced bone fragment at the top of the eye socket.”

Sofia said she has to wait to find out whether this fragment still has a blood supply. If it does, it will reattach, if not it will become necrotic over time and have to be surgically removed.

“And poor guy chipped a tooth to top it off,” she said.

“All this to say that there will sadly be no Pau for Zack… but in the same breath I am so incredibly thankful that it wasn’t worse. The poor guy has been an angel throughout all of this and it’s so sad to see him hurting with nothing we can do.

“Lots of tlc and cuddles and lots of large ‘bee-keeper’ fly masks in Zack’s future.”

Sofia and the Irish-bred Govalent would have been contesting their second CCI5* had they made it to Pau, having completed Luhmühlen in June. They also came second in a CCI4*-S and won a CCI4*-L in Montelibretti in February and March respectively.

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Last year’s winner Jarillo heads up a strong field of Pau Horse Trials entries, for the final five-star of the year (22-25 October).

Three of last year’s top four are among the entries for the French five-star this time. New Zealand’s world number one Tim Price not only brings forward the 2025 Pau winner Jarillo, but also Happy Boy, who was fourth last year. They are joined by Britain’s Tom Jackson and Plot Twist B, the runners-up 12 months ago. Tim also has a third ride in the five-star first-timer Garcon.

There are 19 British riders, with 22 horses between them, heading to Pau Horse Trials and plenty with a chance of a good result.

Seven-time five-star winner Ros Canter brings forward MHS Seventeen, who was 11th here in 2024, while this year’s Luhmühlen Horse Trials runners-up, Emily King and Valmy Biats, are also entered.

Many will be excited to see the 10-year-old mare Gypsie Du Loir make her debut at this level – Yasmin Ingham’s ride was fifth in the CCI4*-L at Bramham Horse Trials in June and was among the British reserves for the eventing World Championships.

Bubby Upton also returns to Pau with the experienced five-star campaigner Cola and double Bramham CCI4*-L winner Its Cooley Time – Bubby was prominent at the top end of the leaderboard with these two horses and Cannavaro at various points during last year’s Pau but ultimately didn’t complete on any of them, so she will seek redemption this time.

Tom McEwen is on a hot streak of form and brings forward the nine-year-old Quintus, recently second in the CCI4*-S at Scone Palace, for his first start at the top level.

Also worthy of note are Izzy Taylor’s pair of five-star first-timers, Barrington Alice and SBH Big Wall, and a former Izzy ride, Hartacker, who is now piloted by Willa Newton.

Ireland’s three entries include Joseph Murphy with the experienced Calmaro and Sarah Ennis on Dourough Ferro Class Act, with whom she was 15th at last year’s European Championships at Blenheim Horse Trials.

New Zealand has 10 starters, with Caroline Powell and High Time and Jonelle Price’s trio (Capitaine De Hus Z, the 2022 Pau winner Grappa Nera and her World Championship ride Senor Crocodillo) looking like ones to watch, alongside Tim Price’s three.

Switzerland’s Felix Vogg also puts a five-star winner into the fray, last year’s Maryland 5 Star victor Cartania, while his compatriot Mélody Johner makes an exciting five-star debut on Erin, who has impressed with fast cross-country rounds at last year’s Europeans and the worlds in August.

Three US entries are headed by Hallie Coon and Kapriccio, who were fifth at Luhmühlen – denied a podium place by a frangible breakage across country.

The five home side challengers include Benjamin Massie and Figaro Fonroy, who were eliminated for a fall at the World Championships but have since rebuilt with finished third in the CCI4*-S at Lignières.

In all, 52 horses, for 43 riders, from 10 countries form the Pau Horse Trials entries, but Sweden’s Sofia Sjöborg is expected to withdraw one of her two rides, Govalent, following news he is recovering from a serious facial injury incurred in the stable.

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Frangible devices are set to become cheaper for event organisers, and promising developments on the next generation of designs are in progress.

Course-designer Chris Edwards, who has a background in the mining industry and owns and operates an engineering and manufacturing company, is working with frangible technology company MIMsafe on new devices to improve cross-country safety.

Mr Edwards, MIM founder Mats Björnetun and course-designer Stuart Buntine spoke about the latest developments at Osberton last week (1 October).

MIM has found a way to make clips cheaper for buyers, and designed a reusable clip – the existing clips are one-use only – and is looking into whether a new type of clip would work better on smaller fences. Any new designs must go through the FEI’s testing and approval process before they can be used in competition.

The cost reduction for the existing type is thanks to savings on materials, shrinking it so they can get more clips out of a production run, and on duties and transport through a new southern hemisphere distribution operation. This will mean the price for a box of clips will remain the same but buyers will get more clips in a box.

Development is well under way on reusable clips too.

“We've done our own internal testing [on the reusable clips], we're just doing some weather testing on them, such as salt tests, to make sure that they can last in the elements,” said Mr Edwards.

They showed examples of how existing deformable technology can be adapted to be used on small fences, including a 65cm rail and an 80cm roll-top jump. Mr Edwards explained that this comprises the same frangible kit as can be used on large fences but with different dimensions and geometry. Although this works with existing MIM clips, the team is looking into whether a clip specifically designed for small fences would be better, but that is a way off yet.

“There’s a lot going on behind the scenes and Stuart has been great,” said Mr Edwards. “He pushes the boundaries and will send us photos and videos asking, ‘Can we do this?’ And then it’s up to Mats and I to actually replicate that in a scientific and engineering manner and say, yes, no or maybe.”

Mr Buntine said he believes it is important to “keep pushing the bounds and moving forward”.

He added that affordability of frangible technology is “vital”, while stressing that “you can never put a price on a life”. He also said that the reusable clip is “going to be a huge advantage” and that the reduced cost of the existing type of clips is also a positive step.

“The rotational fall ratio has gone down significantly over the past 10 years or so, and that’s not solely because of frangible technology,” he said. “It’s because of what we're learning – about what horses see, how to place dressing, how to put ground lines in position, what colours to use, how to build different fences off different turns. So there are many other things that go into it.

“But I liken it to the fact that each one of you will have driven here today in a car – they all have air bags and seatbelts, because at some stage, we will all make a miscalculation, a mistake, have a near miss, and they are fitted with those to prevent a serious issue. Should we not be doing a similar thing when we build fences?

“That's where I come from, it’s as simple as that – if we can do anything to mitigate that end result, let's do it. Because no matter how good you are, something will go wrong or the horse might make a slight mistake, and so we are trying to mitigate that.”

● What do you think? Let us know your thoughts at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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Great Britain beat nine other countries to win the eventing Nations Cup final in Boekelo, the Netherlands, at the weekend.

The team of Kirsty Chabert (Classic VI), Yasmin Ingham (Kinda Corvette), Katie Magee (Cushlas Indigo) and Gemma Stevens (Cooley Park Muze) finished on a score of 84.4.

Germany (Julia Krajewski and Ero de Cantraie, Pauline Knorr on Aevolet MAF, Arne Bergendahl with Bronco NRW and Christoph Wahler with Gainsbourg De Bedon) was second on 87 and Ireland (Susie Berry on Strangford, Elizabeth Power and Dassett Fortune, Padraig McCarthy with Kilroe Tiger and Godfrey Gibbons on Kilnamac Kasu) was third on 97.5.

This year featured a new format; all 10 teams that had qualified for the final started on a zero score, so it was all to play for. The Brits led from the dressage thanks to strong tests from all four combinations, but dropped behind Germany after the cross-country, following an unfortunate elimination for Kirsty Chabert and Classic VI. Kirsty’s teammates were all clear inside the optimum time.

Going into the showjumping yesterday (4 October) the pressure was on Yasmin, Katie and Gemma, as Kirsty’s elimination meant all three scores had to count. Gemma was first in and jumped clear, as did Katie. Yasmin had four faults, but as Germany’s Christoph Wahler and Gainsbourg de Bedon had two poles, Great Britain finished on the lowest team score for the win.

“I’m very proud of them all,” said Britain’s chef d’equipe Philip Surl, adding that Katie, Yasmin and Gemma's horses are all nine-year-olds, which is “very exciting for the future”.

“It’s a unique event and now with Boekelo being a final, rather than just another leg of the Nations Cup, it’s changed the dynamic of the competition and the event has a real championship feel.”

German chef d'equipe Annette Wyrwoll said the team was pleased with their result.

“Of course it could have been a little bit better, but Great Britain is such a great nation, so we are happy to be second to them,” she said.

“Our team was amazing, they all completed and it was a very good weekend for them at Boekelo which is such a special event.”

Ireland finishes third in eventing Nations Cup final

Ireland rose from fifth after dressage to finish third. The best of the Irish was Susie Berry and Strangford, who finished sixth.

“We’re absolutely thrilled, we’ve come with a team of very young horses, our entire team are all nine-year-old horses, so that looks really bright for the future for them,” said Sam Griffiths, Ireland’s chef d’equipe.

“After very nearly getting a podium place at the World Championships and now getting a podium, we’re absolutely delighted with this result and it’s all going in the right direction for us.”

Germany’s Julia Krajewski and Ero de Cantraie topped the individual standings, having added just 0.4 of a time-penalty to their 23.9 dressage. It is the third time Julia has won the Boekelo CCI4*-L title. Katie Magee and Cushlas Indigo were the best of the Brits, finishing on their 26.4 dressage for second. Belgium’s Lara De Liedekerke-Meier was third on Quintus. Gemma Stevens and Cooley Park Muze were fifth (28.0) and Yasmin and Kinda Corvette seventh (30.0).

There were 18 Brits in action at Boekelo, including Will Newton and Last Hope 10, who finished 10th. Gemma was 15th with her other ride, Chilli Morning IV.

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An event rider who joked that she is a “frequent flyer” with the air ambulance is stepping up her fundraising efforts for those who have saved her three times.

Louise Harwood is organising a Halloween charity ball, to feature live music, fancy dress prizes and a raffle, in aid of the Midlands Air Ambulance charity at Luctonians Rugby Club in Kingsland, Herefordshire, on 30 October.

Louise has stepped back from eventing and turned more to showjumping since she had a bad fall at Blenheim in 2024. She was taken to hospital by land ambulance on that last occasion, but has been supported by the air ambulance on other occasions.

She told H&H she has “gained a few extra air miles” since she was first picked up by the charity’s paramedics in 1999.

“I’m a frequent flyer – it’s not something to brag about!” she said. “Every year since my first rescue by the air ambulance I have vowed to try and do something to say thank you to show my appreciation to this amazing charity and the service they provide.”

The 1999 rescue came after Louise was in a road traffic accident in Herefordshire. She was cut out of her car and flown to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

“I was coming back from Bristol. I think I’d been eventing a friend’s horse and was going home to ride mine – when I should have been going home to revise for my finals – managed to get in a car crash and was flown back to Bristol!” she said. “I was in intensive care and the high-dependency unit for a few days.”

While she was in hospital, and “in complete denial about the open leg fractures, dislocations broken ribs, punctured lung and face and leg lacerations,” the London Marathon was on television, and Louise said she planned to run that the following year in aid of the air ambulance.

“Doctors were saying ‘We don’t know if you’ll ever walk again, ride again’,” she said. “I was quite into running and they said they didn’t think I’d do that again. But if anyone tells me I can’t do something, it’s ‘Come on then’! You could feel sorry for yourself but you’re best to set yourself a target and get better.”

Louise did exactly that; she was riding within weeks, then trained for the race the next year. There were setbacks: “The metalwork in my knee suddenly came out through the skin one day while I was at Solihull Horse Trials, so they had to take that out. Then the plate in my ankle got infected and had to come out,” she said. “It was tricky, but we got there.”

Louise raised £4,500 for the air ambulance then, and £1,000 for Spinal Research.

“You’re so grateful that they pick you up and take you somewhere to get treated properly,” she said. “I’ve always felt that as it’s not funded by the Government, every time you get taken up in the air ambulance, you should do your bit to fundraise to pay back for your little trip, and it would all be self-funded then, wouldn’t it?”

Louise’s second flight was after she was bucked off a young horse at home, in 2015.

“They took me to Hereford hospital that time, so it was only a short flight, but that was a broken pelvis, which really hurt. It was gross,” she said. “So I was very glad to not be bouncing around in a land ambulance.”

Louise has also run quizzes and auctions of promises, as well as cycling 150 miles from Badminton to Burghley with other event riders in 2020, which raised about £12,000.

And in 2024, she needed the charity’s services again, after she was poo-picking at home and fell off her muck trailer while emptying a wheelbarrow.

“How clumsy was that?” She said. “I don’t know what I was doing; eight-foot fall, smashed skull and broken spine. So clumsy!”

Tickets are available now

Louise also volunteers for the charity and helps at local events but wanted to do more.

“I wanted to go bigger and better,” she said. “I hadn’t got to as many of the collecting events as I’d like, and I had a mad rush of blood to the head!

“It gets a bit boring in October, end of the eventing season, not much going on. It’s going to be an amazing night; we’ve got prizes for the best outfit, the best dressed table, amazing raffle prizes and a great band and food. Where on earth else do you find an amazing party at this time of year?!

“And we’re all so grateful for the services the air ambulance provides. Just about everyone knows someone who’s been picked up and the rest of us don’t know when we might need it.”

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Olympic dressage rider Abi Lyle swapped her tailcoat for cross-country colours to finish runner-up on her British Eventing debut.

Abi and Becca McCreath’s eight-year-old gelding Nice Try II (Obi) were competing in the GoBE80 at Little Gatcombe on 19 September.

“I’ve been wanting to do an event for ages but life got in the way or events got cancelled, so I was happy that I finally got to do something before the season ends,” Abi told H&H.

“It was my proper debut and hopefully it will be the first of many!”

Abi and Obi led the first two phases, having posted a 24 dressage.

“Obi is such a little gentleman, and this was only his fourth or fifth event,” said Abi.

“He’s one of these really nice horses that will go on the bit and be really consistent. I was riding him round thinking, ‘Oh, I’d like a bit more of this or that’ but had to remind myself: ‘No, this is eventing dressage!’

“We showjumped clear and he was a really good boy. Becky keeps Obi at Aston-le-Walls so I’ve been having plenty of lessons with Nigel Taylor in preparation.”

Abi and Obi jumped clear across country, with four time-faults, to finish second.

“Before I set off the steward asked if I was Abi the dressage rider, and said: ‘Good for you, well done’ and I was like: ‘Hang on, I haven’t got round yet’,” said Abi.

“I had my plan, but I’m ashamed to say I was heaving and wheezing by fence seven! There’s probably no limit to how much sitting trot I could do – but my God I was exhausted going round a cross-country. I’ve never had so much fun but also want something to end at the same time.

“We did lose the win for time-penalties, but I loved every minute, and probably because I was so knackered I didn’t over-ride him. He was fantastic. I finished and thought ‘I need to do this again’.”

Abi enjoyed the eventing community spirit.

“Eventing is so cool, everyone’s friendly and helpful. When people are jumping their rounds they’re whooping and saying ‘Good boy’, it’s just so nice to see people enjoying their horses like that,” she said.

“Dressage is fun but you can’t really express it, but in eventing you see people being ‘Woo’ and I just thought that was class. In the lorry park we were chatting away to our neighbours, and it was all just really lovely.”

Abi hopes to borrow Obi for some more events next season, when he is not competing with his owner Becca. In the meantime she is producing five-year-old mare Pipsqueak – whose competition name is Anti-Hero, a nod to the Swifties – bred by Abi’s friend and yard owner Georgie Round. Abi and Pipsqueak are competing in their first hunter trials this weekend at West Wilts.

“She’s called Pipsqueak because she was really little when she was a baby, she’s a little cutie,” said Abi.

“She’s not got the decorum for a one-day event yet, but she’ll jump anything you put in front of her. We did a little training event at Aston and she didn’t look at anything, she just loves it. We’ll put the work in over winter and hopefully we’ll be set up and ready to go out at the start of next season.”

But dressage fans can rest assured, Abi isn’t hanging up her tailcoat. She is entered for the Kronenberg CDI in Belgium next month with her Olympic ride Giraldo, known at home as Arty.

“I’ll always be dressage,” she said. “Arty feels great so I thought ‘Let’s not spend the winter festering, let’s get out’ – and it’s supposed to be a really nice show.”

Abi is also adding another string to her bow, having this week started a part-time criminology and law degree through the Open University.

“I previously did university in something else but never finished, and it’s always weighed on my mind. Since the Paris Olympics, I thought, ‘I’ve done that, and now I want to get a bit of academia in there’,” said Abi.

“The course takes six years, so I’m going to just see where I’m at. I’m super interested in the criminal justice system and with my past experiences, I’d love to apply myself to help in more significant ways that I currently do, so I thought this would be a good place to start.

“It’s online study and I spend a lot of time flying and in airports when I’m away teaching, so I can make use of that time. My priority is still to keep going with the horses; I’ve got Arty and some of Fenella’s [Quinn] lovely horses that are exciting and I definitely want to do some internationals next year.”

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Scottish five-star event rider Louisa Milne Home has been discharged from hospital and will continue her recovery at home.

Louisa sustained a serious head injury in a fall while warming up at a British Showjumping competition at Bogenraith Equestrian, Aberdeenshire, on 27 February, and had been in hospital ever since.

Her family said in a statement on 1 October that she has been discharged and is at home.

In March Louisa was diagnosed with a diffuse axonal injury, a serious traumatic brain injury affecting a large area. She was in a coma and spent time in intensive care, then on a neurological ward.

Louisa has been making steady progress and in late May she was moved to Royal Victoria Rehabilitation Hospital in Dundee where, her family reported, she was working “incredibly hard at her physio sessions”.

In August, Louisa’s family said her speech and concentration were “improving steadily” and visitors had “made an enormous difference” to the long days in hospital.

Yesterday’s statement read that Louisa “still has a long way to go on her recovery with physio, speech and occupational therapy”.

“She has however already come so far and we are so grateful for the amazing team that have treated her throughout her time in hospital and all the visits and well wishes to help the long hours go by,” said Louisa’s family.

“We appreciate your continued support and kindness and visits are still very welcome.”

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Cornbury House Horse Trials is a very popular event and the organisers do a great job, but I was disappointed that riders don’t really seem to have got behind the Arena Racing Company racehorse-to-eventer challenge class.

The winner gets £45,000; with the exception of Defender Burghley Horse Trials and Mars Badminton Horse Trials, no other prize in this country comes near it. It’s not expensive to pick up a horse out of racing and not much effort to ride one more horse a day when that’s your job.

Riders need to see the bigger picture. They can’t expect sponsors to pump in the money if they don’t support initiatives like this, and an event like Cornbury attracts the sort of people new to the sport who may well become owners.

Fair play to Bubby Upton, who won the class this year; she can see its importance, and I’m mystified as to why others can’t.

Cornbury will host the new FEI World Championships for under-25s next year, and European riders are excited about going there. The advanced track, designed by Andrew Heffernan, looked good, and I thought the new layout, with the start and finish in a different place, worked well.

The shape of the gallop

I didn’t watch much of Agria Blenheim Horse Trials, but looking at the results and speaking to riders afterwards, how can they expect distances to ride as the course-designer plans them to if they are going too slowly?

The time has always been hard to get at Blenheim because of the two long stretches of water crossings. Competitors have to be up on the clock before they get to the first one or they will inevitably collect lots of time-faults, but so many of them seem to come out of the start box at a collected canter. They did so at Burghley, too. Is it the riders, is it the type of horse, is it their training?

Holly Richardson’s horse, Ballyneety Silver Service, was in another league to most of the rest at Burghley – the shape of its gallop was totally different. Katie Magee’s Treworra was quick and a good galloper, too – the fact that Katie was second at both Burghley and Blenheim shows she’s doing something, in fact a lot of things, right.

The horses that are well placed in Blenheim’s eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S usually go on to do well – of my own ones, Avebury and Quimbo did well there before winning five-stars.

A supporting class at British five-stars?

Continuing along the line of “age” classes, how about a CCI3*-L for eight-year-olds at Badminton and Burghley?

If numbers of CCI5* starters drop, it would add something exciting to cross-country day for the spectators, without affecting those numbers further in the way that a CCI4*-S might. You could take a limited number of horses – those with the most international points – and give them a real introduction to big crowds.

A class like that at Badminton would be a first CCI3*-L for some, with gentler terrain at the beginning of the season, and Burghley would give them a stronger test in September. It would be very interesting to see whether the Dubarry Burghley young event horse final winners came back to the CCI3*-L there, and on to the CCI5* in time.

I do wonder why many riders take so long to bring horses through the grades these days. I expected my seven-year-olds to do two CCI3*-Ls and then a CCI4*-L in the spring of their eight-year-old year. Nereo did the advanced at Chatsworth as a seven-year-old, and he had one of the longest top-level careers of any horse.

I think a high-profile long-format class for eight-year-olds would help their development, and also act as a great marketing tool for riders – the prices of good horses of that age are very high.

At the lower end of the eventing spectrum, I went to Offchurch Bury for the first time in 45 years the other day. I was pleasantly surprised – it was a very
nice event with good ground and educational courses. I thoroughly recommend it!

● Would you like to see a supporting class at British five-stars? Let us know your thoughts at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your thoughts published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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Irish Sport Horse Carawich, known for his partnership with the late Jim Wofford, has been inducted into the United States Eventing Association (USEA) hall of fame.

Carawich joins Jim, who was inducted into the hall of fame in 2003. The pair were part of the bronze medal-winning team at the 1978 World Championships and won individual silver at the 1980 Alternate Olympics in Fontainebleau.

“Induction into the hall of fame is the highest honour awarded within the sport of eventing in the United States. Those invited to join have truly made a difference in the sport,” said a USEA spokesperson.

Carawich was formerly ridden by Aly Pattinson and in a previous H&H interview Jim, who died in 2023 aged 78, said he first saw the gelding at Badminton in 1977.

“I was standing in the courtyard of the stables at the first horse inspection with Lars Sederholm – who was a long-time mentor, coach and friend – when this lovely mealy-nosed brown horse came walking towards me,” he said.

“The horse stopped, turned his head and looked right at me. It felt like minutes, though it was probably only 30 seconds. His groom tugged at the shank to get him to move on, but he just kept looking at me. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck.”

In December that year Carawich came up for sale, and Jim bought him untried. The following year they were selected for the World Championships, whey they won team bronze and finished 10th individually.

In 1979 the pair finished fourth at Badminton. In 1980 they won individual silver at the Alternate Olympics in Fontainebleau, a substitute for the boycotted Moscow Olympics, having tackled a long and tough cross-country course.

In another previous interview, Jim recalled that he was worried ahead of the cross-country because Carawich had not picked up the bridle on the roads and tracks, but his concerns were dispelled as he was given a leg-up to start.

“The horse cleared the vet box, running sideways, yanking the lead-rein out of the groom’s hand,” said Jim. “I was almost laughing going to the first fence as I realised he’d learnt to save himself for cross-country.”

Jim and Carawich enjoyed further success when they won the Kentucky Three-Day Event in 1981. Carawich later sustained that year and was retired.

“Celebrated for his intelligence and athleticism on cross-country, Carawich developed a reputation for anticipating questions on course and forming a unique partnership with his rider,” said the USEA spokesperson.

“He remained one of the defining horses of Wofford’s career and an enduring figure in American eventing history.”

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By Abi Hall

Chris Hall, the event rider, trainer and livery yard owner died on 22 August, aged 55, from stomach cancer.

Chris, born and raised in rural Devon, was one of five brothers. Unlike the wealthy background of many equestrian competitors, his was a modest start. Having lived in London, Chris’s mother was keen for her children to make the most of living in the countryside and try riding. Chris first sat on a horse at the age of five; horses quickly became more important to him than his education.

As a member of the Mid Devon branch of the Pony Club and Hunt, Chris rode and produced many ponies bought cheaply by his parents, who helped him develop the practical horsemanship that remained with him throughout his life.

After leaving school and home aged 15, Chris worked with horses. He was a working pupil for Leslie Law in Herefordshire, worked in Surrey at a showjumping yard, in Devon for James Robinson then as rider for Steve Gittins in Oxfordshire. He was a member of the successful Fosse Manor Hotel team chasing team, hunted with the Heythrop and produced top event horses for sale. He then worked for Mark Todd.

Chris was a professional eventer for over three decades alongside endless hours’ teaching. A notable achievement was a double clear with Killard Enigma, owned by Rosemary and John Shannon, at Blenheim.

With his wife Teresa, Chris established a thriving full livery business from locations in the Cotswolds including Lyneham Heath Farm, where he became an integral part of the Sarsgrove Harriers private pack.

The ultimate ambition for Chris and Teresa was to own a yard and house, which they eventually realised, building both from scratch.

Chris developed a reputation as a knowledgeable and immensely popular trainer. He taught many riders, including at the VWH branch of the Pony Club and Evenlode Riding Club. He became heavily involved with Barrington Sport Horses owned by Johnny Hornby. Chris had a natural ability to pass on his knowledge; his practical, often humorous approach and years of experience proved valuable to many riders and horses.

Chris spent a decade as joint organiser of Upton House Horse Trials with Jess Thomas, where his years of competing around the eventing circuit allowed him to appreciate the hours and money put into the sport by volunteers, course-builders, traders and sponsors. This understanding earned him an approachable, respected reputation.

Although horses were a huge part of Chris’s life, he will be remembered as much for his character as for his horsemanship. He was generous with his time, brought fun wherever he went and was never one to take himself too seriously. He worked hard throughout his life to build the career and home he wanted, and was happiest doing what he loved, surrounded by his family.

He will be hugely missed by Teresa, daughters Lucy and Abi, family, friends, clients and the many people and horses whose lives he touched.

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Harry Meade rides out for Christian Williams, and goes behind the scenes to learn about their routines, management and philosophy

I am always intrigued visiting yards to see how other riders and trainers do things. When I go to a yard to try a young horse, I’ll often get side-tracked in the corner of a stable asking niche questions about their work routine or some other detail.

Christian Williams’ base at Ogmore-by-Sea is a state-of-the-art training
centre, but not in the conventional sense. I was fascinated to discover how his programme has been shaped by the extraordinary south Wales coastline, where the landscape itself provides facilities that many purpose-built yards would struggle to match.

The backdrop is stunning. Overlooked by the 12th-century ruin of Ogmore Castle, the yard is set at the mouth of the River Ewenny as it flows into the Bristol Channel. The beach and sand dunes are dramatic – immortalised in the filming of the desert scenes in Lawrence of Arabia. But as I arrive at the yard, with herds of thoroughbreds grazing in the sandy paddocks, the smell of salt and sea on the warm air of the summer heatwave, the atmosphere is low-key and peaceful.

Inside the indoor barn – which houses about 25 boxes as most of the 45-strong string live out 24/7 – eight horses for the first lot are tied up outside the stables being tacked up. My first impression is how very relaxed they are.

Riding out on the beach – “It’s idyllic”

I’m introduced to my ride, Fever Dream, a chestnut eight-year-old by Sholokhov who has won four races, and legged up.

We walk straight into the River Ewenny, a fast-flowing river reaching nearly up to the horses’ bellies and they stand patiently as we wait for Christian to join us. He often rides out to keep a close eye on his string. Watching him ride, his background as a top National Hunt jockey is obvious. Whatever the pace, his horse works softly into the bridle, relaxed and balanced throughout.

We hack down to the vast expanse of Ogmore beach along a couple of miles of sandy tracks, at one point climbing up a dune and then very steeply down in super-deep dry sand.

While horses tend to prop walking down firm or wet grass, on this deep sand they tilt their pelvises and tuck their quarters under, striding down like a panther. It’s only a short stretch, but it strikes me what a terrific natural feature it is from an athletic perspective – more beneficial for the horses’ backs than any physio session.

The beach was idyllic – you can see why Christian has little problem finding staff. We canter slowly in three huge circles. The sand rides in an identical fashion to the deep Wexford sand that has served the likes of Willie Mullins and countless Irish trainers so well. It’s wet, so it’s not loose, but deep so the horses work hard at a steady pace. Even better, it’s groomed daily by the tide.

The horses work hard, and recover by wading into the sea, walking and trotting along the shallow surf. Like a natural water treadmill, it’s beneficial for building up their strength and topline without concussion but with constant resistance.

They call the route back to the yard the “rollercoaster”. It winds around narrow, snaking tracks, almost like goat paths, which we canter along.

Christian’s father ran a trekking centre from his yard, so he grew up spending seven hours a day taking English tourists for beach rides. He knows these paths so well and it does feel like some sort of extreme trekking experience riding top-class racehorses.

You can’t go fast because of the complexity of the paths: 18-inch wide sand gullies carved into the long grass with banks keeping you in. You’re constantly weaving, going up and down, so both the horse and rider have to be incredibly well balanced, switching leads and adjusting to the rapidly changing inclines, which are at times extreme, almost a white-knuckle ride – it’s brilliant.

It impresses me how, when we get to the twistier bits, the horses stay in this relaxed, collected canter – it’s working every muscle in their body with terrific engagement and relaxation. It’s a constant challenge on the horse’s ability to find first gear and not let the engine drop out. I feel like I’m riding a high-class polo pony – never strong, and able to manoeuvre, open up and close down.

I love how this kind of work gives the horses something to think about without any kind of mental stress. Besides being supple, balanced and relaxed, it requires tremendous mental concentration as the horses think where to put their feet. It’s far from demoralising – it’s a decent workout and it’s fun. I’d imagine strong horses settle quickly here.

Next, we come to a fascinating sporting landmark – the Big Dipper. This is like a ski piste of deep soft sand, which levels out at the bottom. Here, what looks like a group of professional athletes are limbering up to run up the slope. There’s a tyre on a harness ready for action. It looks gruelling. Christian tells me that this is a well-known natural training area, where Olympic sprinters Linford Christie and Colin Jackson, and other track athletes, boxers and rugby teams used to do conditioning work.

Before sport became institutionalised with the likes of Loughborough and Bisham Abbey created as centres of excellence, many athletes used to come here on training camps and take advantage of the sand and steep inclines – just as Christian is doing for his equine athletes.

Christian doesn’t have all-weather gallops, horse walkers, covered rides or indoor schools. Yet his outfit is like a bespoke training centre with a wonderful variety of natural facilities, with both fitness and therapeutic benefits.

If I imagine a blank canvas to create a state-of-the art yard where everything could be sculpted to provide the changing gradients and surfaces that are best for horses’ fitness and welfare, you’d base a lot of that on what Christian has. He has the rollercoaster undulations of the dunes, the long straights and Wexford sand circles on the beach; the sea and rivers work as swimming pools, cold water spas and water treadmills.

They have all that on their doorstep and can incorporate it incidentally into their programme with little effort.

Turnout, feed and rugging

Back at the yard, the horses are hosed off before being turned out naked, in groups of seven.

My horses also spend most of their time out in the field, but in individual paddocks. Ours have horses all around them, but they each have a corridor between them and the horse next door as I worry about kicks and preventable injuries. Christian says that they rarely get kicks, but any that do would be stabled more and go out in smaller, separate paddocks on their own.

The horses are fed outside from individual tubs. Christian’s brother and assistant trainer Nicky explains that they know their hierarchy and all line up in a queue at feeding time according to their order, without fighting. They’re on sand – apparently you can walk in the fields in your slippers in the middle of winter – so the horses can go out in all weathers, well rugged as necessary.

There’s a negligible amount of grass, just enough to pick at but without the worry of them blowing up on lush grass in the spring. I’d imagine they get most of their nutrition from their bucket feed and haylage (which is made locally and smells delicious).

It’s a nice connection that Christian and I both feed D&H, and we chat about the benefits. His horses look outstanding – they are fit, but well conditioned with unsurprisingly good toplines in keeping with the kind of work they are doing.

Finally, we head up to a huge field on a hill overlooking the sea that Christian rents off a local farmer for his summering horses. This is on limestone soil, which not only has great drainage and grass cover, but has natural mineral benefits too.

There must be about 30 horses here – shoes off, sun-bleached coats – enjoying their last few days of holiday before it’s time to move back to the yard and start their fitness work ready for the National Hunt season.

Christian walks around the herd, picking out a few superstars such as Kitty’s Light – winner of the Scottish National and nearly half a million in prize money. Another is six-year-old House Of Habsburg – a big, strapping type who’s won his last three races and is tipped for the top.

I think that I’d like to live at Christian’s yard if I were a horse. My overall impression is that they’re both mentally and physically relaxed and enjoy their work – no doubt due to living out the whole time and being in full, varied and mentally stimulating work. It seems inconceivable that a horse could be unhappy in its work here.

It’s not brass knobs and marble troughs, but if you were going to design a training centre from scratch with nothing but the horses’ welfare and athletic development in mind, you’d wish for something remarkably similar.

But this outlier on the Welsh coast is a one-off that, sure as anything, money cannot buy.

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A standardbred found in a supermarket car park whose ridden career – and life – were in doubt aged three has qualified for the Cotswold Cup finals, with her “best friend”.

Katie Bird met Friday, named as this was the day she was found outside a Sainsbury’s, as a youngster, at a time she was considering giving up horses, and “felt a bit lost”.

“She’s my world,” Katie told H&H. “She saved me as much as I saved her.”

Katie had just graduated from the British Racing School but realised her “heart was in eventing”.

“I lost a lot of confidence doing the racing, I didn’t really want to go back to having lessons at a riding school and I didn’t have the money to buy my own horse,” she said. “I was at the age when you need to get a job anyway, and thought ‘Maybe this is it now’.

“But then my old riding school, Park Lane Stables, called to say this horse had been fly-grazed, got loose and into the car park; the police called them as they were local, and they ended up taking her as the owner was away. They said did I want to do some work with her to keep her ticking over, and that’s how I met Friday.”

Katie said she was scared of Friday at the start; she had not had much handling, and Katie thinks she was “quite shut down”.

“She’s got an abundance of personality now!” she said.

By the time the owner returned, Katie had become attached to the mare, so she bought her for £1,800. But a couple of months later, Friday was very lame. The vet diagnosed early arthritic changes.

“I was told I would never ride her and probably the best thing would be to put her to sleep,” she said. “But I couldn’t. She was three, hadn’t had much of a life and even if she was just going to be in the field, I couldn’t do it. We did loads of rehab and groundwork, just to get her field sound.”

Katie said she was offered steroid injections but declined owing to the negative effect this can have on the joint in the longer term. Friday had BozMerix for a while, shockwave therapy and extensive physio and groundwork.

“When the vet came back, she was a lot sounder than we thought she’d ever be,” he said. “He said ‘Try hacking; if she wants to trot or canter, let her; let her tell you what she’s comfortable with’, and she got stronger and stronger.”

Katie said the timing was good; it was during the Covid lockdown so she had plenty of time to dedicate to rehab, but she was told Friday would never jump.

The mare was in work but then became reluctant to go forward. She was diagnosed with gastric ulcers – and asthma.

“She was very poorly for a while,” she said. “When we went for the rescope, there were no ulcers but we scoped her lungs to see what the asthma was about and they were 95% blocked, with mucus and stuff. The vet said he didn’t know how she was still standing.”

Friday’s lungs were flushed and she was treated with steroids. She now has to have steamed hay and a nebuliser on every day but is doing well.

“She got so much stronger as we had to slow things down,” she said. “She had a lameness and asthma check-up and the vet said I could try to jump her, so we started and she loves it.

“She’s forward, not spooky, she’ll jump anything. It’s like she was bred for it.

“There’s a lot of maintenance; she’s on a good joint supplement, we know her limits, she has a lot of rest time, but it’s manageable.”

Katie and Friday started doing some small hunter trials, and Katie said the mare took to it like a duck to water.

“She learned her job so quick,” she said. “She knew to look for the jump, she was fluid, brave, through water, ditches, anything. If I said ‘We can do this’, there’s no hesitation.”

They started eventing in 2025 and Katie said she was aiming for a consistent season in the 70cm Cotswold Cup this year, to build Friday’s confidence.

“She’s been in the top 10 at every event, and qualified for the final [on 27 September]” Katie said. “It’s exciting as there’s going to be a long dressage arena and two judges and everything.

“It’s so cool but I hope by sharing her story, I can show that eventing is inclusive. We have had comments from other riders and judges as she’s a gaited horse; they’re not meant to canter! People think she’s lame or struggling, I think gaited horses aren’t as accepted in equestrian sports yet.

“Her jumping technique isn’t traditional in any sense and I’ve had people saying there’s something wrong with her but they don’t understand gaited horses exist in eventing. But I think it’s a lovely thing to show that you don’t have to have a lovely big warmblood to do everything, you can put the effort in and do what you want to do on a budget.”

Beating the odds

Katie added that Friday’s overcoming of all her issues may also inspire others.

“It’s mad as I later found out that where she used to be fly-grazed was on my way to school; I walked past her every day, and now she’s my best friend,” she said.

“She’s got such enthusiasm for life, she loves everyone, she’s always got a cheeky, happy face. She taught my mum to ride, she takes my boyfriend on hacks, she’s so emotionally intelligent. I feel I really have a partnership with her.

“My mum calls her my champagne horse on a lemonade budget! I was having a really bad time with my mental health when I got her so I always tell people she saved me as much as I did her.”

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The young horse CCI4*-S “kingmaker” class at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials is always one of the highlights of the eventing calendar and this year’s batch of rising stars look set for a bright future.

The list of former champions from this eight- and nine-year-old class is bejewelled with five-star winners and medallists. London 52, Cooley Rosalent, Faerie Dianimo and Oslo are just a few of the winning graduates who have gone on to top-level success.

Cases could be made for any of the 105 entries in this year’s class, sponsored by GFS Saddles, to be on a list of ones to watch, such was the wealth of impressive young talent. H&H has already covered those who finished towards the top end of the leaderboard, plus many who were in with good chances during the week and a sprinkle of others with nice stories, through our Blenheim coverage on this website and in the magazine.

But there were many others who put in impressive performances and who had interesting stories. Here are five others who stood out at Blenheim last week...

Blenheim Horse Trials eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S: who else caught our eye?

Rosa’s Party (10th)

Australia’s Sammi Birch and this lovely eight-year-old chestnut mare, who is by the late Party Trick, scored 28.3 in the first phase and jumped double clear with 10.8 cross-country time-faults to finish 10th. Rosa’s Party is owned by the Party Horses Club and was bred by Nick Gauntlett.

“She’s just a joy to work with,” said Sammi, after the pair’s dressage test. “She is just something else – she has the most incredible brain. She hasn't done a lot. She's only been eventing for two years, but she just loves it. It’s exciting.”

Faerie Good Golly (16th)

This royally bred mare is out of Badminton winner Classic Moet and by the late advanced eventing stallion Upsilon. The eight-year-old, born by embryo transfer, is ridden by Jonelle Price and looked a double for her famous dam as she soared across the country.

Faerie Good Golly is bred by Tim and Jonelle Price and is owned by her rider, Maggie and Mark Woolhouse, Colin Reece and Ines Wagner.

Kilcoltrim Cooley (18th)

Kitty King’s ride in this young horse championship looked class in every phase. The eight-year-old Irish Sport Horse is owned by Marshall and Sarah Riley and is the reigning British novice champion.

The Plot Blue son, bred by Aileen Doyle, joined Kitty from Clare Abbott in 2025 and the partnership has had a phenomenal 2026 season, jumping double clear on every start and stepping up to advanced.

The pair were sixth after the dressage on a score of 27.8, and Kitty told H&H at the time that it was a case of “taking each phase as it comes”.

“It’s about giving him a good experience for the future,” said Kitty.

The pair picked up 17.6 cross-country time-faults to finish 18th.

La La Land D’Arville (30th)

This pint-sized grey is a half-sister to Hooney D’Arville, the home-bred mare with whom whom her rider Lara de Liedekerke-Meier won Luhmühlen CCI5* 2024 and has twice jumped clear across country at Badminton.

Lara told H&H that she had brought La La Land D’Arville to Blenheim to give her more exposure to this kind of atmosphere.

“She’s as fierce as she is small! Her heart is really big and she loves eventing, especially cross-country. She has the heart of a lion, she just loves it,” said Lara.

La La Land D’Arville, who is owned by Five Star Eventers and her breeder Larga Sprl, is by Herald 3 and out of Nooney Blue.

The Highlander (42nd)

The Diacontinus son, bred by Nicole Nehm, is already a two-time winner at four-star level. He hasn’t had a single jumping penalty this season (national or international), and has kept a flawless international jumping record throughout his career.

The big grey, ridden by Tim Price, was fourth in this class in 2025 and finished down the order in 2026 owing to a steady cross-country run, but looks a very exciting type for the future.

He is out of a Stakkato mare and is owned by Gillian and Stephen Brooker, Ginny Rusher and Glynn Norcutt.

• View full results from the CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-old horses at Blenheim Horse Trials

• To catch up on all the equestrian news from Blenheim Horse Trials, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

H&H welcomed top event rider Harry Meade into the editor’s seat for this week’s edition of Horse & Hound magazine (24 September).

Harry – who was world number one for a 12-month period from last summer to June 2026 – chose and commissioned a range of features on subjects ranging from the benefits of tetrathlon for children to the evolution of cross-country course-design.

“It’s been an interesting and fun experience taking the reins at Horse & Hound,” said Harry, who weathered a cover photoshoot with award-winning photographer Peter Nixon on the hottest day of the summer.

A more pleasant summer’s day was spent on the beach for Harry’s trip to Christian Williams’ National Hunt yard on the Welsh coast, where he rode out with the string.

“I love trips to other yards and learning about their routines, management and philosophy, seeing how that benefits the horses, and learning from the staff who experience it day in, day out,” he said. “I’d like to live at Christian’s yard if I were a horse.”

Harry is renowned for his cross-country prowess, frequently piloting multiple horses round inside the time at five-star, and is passionate about keeping this phase as the “centrepiece” of the sport. His choice of feature on the evolution of cross-country design shines a light on how designers have navigated the changes through the decades, with comments from the likes of Ginny Elliot, Mark Phillips, Lucinda Green and William Fox-Pitt.

“I enjoyed exploring how and why cross-country course design has changed, and hearing the perspectives of some of the most accomplished rides and designers in eventing history,” he said.

There are more light-hearted elements, too. A family man, Harry delves into his children’s chosen sport of tetrathlon, and daughter Lily picks out her favourite products on the yard.

Harry also wanted to “champion the driving forces behind the scenes”, such as his own wife Rosie. Look out for the brilliant caricatures by Spitting Image artist David Stoten.

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In episode 181 of The Horse & Hound Podcast, top British equestrian Gemma Stevens talks to our eventing editor Pippa Roome about winning Defender Burghley Horse Trials, how it feels to have achieved one of her major career goals and what’s next.

In this episode, Gemma reflects on the incredible journey she's been on with Chilli Knight, from an unassuming young horse “who used to cock his jaw and run out all the time” to winning her first “big B”.

To hear more about the role Chris and Lisa Stone have played in Gemma’s career, what she's learnt from other key horses such as her brilliant cross-country specialist Arctic Soul and whether winning a “big B” has changed her ambitions for the future, listen to the podcast.

Want to listen to more podcasts?

Every episode is available for H&H fans to listen to via your favourite podcast app, as well as here on the website. Search for “The Horse & Hound Podcast” in your preferred podcast app and click subscribe to be notified about each new episode.

• View all episodes of The Horse & Hound Podcast

Whatever your preferred discipline, there is so much to enjoy listening to in our podcasts. We love to hear your feedback on any of our podcasts, so please do send your thoughts to pippa.roome@futurenet.com

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news from major shows, interviews with top riders and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

Alex Hua Tian heads the provisional eventing standings at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya while Typhoon Dujuan has led to changes to the championship timetable in Japan.

The cyclone brought heavy rain and strong winds to the Tokyo region, and is now moving up the east coast. The equestrian events are being held at the Tokyo Equestrian Park (Baji Koen), home to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2021.

The timetable change meant dressage and showjumping both happened today (Tuesday) and the eventing competition will end with cross-country tomorrow, on a track designed by Poland’s Marcin Konarski.

The new timetable is a departure from the normal order of phases at major championships (dressage, cross-country, showjumping), but means officials have more time to prepare the cross-country track following the rain. The medal ceremony will be held an hour after cross-country.

“This unanimous adjustment is authorised under FEI rules, which permit schedule changes for force majeure and extreme weather to safeguard human and equine welfare, and allow officials to address unforeseen circumstances in the sporting spirit,” said an official announcement, issued by eventing technical delegate Alec Lochore on Monday (21 September).

British-based Chinese rider Alex, who is the defending Asian Games champion, is riding nine-year-old Manjushri at this year’s games. The pair led the dressage on a score of 26.9 and jumped a clear round in the showjumping.

“I've brought a very competitive horse,” said Alex. “He's only nine years old, but he's already competing at four-star level and he's always been very reliable.”

Alex and the Irish Sport Horse, owned by Adam, Angelina and Lin Guo and Qianru Yi, finished seventh at Bramham CCI4*-S in June and won the CCI3*-S at Burgham in July. They also headed the CCI3*-L at Hartpury in 2025 and were fourth at the FEI Asian Championships in Thailand..

“I'm here to win an individual medal. Whether it's gold, silver or bronze depends on what happens, but I hope we do a good job,” added Alex.

“I think Marcin has done an excellent and very interesting job. The time and technicality are going to be influential, and I think the ground could be very influential.

“All of those things coming together will put a lot of pressure on the athletes, especially the ones who want to win. I think it's an open competition and it will be interesting and exciting all the way to the end.”

Alex heads into Wednesday’s cross-country with a 3.2 penalty buffer ahead of Thailand’s Woraphat Sittiju and 18-year-old gelding Uster De Chanay.

Japan’s Ryo Murata and the 18-year-old CCI4*-S winner Brookpark Vikenti hold third on 30.4. The home side is also leading the team competition.

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This year’s Agria Blenheim Horse Trials results were as exciting as ever, with riders scooting up and down the leaderboard until the final top 10 were settled on Sunday afternoon.

Tom McEwen dominated, scoring a one-two in the Agria CCI4*-L as well as winning the GFS Saddles young horse CCI4*-S on Brookfield Danny De Muze.

Let’s check out the top 10 from the showcase class, the CCI4*-L…

Blenheim Horse Trials results: the CCI4*-L top 10

Tom with his two horses in the CCI4*-L, The Fieldmaster and Brookfield Quality, plus his team. His grooms for his five horses were Amy Bliss Bennett, Molly Walker and Adam Short.

The Fieldmaster moved up from fourth after dressage with the second fastest cross-country round, just three seconds over the optimum time.

Tom piloted Brookfield Quality, owned by John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn, to second place. This 17-year-old horse is hugely experienced, with three top-five placings at five-star. Here he added four cross-country time-faults and one showjump down to a 26.5 dressage, which had left him third after the first phase.

Sam Ecroyd steered two horses into the top five, finishing third on Vicki and Stewart Irlam’s Jackpot, who was previously ridden by his girlfriend Emily King. The pair moved up from overnight sixth in the final showjumping phase, in which they added just 0.4 of a time-fault, and made a 16-place rise on their dressage rank of 19th.

Owners join the top three riders on the podium in front of Blenheim Palace – still partially covered in plastic because of an extensive roof restoration project.

Fourth-placed Speedwell, owned by Karen Coumbe, Colin Graves, Deborah Strang, Hannah Caven and rider Jesse Campbell, jumps the brush fence out of the first long water crossing on the way to fourth. Putting some blips earlier in the season behind them, New Zealand rider Jesse is now considering a tilt at five-star at Kentucky Three-Day Event next April on this former ride of his late wife, Georgie.

Sam Ecroyd built on third in the CCI4*-S at Bramham Horse Trials and third at Millstreet CCI4*-L with the 11-year-old Bloomfield Manuscript, owned by Joe and Kate Walls and Tricia and Rob Sargent, with fifth here.

At Millstreet, his showjumping let him down. One down here was a significant improvement and the pair again showed their speed across country with just 3.6 time-faults on a day when only one pair, 11th-placed Oliver Townend and Sommersby, made the target. Like Sam’s other horse, Bloomfield Manuscript climbed up the leaderboard, as he was 17th after dressage.

A showjumping clear sealed sixth for Gemma Stevens and Chilli’s Jester, owned by Chris and Clare Mathias and Chris and Lisa Stone. The horse is a full-brother to her recent Defender Burghley Horse Trials winner Chilli Knight.

Wiltshire-based New Zealand rising star Tayla Mason and Joopiter take seventh, up from 51st after dressage. The horse is owned by Tayla, her mother Sonya, Therese Miller and Katherine Corich and like her top horse Centennial, was bred by Sonya, by Euro Sport Centavos. His dam is Tayla’s young rider horse, Just Joop.

Young Australian rider Oliver Barrett re-routed after a fall at the eventing World Championships and finished eighth on his parents Craig and Prudence and brother Jesper’s Sandhills Briar, on whom he won Adelaide five-star in the spring. The pair led the dressage, but slipped down the order with 19.2 time-faults on Saturday. They finished on a good note with a showjumping clear.

Oliver was part of the mixed Australian-US team who took on the British Rising Lions in the Blenheim Challenge team competition. The Stars & Stripes came out on top, taking the majority of the £70,000 prize-money, which was split between riders, grooms, the US youth programme and US-based non-profit Work to Ride.

It was another good weekend for Tom Jackson, who rode Brookfield William – owned by the familiar Brookfield names of Alison Swinburn and John and Chloe Perry – into ninth place. The 10-year-old gained four places with his showjumping clear on Sunday.

New Zealand’s Clarke Johnstone secured 10th on Sparky Lad, who won the big-money ex-racehorse class at Cornbury in 2025. The son of Smart Missile belongs to Waratah Equestrian PTY Ltd. Their top-10 placing was achieved despite a frangible breakage across country – without it, they would have been third.

• More from Blenheim in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, dated 24 September. To stay up to date with the latest equestrian news, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

Tom McEwen and precocious talent Brookfield Danny De Muze blazed to glory across Blenheim’s turf to win the GFS Saddles CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-old horses.

Tom and the eight-year-old, who is owned by Alison Swinburn and John and Chloe Perry, were the first combination down the centre line on Thursday morning and the last to leave the startbox as leaders on Sunday afternoon.

As was the case with Saturday’s CCI4*-L cross-country, time was a major player in who came up the leaderboard – and who went down.

He could afford a smattering of time-penalties to hold his lead. Nobody had made the time before he set off – Ireland’s Padraig McCarthy and Kilroe Tiger were the quickest at three seconds over the optimum time of 6min 54sec.

Tom put his foot on the gas and “Danny” responded. Their round was fast while never compromising on quality, the result was an electrifying performance and a new prince to add to the roll of honour in this “kingmaker” class.

“Every time I asked, he gave me a bit more,” said Tom, for whom this was the first of a record-breaking double of Blenheim Horse Trials wins today.

“I gave him a few breathers on the way round, then pressed him again, and he grew in confidence.

“It was a hard course to make the time, not only because Blenheim is renowned for its terrain. The time was tight – there’s the water crossings, but also the distances are a little bit on the tight side, so with that many gear changes, it was hard work. What a special horse to win the Le Lion seven-year-old world championship last year and come and win this as an eight-year-old.

“It was in the planning, but you never really know, and there were so many great horses out of the 100-odd that started.”

Burghley runner-up Katie Magee and Cushlas Indigo climbed to second from sixth after showjumping as a result of their silky smooth cross-country round.

“Hopefully the sky is the limit for him,” said Katie, who rides the nine-year-old for Sharon Parnaby. “His owner bought him as an unbroken three-year-old; she saw him in Ireland and he is one of those few horses who has ticked every box on the way up and made it feel easy, which is amazing considering what he has achieved.

“He has this lovely expression on his face, he is just so happy everywhere he goes and that’s why he has found it so easy.”

She added: “I thought it was a good course, that early water is always quite a big question, and is one that leads onto the next level for them. There’s the crowds, the huge expanse to jump into, and it’s so early on in the eight- and nine-year-old class. I watched a bit and it seemed to ride really well, both my rides had lovely trips round, and the ground felt good.”

Bubby Upton enjoyed clear cross-country rounds on all three of her rides in this class, two of which came home with rosettes.

Sancerre De Tiji, who Bubby owns with Caroline Owen, was the yard’s star this week, finishing third. His big galloping chestnut has a real ground-eating stride, and he devoured today’s course. His flashy friend Light Up E, owned by Lucy Hughes, rose from 31st place after dressage to ninth in the final standings, thanks to his great jumping performances.

“It’s been an amazing week,” said Bubby, who also finished 23rd with Auckland 7, and has stressed throughout the event that Blenheim this year was about building these horses for the future, rather than the result on paper.

“To have two in the top 10 is unbelievable. I like to really try to protect and preserve my young horses and they wouldn’t necessarily have as many wins or as much experience perhaps as others. But then when the time is right to go, and the feeling they gave me today when I did finally let them go, was just incredible. I’m so proud of them, and that their training and the whole system shines through on a day like today.”

Tom Jackson was fourth on My Star Turn, Yasmin Ingham finished fifth with Kinda Corvette, and Padraig grasped sixth aboard Kilroe Tiger.

• View results for the young horse CCI4*-S at Blenheim Horse Trials

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Tom McEwen scored a record-breaking double at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials, winning the CCI4*-L aboard The Fieldmaster an hour after soaring to victory in the GFS Saddles young horse CCI4*-S on Brookfield Danny De Muze.

When Tom cantered into the CCI4*-L showjumping on his overnight leader, The Fieldmaster, he knew he had already won.

His other ride, Brookfield Quality, was in second overnight and Tom had jumped him out of order earlier in the afternoon. Brookfield Quality (“Norris”) tipped the final part of the treble, but ultimately this did not lose him a place – and by Tom’s last round, the only horse that could finish above Norris was The Fieldmaster.

That rail meant The Fieldmaster (“Trev”) could also afford a pole and still win. He rattled the upright at fence three, which stayed in place, then cashed that in at the Agria oxer at 10. He jumped the remaining two fences beautifully to win by 0.1 of a penalty over his stablemate.

The last time a rider achieved a one-two in this class was William Fox-Pitt in 2000, who won aboard Stunning and was runner-up with Tamarillo. Nobody has ever won both the CCI4*-L and the CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-old horses in the same year.

“I brought five very special horses here, so I’m very lucky,” said Tom. “It’s nice for Tom Strawson, who brought ‘Trev’ around here last year as an eight-year-old, and for him then to come back again and win is amazing.

“He’s obviously called The Fieldmaster, Jo and James Lambert and Penny Barker own him, and Penny's late husband, Fred, was a master of the Quorn.

“When I saw the hunt outside, I thought that was probably an omen, a nice touch. He was so relaxed he could have probably done with them blowing the horn, I think!”

He added: “Both horses jumped brilliantly. I just had an easy rail coming out the treble on Norris, who jumped a superb round. Trev also jumped a super round – the pole was my fault, I knew I had to get a bit of jump back into him, so I gave him too big a shot. What a day!”

Tom knew he had a strong string coming into this week, each of the five had chances, but to dominate with this much style is a spectacular achievement.

“You come here with no expectations, and I gained a lot of understanding from Trev yesterday. I gave him a couple of presses, and he just absolutely accelerated,” said Tom.

Norris, who is owned by John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn, is an “elder statesman” of the four- and five-star eventing scene these days. Blenheim has long been his happy hunting ground, and at the age of 17, he has recorded his best ever finish at this event.

“Norris has been a superstar; although I'm delighted that Trev won, it’s a shame they couldn't share it, and I couldn’t have somehow found 0.1 somewhere else, because Norris is always a bridesmaid, and he’s just an absolute star. What a great old boy,” he said. “All my horses have been fantastic this week.”

Blenheim Horse Trials results: Sam Ecroyd enjoys a week to remember

Sam Ecroyd climbed from 19th after dressage to third aboard Stewart and Vicki Irlam’s Jackpot, who was previously ridden by his partner, Emily King.

“I was really hoping I had an outside chance of maybe a top 10, I’m just so thrilled with them both,” said Sam, who also finished fifth with Bloomfield Manuscript.

“Jackpot is such a good horse. Emily has ridden, produced and done everything with him. He’s so straight and easy. She just thought that he would really suit me, my weaknesses are his strengths, he is so smart on the flat and such a special jumper.

“He can get a tiny bit strong when you go really fast across country. There are not many people who would just give you their five-star horse, so thank you to her.

“Bloomfield Manuscript was in the lead at Millstreet in the CCI4*-L this year and I didn’t ride a very good round, I got a bit nervous. So I was just conscious to show that he can do it, he’s a good horse and he jumps really well. So my focus was to do better for him this time round.”

New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell and Speedwell lowered the first fence in an otherwise spotless round to finish fourth, in between Sam’s two horses.

“He was pretty perky this morning, he has certainly grown into himself – he’s getting stronger and stronger all the time. He’s a superstar,” said Jesse, who is now eyeing a trip to Kentucky with the 12-year-old gelding.

“Towards the back end of last year, we started to really develop and get to know each other pretty well. I’ve learnt to ride him across country in a slightly different way, he’s great. I love this horse.”

He added: “I thought it was a great showjumping course. It was technical, it took a lot to jump a clear round, we saw Sam move up quite significantly and there were quite a few problems. I think that’s the way it should be, it should be a challenge on the last day, it shouldn’t be a freebee – the more courses like that, the better.”

Gemma Stevens was sixth aboard Chilli’s Jester, the full brother to her Burghley-winning ride Chilli Knight. Tayla Mason was the most notable major climber at the business end of the leaderboard, rising 44 places from 51st after dressage to finish seventh on Joopiter.

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Two horses were withdrawn ahead of Sunday’s trot-up at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials and all those presented passed without a hitch.

Jaeger Master, one of Alex Bragg’s three rides in this Agria CCI4*-L class, was withdrawn before this morning’s horse inspection. He held 45th place overnight. Both of Alex’s other horses sailed through the trot-up.

Harry Dzenis’s Emerald Endeavour was also absent from the final trot-up. The 11-year-old was in 30th place after cross-country.

The trot-up itself, happily, was entirely uneventful. Horses looked to have come out of yesterday’s cross-country well, and appeared bright-eyed and glossy in the early morning sunshine.

Zara Tindall presented Classicals Euro Star out of order, before the rest of the starters, but that was the only minor deviation to proceedings.

Ground jury president Nikki Herbert, and fellow members Judy Hancock and James Rooney, gave the nod of approval to all 50 horses remaining in the CCI4*-L field.

Overnight leader The Fieldmaster (pictured, below), ridden by Tom McEwen, breezed through – as did his closest challengers, Brookfield Quality (also ridden by Tom), who is in provisional second, and Oliver Townend’s ride Sommersby, in provisional third.

The first session of CCI4*-L showjumping starts at 11.30am in the Palace Arena. The second session, for the horses at the business end of the standings, will start at 2.40pm.

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Oliver Townend spearheaded the leaderboard leapers on CCI4*-L cross-country day at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials, soaring onto the overnight podium with his fault-free round on new ride Sommersby.

Tom McEwen heads into tomorrow’s showjumping holding the top two places – provisional first with The Fieldmaster (30.4) and second on Brookfield Quality (30.5). Oliver and Sommersby have climbed from 32nd place after dressage to hold third overnight.

“I was having a beautiful ride, that was the most confident that I’ve felt him up until being held,” said Oliver, who rides the 14-year-old for owners Jennifer Caras and Jerry Hollis, and is on a score of 34 ahead of the showjumping.

“He’d had a great spin until then, but fair dues to him, he didn’t feel that confident once we got going as his blood had gone back down again, and every time I asked him a question, he answered it very well.”

The Olympic gold medallist was held on course for around 20 minutes before the HorseHage Roll Top (fence 13) – just ahead of the lake – while Tom Rowland’s horse, The Mail Man, was attended to following a fall further on course. Thankfully, Tom and The Mail Man both walked away.

Oliver has been riding Sommersby for around eight weeks and the pair have been in the ribbons at all four of their starts together.

“He’s a very talented horse and Jenny [Caras] has done a beautiful job producing him,” said Oliver, adding the 14-year-old gelding had lost his way a little and that he is in the saddle to help give the horse a confidence boost.

“The first part of the course for me was as beautiful a ride I’ve had here since I won the eight- and nine-year-old class on Cooley Rosalent. He really felt in the bridle and beautifully looking for the fences. Fair dues to him [for getting going again]; hopefully the more runs he gets under his belt where he gains confidence while he is going, the more positive it is.”

The cross-country time played a major role today. The dressage results were tightly bunched, meaning any faults were costly. It also meant that almost any competitor could earn a place in the top 10, right to the end of the class – the lowest dressage score of the CCI4*-L was 48.5, and the cut-off for the top 10 after cross-country is 43.6.

Sam Ecroyd powered up the standings with his two rides, Bloomfield Manuscript (35.7) and Jackpot (37.6). Bloomfield Manuscript was 17th after dressage, while his stablemate was in 19th. They now hold fifth and sixth respectively.

“Bloomfield Manuscript is such a cool cross-country horse,” said Sam, following the first of his two rounds. “It’s probably the biggest test we’ve had in terms of difficulty and fitness, and the course hasn’t ridden super smoothly – it’s proved troublesome for quite a few. So I was probably a fraction more cautious than I would have been on him on some of my previous runs, so we had a few time-faults, but time is hard to get here, so it’s great.”

Zara Tindall and Classicals Euro Star are in seventh (39.5), skipping up from 12th after dressage.

“He was very good everywhere. He’s a bit of a tricky one in the sense that he pretends he’s all brave, but actually I think he’s quite an anxious person, so this year has been a bit up and down,” she said. “I’m so pleased as he has stepped up; he’s a cool little horse and I hope he draws loads of confidence from this too.”

Jack Pinkney and Monbeg Stone Town are new faces at the business end of the standings, hiking 19 places from 27th to eighth (41.9).

New Zealand’s Tayla Mason and Joopiter are among the biggest climbers so far. They were 51st after dressage and rocketed into provisional 10th (43.6) thanks to their speedy cross-country clear, where they picked up just 5.2 time-penalties – that’s a rise of 41 places.

“He is very fast up the hills – he’s kind of a one-pace man, he’s just as fast up a hill as he is across one,” said Tayla. “I don’t know where I could have gone faster, he was totally galloping the whole way around. He is really rideable, he’s about 17.2hh and goes in a snaffle. He is the absolute gentleman and that is his biggest quality. He’s such a trier, all he wants is to do the right thing.”

Other notable gains outside the top 10 include Izzy Cook and Cymoon “F” Z powering from 30th to 12th (44.9), Samuel Jeffree and Santorro from 34th to 16th (46.2), Alice Casburn and LSS Ile De Re from 38th to 18th, plus Izzy Taylor and Barrington Revelation rising an enormous 42 places from 61st to 19th.

• Read the report on Tom McEwen’s leading performances in the CCI4*-L on Blenheim Horse Trials cross-country day

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Tom McEwen swept Agria Blenheim Horse Trials in his run of blazing form to head both classes overnight – plus a runner-up spot for good measure.

Tom started his day with a clear showjumping round at the crack of dawn to regain his lead in the GFS Saddles young horse CCI4*-S. By teatime, he had completed two belting cross-country rounds in the Agria CCI4*-L, climbing into provisional first with The Fieldmaster (“Trevor”) on 30.4 and second on Brookfield Quality (30.5). A good day at the office.

“Trevor was awesome,” said Tom. “He reacted, listened, got the positive distances when he went, listened to me when I really had to hang on and say, ‘That stride really isn’t there’. I honestly couldn’t be happier with him. He really answered every question.

“When I got to the top of the hill for the last few fences, I asked him to press and he just opened up. I’m absolutely delighted.”

Blenheim has been a happy hunting ground for Brookfield Quality (“Norris”). The now 17-year-old has great course form, finished fourth here in 2023 with Tom and fifth in 2021 with Piggy March. This quirky talent has developed into one of the real stalwarts of top-level eventing, and showed his class again today to join his stablemate on the provisional podium.

“Norris was amazing. He had a super smooth start to his round and relaxed him into it, then we tried to make up as much time as we could towards the end,” said Tom. “He’s a phenomenal horse. He’s an elder statesman and he’s as straight as a die.”

The time was tight, opening the door for those further down the leaderboard to climb if they could get close to the optimum of 10 minutes and eight seconds.

Of the 72 starters, 33 jumped clear across country – a smidge under 46% of the field. Only Oliver Townend and Somersby finished the day on their dressage score, finishing bang on the optimum, and leaping 29 places from 32nd after the first phase to hold third overnight.

Blenheim Horse Trials cross-country: ‘I hope people appreciated that this is a classy horse’

New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell and Speedwell, second after dressage, delivered one of the smoothest rounds of the day, cruising through the parkland to add 8.4 time-penalties to their dressage score. They’ve dropped a couple of places to fourth, but are just 4.2 penalties off the leader.

“I’m over the moon. He hasn't had the easiest season, we had a great run earlier in the year at Strzegom, then I made a stupid mistake at Bramham, and then things haven’t gone to plan through the rest of his year,” said Jesse. “I was hoping to get him to the worlds, then we went to Hartpury and we had a muck-up there. I was feeling it today; I was quite apprehensive about how today would go. I was confident in my plan and he came out and was just fantastic.”

After Hartpury, Jesse took the gelding cross-country schooling with Jonelle Price for a tune-up.

“She said, ‘There’s nothing really to do – he’s jumped all the tough stuff’, so that was really good,” he said.

“In the past, if it hasn’t gone quite right, I would feed-back on that and think, ‘Oh that last combination wasn’t good’, or I look for inspiration. Actually, just staying in the moment and just jumping each jump has been my motto over the last few weeks. I did that at Burghley, and it worked really well for me, so that was what I was hoping for today.”

He added: “It’s a huge thing for me riding this horse, because Georgie really felt that he would be an absolute superstar, and it’s a lovely responsibility for me to take on. I want to show the world that he is a superstar. So for him to put in a performance like that… and I think the round itself, while it wasn’t super speedy, it was speedy enough and it was smooth, and I hope people appreciated that this is a classy horse.”

Provided Speedwell comes out of Blenheim well, a trip to the US for Kentucky CCI5* could be on the cards.

Blenheim Horse Trials cross-country: how did the dressage leaders fare?

Sam Ecroyd enjoyed a super day, sailing into the top 10 with Bloomfield Manuscript (35.7) and Jackpot (37.6), who are in fifth and sixth respectively.

Dressage leaders Oliver Barrett and Sandhills Briar enjoyed a great spin across country. They picked up 19.2 penalties and are just outside the top 10 (11th) ahead of the showjumping on 44.8.

“It was hard work, he was pretty keen – he really wanted to take me, but he jumped everything great,” said Oliver. “Not once did I think he wasn’t going to jump something. Ideally, I would have liked to have been a bit faster, but I’m just happy that we got round clear.”

Australia-based Oliver extended his Europe trip to divert to Blenheim after the disappointment of parting company across country at the eventing World Championships in Aachen.

“Whatever I do this week is never going to change what happened in Aachen, that’s something I have to live with, but it’s nice for me personally to come here and know that the horse and I can still be good enough,” he said.

Faults were generally well spread. The corners and treasure chest question (9abc) on the palace lawn, GFS Saddles Water (16abc), oxer-corner-brush combination at the furthest point on the course (18abc) and rail-ditch-arrowhead Cross Country App question (20abc) were the most influential fences.

Several of the riders mentioned they had to work quite hard on this year’s course, including Tom, who mentioned that there could have been more flow in places. Course-designer Jay Hambly said he was pleased with the overall picture of cross-country day. He also named a couple of spots that perhaps didn’t ride as smoothly as he had anticipated, for example 9abc in front of the palace, and already has ideas about possible positive tweaks for future Blenheims.

Looking ahead to the final phase, Tom does not have a rail in hand, on either horse, but does have the luxury of being ahead of the rest of the field with two horses.

The trot-up is scheduled for 8am tomorrow (20 September). The first showjumping session is set to start around 11am, and the final at around 2.30pm.

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Tom McEwen and Brookfield Danny De Muze are back in pole position in the GFS Saddles CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-old horses after a text-book clear showjumping round at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials today (19 September).

The pathfinding pair were first into the arena before 8am this morning and have regained the lead they held for much of the dressage.

The eight-year-old gelding, owned by Alison Swinburn and John and Chloe Perry, is effortlessly scopey. The quality he showed in the first phase was replicated over the coloured poles – his record in this phase, in all phases, is excellent. He has only ever had two rails in his eventing career, one in April 2025 and one in March 2024.

Overnight leaders Astier Nicholas and Hitchqote Du Coudray started the day on their superb dressage score of 23.5, but dropped 28 places after tipping three rails. After rolling poles at the first, the second and the fourth fence, their round improved.

Bubby Upton and Sancerre De Tiji held on to their provisional runner-up spot. The flashy eight-year-old chestnut, who Bubby owns with Caroline Owen, has an enormous jump. He finished a second over the optimum time, a buffer he could afford, and is now 0.1 of a penalty ahead of leaderboard climbers Izzy Taylor and Barrington Boy.

One of Bubby’s other rides Auckland 7, who shared second place overnight with his stablemate Sancerre De Tiji, toppled a couple of rails and collected 0.8 of a time-penalty, meaning that he will head into cross-country in 31st place.

Bubby had said after her dressage tests that the jumping phases are “building blocks” for these promising young horses.

“It’s not about the result they pull off this weekend. It's all about what they’ve shown in terms of promise for the future,” she said on Friday (18 September).

Australia’s Sammi Birch and Rosa’s Party (28.2) have climbed from seventh to fifth by virtue of their classy showjumping clear. Katie Magee and Cushlas Indigo (28.4) have also risen a couple of places, from eighth to sixth.

Time was relatively tight and the red British Horse Society upright at fence nine caught out a couple, as did the second part of the multicoloured double at 10ab. But on the whole, the course rode well.

The tightly packed leaderboard has loosened a fraction – the top 14 horses after dressage all held sub-30 scores. After showjumping, only the top 10 remain on scores in the 20s. But as less than 10 penalties separate the first 40 placings, any jumping or time-penalties across country tomorrow will be influential.

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New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell and Speedwell delivered the best test of the day in the CCI4*-L at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials on Friday, while reigning Adelaide champions Oliver Barrett and Sandhills Briar have maintained their overnight lead.

Jesse and Speedwell’s test sheet was richly seasoned with eights, plus a sprinkling of nines for their canter work and mid-test halt.

“He’s a very special boy, he loves it in there and he is just a delight to ride,” said Jesse, who owns the 12-year-old with Karen Coumbe, Colin Graves, Deborah Strang and Hannah Caven.

“I was just trying to stay in the moment. It felt pretty good to me, there were no major blots or boo-boos, so I’m very happy.”

He added: “He is very diligent and he tries incredibly hard. He's very sensitive, so if he makes a mistake, he really takes that quite personally.”

Jesse headed up to the arena yesterday to get a feel for what the ground jury were rewarding this year.

“I watched Oliver Barrett’s test last night, and that was quite a good thing to go away with and really take on board,” he said. “We have a variety of ground juries that we ride in front of, and they all are looking for certain things, and different things. So it was important for me just to have a bit of an understanding of what they were going for.”

Tom McEwen, who finished Thursday in second place with The Fieldmaster, remains on the provisional podium – but with a different ride. The 17-year-old Brookfield Quality, who has been placed in this class twice – with Piggy March and with Tom, now holds third on 26.5.

“I’m delighted with him,” said Tom, whose test with Alison Swinburn and John and Chloe Perry’s gelding coincided with a chilly breeze arriving to rustle around the arena.

“There were a few little mistakes, but he was fantastic. For Norris, wind isn't the perfect thing to come along. Like all the microphone muffs on the side are all now blowing in the wind, and that spooks him every single time he goes past one.

“I get on with him so well, and I absolutely love him. Nowadays we keep him quite fresh before a test – I went out for a little hack this morning, because he’s so well behaved in there – I just wasn't quite expecting the wind. But I wouldn't have changed anything even if I knew it was coming.”

Tom and The Fieldmaster are now in fourth (29.2), with Gemma Stevens and Chilli’s Jester – who held second after the first day of dressage – are in fifth (29.6).

Today’s new entrants to the upper end of the scoreboard include New Zealand’s Clarke Johnstone on thoroughbred Sparky Lad in provisional sixth on a score of 30, and Sarah Hedges with Igna (30.1) who holds equal seventh with Alex Bragg (Jaeger Master).

Sarah said that the 13-year-old gelding, who she owns with Susan McCance, has shifted from not being a fan of the first phase to a horse who now “loves showing off”.

“I’m really proud of him and he’s getting more and more rideable,” said Sarah, crediting working on the basics and “good advice from good people at the right moments” for helping their progress.

“I think there’s more to come from him – I’m not very experienced, so we muddle through together. It’s taken a long time; we’ve got a real partnership now and he actually understands his job and wants to work with me.

“I train with Hannah Moody a little bit, whenever I can, and I ran through my test last week with Sarah Higgins and she just gave me a few little tweaks, which was really helpful.”

Cross-country starts at 11.45am tomorrow (Saturday) and the Clarke will be pathfinder aboard his first ride, Cooley Stirling.

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French Olympic medallist Astier Nicolas and Hitchqote Du Coudray collected a perfect 10 as they soared to the top of the dressage standings in the GFS Saddles CCI4*-S young horse championship at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials.

Astier and the nine-year-old, known as “Alfred” by his friends as a nod to the play on spelling on Hitchcock that inspired his official name, were among the last to go in this huge kingmaker class.

Their score of 23.5 featured a 10 for their excellent mid-test halt, a smattering of nines for their canter work, plus plenty of eights. Only once did their numbers dip below a seven, a rogue 6.5 for an early piece of trot-work, which is testament to the overall quality of their performance.

“He gave me a very good feeling,” said Astier, who has been riding the gelding for four years.

“He’s a very gentle horse. He’s one of these very serious ones. He always tries to please. He got quite worried when he got in, but I had the time to do two laps around the arena, which was good, and then he was focusing more on me than on his own stress, which is his quality, and the quality of the very good horses. It's brilliant.”

Hitchqote Du Coudray, who is owned by Etienne Grivot, Mathilde Grivot, S.A.R.L. Ecurie Brillantissime and his rider, has an exemplary international record and is stepping up to four-star for the first time at Blenheim.

“I’m not used to these scores – I’ve been I’ve been running after them all my life, and sometimes I get one, but not often!” said Astier.

“I’ve been working with Holly Woodhead, and I must say that she's done great work in telling me off, and it's going well.”

Holly stepped up to play an even bigger role this week in the pair’s preparation for Blenheim.

“I've had a funny week,” said Astier. “I travelled over on Saturday, arrived Saturday night with Holly and James [Avery, Holly’s fiancé. They are good friends and I stayed with them at the beginning of the week. The horse had Sunday off, I rode on Monday, and the day after I had a very bad back – I couldn’t get out of bed – so Holly rode him. I managed to jump him on the Wednesday, and I feel better today.”

The fact that a sub-30 mark was not enough for riders to guarantee their place in the provisional top 10 reflects the quality of this 104-strong class. A total of 14 competitors broke the 30 barrier, and less than 10 penalties separate the top 36 places at this stage.

Friday’s competitors gave the CCI4*-S leaderboard a good shake. Thursday’s overnight leaders Tom McEwen and Brookfield Danny De Muze now hold fourth place, with Bubby Upton now filling second with two of her three rides.

Blenheim Horse Trials dressage: lightening strikes twice for Bubby Upton

Bubby’s first ride today, Auckland 7, was the first to topple Tom from his lofty perch. The pair sprang into the lead after the first coffee break on a score of 26.9. Remarkably, Bubby then earned the exact same score for her second test of the day, piloting Sancerre De Tiji into equal second with his stablemate. Bubby owns both horses with long-term supporter Caroline Owen.

Bubby, who trains with Amy Woodhead – Holly’s sister, said today’s result is “too special for words”.

Reflecting on her test with Auckland, she said: “I’m just so pleased that hr was able to pull it off today in the arena. Saturday and Sunday are another day, and there’ll be big challenges for him. This time last year, he was doing his first two-star at Belsay, so we've come a long way,” she said.

“We went and found him in Germany from a lovely family who'd bred him, and it's been quite the process really finding the right tool for him, because he's a real internaliser and worries, but doesn’t necessarily feel like that. But with the help of my amazing dressage coach, I feel like today we nailed it and did her proud.”

She added: “I think his changes were unbelievable; I felt like I actually rode them and did him justice in them. I was actually saying to someone earlier that I’ve never come out of that test and thought, ‘Damn, I crushed it’. And today, I think it's the first time, on the most inexperienced horse, that I actually think I rode it okay!”

Following her test with Sancerre De Tiji, a horse she has had from a four-year-old, Bubby said: “Obviously, this is only the first phase, but I'm so aware that the next two phases are just building blocks for them. It's not about the result they pull off this weekend. It's all about what they've shown in terms of promise for the future.

“I think the absolute world of this little guy, Sancerre De Tiji, he is an absolute superstar. I’ve always believed in him so much, and he thinks he's a champ. So we had to just kind of try and control that ego in a way that doesn’t ever get rid of it because it makes him a star, but to try and get him to listen to me a bit more than maybe he would like to most of the time.”

Izzy Taylor now holds fifth with Johnny Hornby’s Barrington Boy (27.4) and Kitty King is in sixth on British novice champion Kilcotrim Cooley, who is owned by Marshall and Sarah Riley.

Showjumping starts at 7.50am tomorrow morning (Saturday) and the class concludes with the cross-country on Sunday.

• View results and times for the young horse CCI4*-S at Blenheim Horse Trials

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As Ros Canter entered the arena with Armscote Explorer in the GFS Saddles CCI4*-S young horse class at Blenheim, it marked a very special moment for the mare’s owner/breeders Kate Willis and Mel Pritchard.

Kate and Mel have only ever bred two horses – both out of former racehorse Winsome Wendy – and both are competing at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials this week. The grey nine-year-old Armscote Explorer, who is making her Blenheim debut, and her full brother, Ditchford Explorer, who is ridden by Ben Way and competing in the Agria CCI4*-L.

“We’re over the moon, it feels very surreal,” Mel told H&H. “It’s quite a family affair because I bought the mum from my father-in-law Peter Pritchard, who is a racehorse trainer. She wasn’t the best racehorse, but she was an amazing eventer, and then we bred these two from her, and they’ve both just turned out to be wonderful.

“We’re so grateful, happy and lucky.”

Both horses, who are stabled next to each other this week, are in touch with the sharp end of the leaderboard in their respective classes. Ben and Ditchford Explorer scored 34.9 – some nine penalties off provisional leaders Oliver Barrett and Sandhills Briar (25.6). Ros and Armscote Explorer earned a mark of 30.7, to hold provisional 15th place at Friday lunchtime, less than a pole away from current leaders Bubby Upton and Auckland 7 (26.9).

“I had the dam in the yard to sell and I loved her so much that I kept her,” said Mel. “I evented her at very low level, then a friend of mine competed her a little.”

When they decided to breed from her, Ben and another friend suggested that Cevin Z could be a good choice, as his strengths could complement Winsome Wendy’s thoroughbred qualities.

“Their mum was really laid back. We’ve always said that ’Billy’ (Ditchford Explorer) was a bit like a Labrador; he would follow me around fields and pick up buckets! Both of them are very laid back, and they’ve always been like that, and very friendly,” said Mel.

“Shane Borland broke them both in and said they were so easy, and they’ve always been the kindest, loveliest horses to have.”

Sarah Way, who rode the distinctive five-star horse Dassett Cooley Dun for Mel and Kate, initially competed both siblings. When she stopped eventing, Ben took over the reins of one and the other went to Ros.

Ros added: “She’s a sweet, sweet-natured horse. The owners are fantastic and we are just thoroughly enjoying her.

“I’m delighted with her, she’s got a fantastic brain.”

Ros added that the mare’s changes are there, but not on a straight line yet, which is one of the particularly tricky questions in this four-star test.

“She did her first CCI4*-S at Scone and I practised them on a straight line the week of that, and lost them completely. So I’ve just been rebuilding a little bit,” said Ros. “I haven’t done any on a straight line until today, as I just thought that she’s just not quite there yet. But she got one really well, and just did a really level test, which is what she’s very good at.”

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Young British rider Tom Woodward has retired Low Moor Lucky, the horse who gave him his first international win and first start at five-star, at the age of 19.

Tom admitted he had been putting off making the announcement, but decided to release the news to coincide with the five-year anniversary of the pair’s first international win, at Cornbury in the young rider CCI3*-S in 2021.

“We have to listen to him – he went to Bramham Horse Trials for the under-25 national championships in the hope he’d go on to under-25 World Championships at Millstreet and tied up after the showjumping,” said Tom, 24.

“We always said this year we weren’t sure whether we’d carry on eventing him at all, but he came out of the winter so well and felt so good and fresh in the spring we thought, ‘He wants to keep doing his job’.

“We said pre-Bramham if he was not selected for the under-25 worlds we’d finish at Bramham and when he tied up, it felt like him telling me he’s a bit old.”

Tom said he also thought about what the horse has done for him.

“He’s given me so much more than we ever imagined and I don’t want to push him for any more. He’s done Bramham multiple times, Blenheim multiple times, went to Badminton – ok it wasn’t the fairly tale but we followed on to win the under-25 national title that year,” said Tom, who pulled up Lucky across country at Mars Badminton Horse Trials 2025 after some jumping faults, following a super dressage test.

“He’s done pretty much every big event and I didn’t want to push him for more when I owe him everything and he owes me nothing.”

Low Moor Lucky retired: a cheap purchase

Low Moor Lucky was bred by Richard Dennis, a family friend of the Woodwards. Given to Cherry Coward, he was at her yard when Tom and his mother went to try another horse. He wasn’t really for sale, but they offered Tom the chance to sit on him to give him a feel of another horse as he was just moving off ponies. Tom loved him, so they said to make an offer for him.

The family ended up buying Lucky and another horse also bred by Richard, in one deal. He wasn’t expensive as he hadn’t done brilliantly in his early career – he was only backed aged nine “and was called Lucky because he was a nutcase as a young horse and was nearly disposed of”.

With Tom, he won twice at CCI3*-S, at Cornbury 2021 and Somerford 2022, was under-25 national champion at Bramham in 2025, started on a Nations Cup team and finished eight four-stars (including finishing 13th at Blenheim Horse Trials CCI4*-L in 2024), giving the young rider hugely valuable experience.

“Make sure you put in how much I love him,” said Tom. “He’s been wicked and I don’t quite know what eventing is going to be like without him. He’s been my whole career and been amazing.

“He was never meant to be as good as he turned out. He was bought for us to learn the ropes together and has gone way further than we ever imagined.

“I have learnt everything I know from him – patience, resilience, to enjoy the good times. He has been that stalwart horse for me at this point in my career.

“I wish I could just knock a few years off him, now I know a bit more from what I’ve done with him and others. If I could use the knowledge with him a bit longer I think I’d have a world-class horse.”

Tom added that Lucky has been a dream to ride and train, with “the most wonderful attitude”.

He said: “He has an incredible work ethic. He wants to work with you, always has, and also from a competition point of view, I’ve always said he wants to win as much as I do. He is a very shy horse, not cuddly, and likes to keep himself to himself. He used to be headshy and still hates being clipped.

“He has his cheeky, quirky side, after his early years when he was a bit feral, but he’s an amazing horse to have around and part of the family. He’s quite introverted and happy to suit himself – he doesn’t love getting patted over the stable door – but out competing he would turn into a different beast, with a big flashy trot and scopey jump. He lit up in the ring.”

Low More Lucky may have been retired from competition, but he is still in work and enjoying life. Tom’s father, former amateur jockey David Woodward, has been hacking him out and his younger sister Milly rides him. He may do some low-level eventing with Milly next year.

“He is just enjoying life and after everything he’s given me and my family, we will make sure he has best retirement we can give him,” said Tom.

“He’s living out and is happy. He’s always been really bad to catch and he’s still giving us the runaround – the other day he wouldn’t let us catch him to go on a hack so he stayed in the field another couple of days!”

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Beltane’s Prince Chilli has won hearts at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials where he is making his four-star debut with 2026 Burghley runner-up Katie Magee.

Eye-catching is widely overused when it comes to describing horses – but this gorgeous big skewbald is the exception.

The British-bred nine-year-old, who is owned by Ann and Valerie Robson, is out of Nicola Wilson’s former advanced mare Beltane Queen and by Badminton winner Chilli Morning. Beltane Queen’s CV boasted numerous podium places at four-star, plus 19th place at Badminton 2015.

“He has a real pedigree for the sport,” said Katie, adding that they haven’t measured him to know just how tall he is – after all, a number, really, would be just that.

“He is obviously a very tall chap, he’s here to do his first CCI4*-S, so it’s all learning for him this week.

“He is a lovely horse. He tries so hard, he’s very big and still has a lot of strengthening to do, but he’s incredibly genuine and lovely.”

Beltane’s Prince Chilli has had a solid season so far, including many top 10 placings at intermediate and a cross-country jumping clear in his first advanced. This week, he is competing in the GFS Saddles CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-old horses and is in mid-division after the opening day of dressage, on a score of 40.6.

“He did his lateral work really nicely, it was just a shame that we got an extra change and then missed a change, but he did some lovely work as well so there’s lots to be excited about,” said Katie.

“He has a brilliant temperament, he moves really well and he has a huge scopey jump. His only real downside is his size and it’s just a case of trying to look after him, making sure that we keep him happy, and building for the future.”

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Tom McEwen held the lead he set at 9am this morning in the GFS Saddles CCI4*-S young horse championship with Brookfield Danny De Muze to end the opening day of dressage in the top spot at Agria Blenheim Horse Trials.

The eight-year-old, by I’m Special De Muze, won the seven-year-old world champion title in Le Lion last year and comes to Blenheim following a run of excellent 2026 form. He has jumped double clear in all nine starts this season and is rarely the wrong side 30 in the dressage.

The pathfinding pair set the standard and their score of 27.2 remained out of reach for the 48 competitors that followed into the arena.

“He’s had a nice year getting prepped with this being his main target,” said Tom, who rides the gelding for owners Alison Swinburn and John and Chloe Perry.

“This test is an unbelievably difficult test, especially for eight- and nine-year-olds – the flying changes on the centre line, it’s very tight, and it’s obviously setting horses up for the Olympic and five-star tests and, for example. That’s fantastic, but for eight nine-year-olds, it's a tough test when they’re learning.

“So I was absolutely delighted with how he went about things, and he was nice and relaxed.

“He has had a nice quiet year, popping round, getting a bit of experience quietly at four-star to hopefully come here and go nicely.”

He added: “He’s very easy and a great jumper, he does it in his own style. If you saw him in the stable, you’d think he was really quite impassive, but he’s got plenty about him. Fingers crossed he’s one to go up the grades.”

The business end of this young horse championship class has a real international flavour, with riders from five different nations filling the top five places.

Sweden’s Therese Viklund and Sella, who Therese owns with Lena Nystrom, have also held fast to the provisional runner-up spot they bagged before lunch on a score of 29.1.

“She doesn’t have any weaknesses really,” said Therese. “She really loves her job.”

This flashy chestnut mare is so light on her feet over the ground, their trot work flowed and their first change was a particular highlight.

“She was very rideable, she doesn’t really care about atmosphere, she went in and did her job, which she loves,” she said.

“I’ve known her since she was a foal. I collaborate with her breeder, so I’ve had her since she was five, so we’ve done the whole journey together.”

New Zealand’s Samantha Lissington and Cooley Corpello, owned by Jeanne and Mark Swallow, were the third combination to break the 30 barrier and have slotted into provisional third on 29.4.

Germany rider Ben Leuwer and gorgeous dapple grey Zuccini MN, a nine-year-old owned by Staade von Paepcke Eventing Horses GbR, earned a nine for their entry and sailed into provisional fourth (30.1).

“We’ve had him in our stables since he was four years old, so we’ve educated him all the way through,” said Ben. “It’s always long journey, but we are happy – he does a super job, he’s a very big horse, so it’s not too easy for him on 20m and to get him properly into the corners, which is absolutely necessary in that kind of test. But we are so pleased, that was a very nice test.

“He had a very nice second flying change and all in all, his bend was better.”

Australia’s Isabel English is in fifth on home-bred Cil Dara Bombay S (30.2).

Blenheim Horse Trials dressage: Adelaide winners lead the way

Oliver Barrett and Sandhills Briar, who produced the best test of the morning, remain at the top of the standings in the Agria CCI4*-L, but they have been joined on the provisional podium by a new face.

Tom McEwen, probably Blenheim’s busiest rider with five horses across the two classes this week, inched into second late this afternoon with The Fieldmaster on 29.2. The nine-year-old gelding is owned by James and Jo Lambert and Penny Barker, and was bought from Tom Strawson for Tom McEwen to ride ahead of this season.

“Tom Strawson rode him here last year in the eight- and nine-year-olds, and he went very well across country,” said Tom.

“We’ve just been getting to know each other all summer with the aim of coming here.

“I might have just overdone it a little bit with the work outside, but he’s fantastic – every time he comes out he delivers a ‘clear round’ and works really hard in there. He really listens, really tries and that’s all you can ask.”

He said that the horse’s attitude is one of his real qualities, and added: “He’s very laidback, but there’s plenty about him at the same time, and he is a very kind person. He’s so good across country, he’s quick, sharp, nifty and looks for flags. And his showjumping has been coming on all year. I’m delighted with him.”

Gemma Stevens and Chilli’s Jester are now in provisional third (29.6). Burghley re-routers Alex Bragg and Jaeger Master also delivered a smart test this afternoon to hold fourth (30.1).

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Adelaide winners Oliver Barrett and Sandhills Briar lead the Agria Blenheim Horse Trials dressage standings at Thursday’s CCI4*-L lunchbreak, after rerouting from the eventing World Championships in Aachen.

Oliver, 22, and the 10-year-old, who is owned and bred by Oliver’s family, scored a huge new international personal best of 25.6 and soared to the top of the leaderboard shortly before lunch on the opening day of dressage at Blenheim.

The duo glided through the early trot work and scored a nine for their mid-test halt, continuing to earn lofty marks from the ground jury for their quality canter work.

“I thought during the middle of the test that it was going pretty well,” said Oliver. “We got the trot work out of the way and his walk felt really good. Usually the walk is a good testament as to how the rest of the test might go, and he walked super. Then I was able to really ride him in the canter.”

He added: “One of the biggest things is that he has a fair bit of presence about him. He is a beautiful horse in general. He can be a little bit high octane on the ground – he wants to know what’s going on everywhere around him, but as soon as I get in the saddle, he is always there with me. I think that’s probably his greatest trait: when I ride him, he’s always tuned into me.”

Oliver and his team made a quick decision to re-route to Blenheim Horse Trials after he and “Briar” parted company on the cross-country at Aachen. The pair had a solid prep run in the CCI3*-S at Cornbury last week, their eventing debut on British soil, before coming for their first tilt at Blenheim.

“Our first event [in the northern hemisphere] was Aachen and that didn’t quite go to plan, and we had to decide quickly whether or not to stay over and do something else. On the Sunday of the showjumping at Aachen, we had to put all of this into place,” he said.

“I’m really fortunate to have been at Sammi Birch’s for the last couple of weeks. It’s been amazing. She’s a great friend and I’m really grateful that she’s welcomed Briar and me. It’s been a little bit wet, everyone’s been telling me how dry it’s been, but nothing to frighten me away just yet!”

Gemma Stevens and Chilli’s Jester, a full-brother to her Burghley-winning ride Chilli Knight (“Alfie”), hold second on a score of 29.6 in the Blenheim Horse Trials CCI4*-L dressage results at this stage.

The 10-year-old, owned by Chris and Clare Mathias and Christopher and Lisa Stone, finished on the podium at Scone CCI4*-S last month, and cut an elegant picture in Blenheim’s Palace Arena this morning.

“I’m absolutely thrilled with him, he’s still really green. He might be 10, but he has been a slow developer and has had to have some time off in his life, so I’m thrilled with the way he went in there and that he produced the best work for where he is at the moment,” said Gemma, adding that her highlights were his relaxation and that his lateral work felt “more stable and much more connected”.

“That’s the first time he’s scored in the 20s at a four-star.”

Chilli’s Jester is a talented, beautiful horse in his own right. Given his famous brother’s recent glory at Defender Burghley Horse Trials, there will of course be interest in whether there are similarities between the two.

“There are for sure similar traits,” said Gemma. “Their work ethic is amazing, and his gallop is amazing too. He actually moves much better than Alfie, he’s much straighter and he has more scope on the flat for the dressage. But whereas Alfie never lacks confidence, Chilli’s Jester would lack a bit of confidence. So it’s funny how he has the attributes to be better, but he has to believe it first.

“It’s all about confidence with him. He’s quite a tall horse and it’s taken a bit of time to get him to believe that he can hold his neck up and be in that frame without losing his balance.”

Gemma credited her “amazing team” for keeping Chilli’s Jester, and all her horses, going at home while she’s been away at events this season.

“I couldn’t do any of this without them,” she said, naming Georgie Driver, April Kitchener, Hannah Lavender, Leah Clarke, and her two apprentices Molly and Georgia.

“They are all amazing, we work really well as a team and communicate. That’s what makes it possible.”

New Zealand’s Ginny Thomasen is in provisional third with her own, Phillippa Levy and Ross Milne’s Katchafire.

Blenheim Horse Trials dressage: early bird catches the worm

Tom McEwen is one of the busiest riders at Blenheim this week, so was always going to be pathfinder in at least one class on at least one horse.

He was first to go in the GFS Saddles CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-old horses with Brookfield Danny De Muze, owned by Alison Swinburn and John and Chloe Perry.

The 2025 seven-year-old world champion set a so far unassailable lead of 27.2. Sweden’s Therese Viklund and Sella are their closest rivals at this stage (29.1), while Australia’s Isabel English completes the international top three on home-bred Cil Dara Bombay S (30.2).

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How to sum up the Agria Blenheim Horse Trials cross-country course in three words? Angles, bumps, water.

Jay Hambly is the new cross-country course designer at Blenheim Horse Trials this year. The CCI4*-L course features 26 numbered fences and horses will get their feet wet four times.

The track follows the same route as previous years at Blenheim Horse Trials and while many questions are in the same places as past events, the overall course has a slightly different feel to the European Championships track from 2025.

Five key questions on Blenheim Horse Trials cross-country

The Blenheim Water Dew Pond (6ab)

The Blenheim Water Dew Pond is the first serious question on course. It’s right by the shopping village and will be the first time that horses get their feet wet. The skinny bitty frangible arrowheads of 2025 are gone and have been replaced by brush fences. These look more inviting (to my eye!), while remaining a good accuracy question.

Competitors ride up a little mound and jump the first (6a), before running down and splashing through the dew pond, then heading out over an angled fence on dry land (6b).

There are longer alternatives at both elements here, which will take a few extra seconds.

Corner Treasure Chests to Corner (9abc)

There’s often a decent question on the lawn in front of Blenheim Palace. This year it is a test of rideability and accuracy. Riders will come to this with, hopefully, the benefit of having just had a good jump through similar looking fences (Hill Rise Treasure Chests, 8ab) in the Palace Arena.

There are a few different routes through this. On what I make out to be the most direct route, competitors jump a solid corner (9a) followed by a deep, solid chest fence (9b). They then face a choice on the direct line to 9c (another solid corner) – do they go the braveman’s route and slice inside the sculpture, or give themselves a fraction more space and go around it? There are alternatives at 9b and 9c, so riders could also mix and match a little and I think we might see a few different routes through this.

Murlac Hanging Brush (14abc) to Agria Water Crossing Question (15ab)

I was slightly torn in my mind about where this question actually starts. By this point on the course, riders will be starting to feel the cumulative effect of how all the previous fences have ridden. The ride that they have through the undulating ground of The Miele Roller Coaster (11ab) to Ha Ha Oxer (12), and then the HorseHage Roll Top (13) will all have a bearing – hopefully a positive one.

The direct route at the Murlac Hanging Brush (14abc) is just one jump, the skinny brush we saw at the 2025 Europeans. The longer option here is a loopy three-jumping effort that will take up a lot of time, and you cannot avoid jumping into the water.

After this, competitors gallop across the lake and come out over two skinny brush fences on a curving two strides. There are options at both of these.

The GFS Saddles Water (16abc)

There’s no time to dry off as the next question is another water fence. Competitors gallop up the hill to the GFS Saddles Water (16abc), which comprises a big log into water – riders can’t avoid this – followed by an angled brush-topped log in the water (16b), then onto dry land to a skinny arrowhead.

Oxer to Corner to Narrow Brush Oxer (18abc)

The furthest point on the course tends to have a decisive fence. This year, competitors on the direct route head up a mound to a frangible open oxer, then run down to an open corner (also on frangible devices). Like the fence in front of the house, Jay gives riders the choice of slicing in front of some decoration, or going round on a wider line. The final element is a big boxy brush on a related distance. Riders are committed to the ‘a’ and ‘c’ elements, but there is an option for ‘b’.

*Bonus extra* Cross-Country App Question (20abc)

The title says five key questions, but who doesn’t want just one more? We’ve seen similar here on many previous Blenheim courses, but there’s often one or two who want an extra little look at the ditch at this light-into-dark question, which is why it’s earned a spot among the key fences. The straight route here is over a rail (20a), followed by a ditch (20b), then an open arrowhead (20c).

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One horse was held and all were ultimately accepted at the Agria Blenheim Horse Trials first trot-up today (Wednesday, 16 September).

John The Bull, ridden by Ireland’s Susie Berry and owned by Helen Caton, was sent to the holding box. The 15-year-old gelding, who was third in this CCI4*-L class in 2021 and has competed at five-star with Susie, was given the nod of approval when re-presented before the ground jury of Nikki Herbert (president), Judy Hancock and James Rooney, and vet Caroline George.

Horses looked fit and, on the whole, relaxed in the balmy September sunshine at the first Blenheim Horse Trials trot-up, sponsored by British Horse Feeds – summer has not slipped through Britain’s fingers quite yet.

George Bartlett’s ride, Lukas, a 15-year-old gelding who is owned by Sir John Peace, Victoria Peace and Charlotte Cole, was asked to trot again after breaking into canter, and waved through on his second run.

John Wesmore’s ride Oughterard Quality, owned by Michael Westmore, enjoyed a good snort, while Alice Casburn’s exciting nine-year-old mare LSS Ile De Re, owned by Sally Witte and Alice’s mother Caroline, held it together during the trot up itself – before heading back to the stables with a spicy flourish.

Licence To Cooley, owned and ridden by John Tilly, won the British Horse Feeds Speedi-Beet prize for the horse in the best condition. The Worshipful Company of Farriers’ award for the best shod horse, judged by farrier Stephen Hill, went to Ed Eltham’s ride Indigo VIII, owned by Stewart and David Baker-Meadows.

Beautiful tailoring was a key theme on the fashion side. Structured jackets, paired with smart trousers, featured heavily, from elegant trench coats, to well-cut blazers, and stylish waistcoats in a wide range of styles and fabrics.

HiHo Silver awarded prizes for the best-dressed – Susie won the ladies’ prize for her embroidered jacket, paired with silver cowboy boots. Jack Pinkney won the men’s award for his three-piece checked suit. He rides Monbeg Stone Town in the CCI4*-L, a nine-year-old who he owns with Duchess Chica Norfolk and Lady Catherine Carleton-Smith.

Elsewhere there was a sprinkling of smart summery co-ords, such as Katey Cuthbertson’s pale pink patterned blazer with matching shorts, and flowing dresses – including the ballet pink dress and matching hair bow worn by Canada’s Shelby Brost.

All 77 horses presented will go forward to the dressage, which starts at around 10am tomorrow (Thursday) in the Palace Arena in front of the house. The CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-old horses starts around an hour earlier, also in the Palace Arena.

• Times, when available, will be posted on EventingScores

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Whether you love to take a little piece of the magic home, you prefer to purchase in advance or you can’t make it this year, the 2026 official Blenheim Horse Trials merchandise has been created just for you.

Rydale is the official merchandise partner of this year’s Agria Blenheim Horse Trials and its limited edition collection features rich wine and navy tones along with special event embroidery. The collection covers a range of clothing and accessories for men, women and dogs.

We’ve rounded up a few of our favourite items from the official Blenheim merchandise collection below, so that you can get the look even if you’re watching Blenheim on TV from home.

2026 official Blenheim Horse Trials merchandise

Shop the full collection now at rydale.com

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Dan Jocelyn has retired from top-level eventing after a career spanning more than 30 years.

The New Zealand rider is hanging up his boots after a career including one Olympics, two World Equestrian Games and multiple five-star completions.

“I’m 56, I’m riding around with my mates’ kids and I was the oldest rider at Badminton last year. All those things aren’t necessarily a reason to retire but I wanted to finish feeling good about how I was riding – not have people look at me and say, ‘That guy should retire,’” he told H&H.

“I feel like I’m starting to lose my competitiveness and sharpness. It’s a lot of work being at the top level of anything – mentally, in the gym, dealing with owners, keeping a horse at the top of its game – and I only wanted to do it at the highest level.

“I won’t be at the next Olympics in two years’ time or the next World Championships in four years, so why am I doing this? It was nice to ring our high performance manager Jock Paget and say I’d like to withdraw from the squad, not be thrown off.

“I felt like I was always carrying an injury, a bit of a pain somewhere and now all of a sudden I feel great – having taken that time to let myself get better.”

Dan has also retired his five-star horse, 17-year-old Blackthorn Cruise, who has been in the top 30 at Mars Badminton Horse Trials twice, saying: “In his mind he wanted to go to Burghley, but there were a few signs he’d lost his edge and with those horses we have to make the decision for them.

“He’s still with us and his owner Panda Christie comes and has dressage training on him. He’s hacking out and quietly winding down from five-star work, which is all he’s known for a long time.”

Although he is retiring from top-level competition, Dan Jocelyn will still produce young horses and compete up to novice level, and join his wife Emma in doing more showjumping and coaching.

“We have just taken on our first team to coach – the 90cm team for the VWH branch of the Pony Club – so that’s an exciting thing for us,” he said. “I enjoy doing things like course walks at Burghley, telling a few stories on the way round – it’s something a bit different to bring the cash in.”

Dan Jocelyn retires: favourite memories

Dan first came to England in 1995. He lent Andrew Nicholson a horse for the event at Puhinui in New Zealand and Andrew invited him to come to see the sport here.

“I came over and stayed with him for a season – he sent me off to people who’ve become my best friends, David Green, Mark Todd, and I went to three-days with them to watch,” said Dan, recalling how he rang his mother, Beverley, in disbelief at the number of events, as in New Zealand it was a case of two events and a three-day each spring and autumn.

Dan described going to the Athens Olympics in 2004 with Silence as the realisation of a boyhood dream.

“That was something special – I didn’t have a great placing as my strength was the cross-country and it was the easiest cross-country an Olympics has ever had, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a fabulous experience,” he said.

Another highlight of his career was finishing third at Burghley Horse Trials in 2001 behind Andrew Nicholson and Blyth Tait.

“I was the only person to finish on my dressage score and to be there with Andrew and Blyth who, alongside Mark Todd, were my team-mates and mentors was special,” he said. “I loved riding with them, copying them.”

Dan also picked out some memorable Nations Cup wins at Boekelo and, more recently, finishing second in the CCI4*-L at Tattersalls in 2019 on Blackthorn Cruise.

“I enjoy competing in Ireland and it was nice to take him back to his roots as he came from Ireland,” he said.

“The last Badminton I did, I had a diverse group of people around me – friends, Panda Christie who’s owned Blackthorn Cruise through his whole career, the personal trainer who’s been helping me for the last few years – and I enjoyed every phase. The weather was beautiful, we took the competition seriously but did some socialising too and came out of it with a nice result. It was why we all started eventing.

“It felt very different to going round on Silence in the 1990s, when I was full of grit and determination, all I wanted to do was arrive there and then as soon as I was there, I wanted it done and to be home. I was full of nerves and hungry for it as a young rider. It’s amazing how my outlook has changed over 30 years.

“I have no regrets. Yes, there are parts of my career I’d do differently and parts I haven’t enjoyed, but that’s part of the whole thing.”

Dan Jocelyn’s biggest supporter

Dan said his mother Beverley has always been his biggest supporter and he was nervous about telling her he was retiring, but she completely understood.

“We reflected and told a few stories, going back to Pony Club,” he said, saying that she came over for a few events including the 2002 World Championships and increasingly, technology has allowed her to be part of Dan’s career, receiving videos and so on.

“She was never one of the mums that fuss around – she always let me and my brother and sister be independent and learn from doing the whole process. We’d do the early mornings and late nights around school and go off in the big lorry with three or four horses as young kids. Doing everything ourselves was a great way to understand horses and be horsemen,” he said.

“I loved Pony Club days, with bending races, popping balloons and jumping in a sack – perhaps it would have been better if I’d done the odd bit of dressage instead of flag races and bending, but then I might not have stayed on going into The Lake!”

Andrew Nicholson paid tribute to Dan’s career and achievement in moving up the levels after he first came to the UK to be based with him.

“The horse of Dan’s that springs to mind is Silence, the wee thoroughbred he brought over as a youngster and brought up to five-star,” he said.

“Dan has always been very reliable at the big competitions – he knew what he and his horses could do on the cross-country and outside competition he was a good team-mate to be around – he still is, good fun and very easy going.”

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If you were to design an elite event horse, Kananaskis probably wouldn’t be the prototype. Now 18 years old, he stands just 15.1hh, with legs made of proverbial glass and is – according to his rider Cerys Macaulay – only “18% thoroughbred”. He’s had the best part of three years out of the game, due to Covid and injuries, and requires an unconventional work routine.

Yet, this brilliant little horse has jumped clear round two junior and a young rider Europeans, several Nations Cups and a five-star. This year, well into veteran status, he was crowned runner-up at the under-25 World Championships at Millstreet and the equivalent national class at Bramham.

“The horse’s record is ridiculous,” says Cerys. “He’s been abroad more times than most people have been on holiday.”

Cerys started riding “Ru” only two years ago, when he was rehabbing from an operation. Up until then he’d been campaigned by her boyfriend Richard Coney. But he was in the last-chance saloon in terms of his competitive future.

“He had an injury to his right leg in 2021; the following spring he did his left leg – then had surgery on the right one,” Cerys explains.

“Richard said, ‘I’m a bit big for him anyway – why don’t you rehab him and see if you can keep him in any sort of work?’ I’m so grateful to Richard and his mother Wendy for giving me this opportunity.”

Cerys spent the winter hacking, “mooching about” (though he’s cheeky to hack), played around at a few novices and by the end of the season they finished fourth at Cornbury three-star.

Cerys, who runs a rehab business, Honington Grange Equine Rehabilitation, manages Ru very carefully. Most of his daily work is on the water treadmill and trotting up hills. He rarely goes in the school, and has regular Hofmag sessions (pulsed electromagnetic therapy) plus time in the salt and oxygen room to boost his respiration and coat.

Cerys says it’s a combination of this nurture and his zest for the game that makes him so successful.

“He tries very hard and he’s also really athletic in his body,” she adds. “He doesn’t do any galloping and we hardly jump him; he just does as much low-intensity work as he needs. He’s probably not as fast or fit as he could be, but he’s sound and in one piece.

“At Millstreet, he was jumping to the top of the wings. He loves going to a party. He shouts his head off when he arrives at a show and then drags my groom Liv Smith around like he’s saying, ‘I’m the man, look at me!’ You can tell it’s his thing.”

Cerys doesn’t seem one to shout about her ambitions, but this year’s were very modest when you consider what she’s achieved.

“I thought we might as well give the under-25 trials a crack seeing as he’s such a good horse and it’s my last year,” she says. “And he ended up at the World Championships.”

The pair stole through the field from their 12th-placed dressage mark – then after a fast cross-country round leapfrogged from seventh to silver with a clear showjumping.

“I didn’t think I could ride well under pressure but when you have to get it done, I seem to be able to think, ‘Come on, let’s do it,’” she says. “I was surprised by how well I rode in the showjumping because I was really nervous. My team was winding me up because my heart rate was over 200 beats per minute during my round!

“And then, when everyone was waiting to go into prize-giving, they all had to wait while Ru decided he needed to wee,” she laughs. “Every time he goes into an arena, whether it’s at home or a show, he’ll pretend he needs to wee, standing with his legs really far apart for ages.”

While Kananaskis is a gloriously eccentric star of eventing, Cerys has taken an equally unconventional route into the sport. Her professionalism is impressive by any stretch, even more when you consider how relatively new she is to the sport.

She grew up in the suburbs of Manchester in a non-equestrian family, and got her horsey fix in a riding school until the age of 14. Call it chance or destiny, but the fork in her life that led down the eventing path has a serendipitous ring to it.

“My stepdad sold a car to a man whose daughter did a bit of eventing,” she explains. “He said, ‘My daughter would like to get into eventing but we don’t have a clue what we’re doing.’

Cerys ended up moving her ex-riding school pony to the daughter of the buyer’s yard and entering the eventing world.

“I only did a couple of events – it was my birthday treat – and got eliminated,” Cerys smiles.

Her first two ponies were both riding school rejects.

“The first one was a four-year-old that a lot of people fell off and the riding school was closing down,” says Cerys. “The manager asked mum if we’d have him and although she said no, they persuaded us it wouldn’t be that expensive on working livery. That was my mum’s worst financial mistake ever!”

During Covid, Cerys found she had extra time on her hands while studying for a degree in rehab and exercise science, and started working for Tyler Cassells, where her horse was on livery. She had a four-year-old she couldn’t get on with; Tyler had a novice schoolmaster, Dooney Rock, he was happy to let her ride – and so they swapped.

“I loved Dooney Rock,” Cerys says. “He was fantastic across country and took me to intermediate, but not in a particularly stylish fashion. I was always last.”

By now she was going out with Richard, who let her compete his 17.1hh three-star horse Drumconnick Cavalier (George), “the one that set me up”.

“George was my first proper horse; he made me think I could do this seriously,” she says. “We didn’t think he’d do as well as he did but in less than 18 months we went from novice to four-star. It wasn’t really planned, but he was a kind horse who didn’t mind if I got it wrong.”

She’s now based at Richard’s yard in Lincolnshire, renting a barn from the Coneys alongside fellow eventers Holly Woodhead and James Avery. It looks like a typical eventing set-up – a mix of competition horses, schooling liveries and breakers – but Cerys’ grind behind the scenes is extraordinary.

She also runs her rehab barn with the water treadmill, salt room, combi floor and Hofmag machine. In her dwindling spare time, she’s also a professional equestrian and pet photographer. In Covid she even worked as an HGV driver.

Her family has instilled a serious work ethic. As we speak on a Friday lunchtime, she’s already ridden 10 horses and an afternoon of admin lies ahead before another day on the road visiting yards with the Hofmag machine.

“My grandparents and my mum were always really supportive, but they said ‘Riding’s not a career, you can’t play ponies all day – you need a job and then you can play ponies,’” Cerys says. “The rehab barn pays the bills, that’s what funds the eventing yard. It’s that age-old thing of trying to get more owners.

“I can’t have a day off because I’m always on my phone – booking the farrier or organising water treadmill sessions. If not I’ll miss out on business opportunities.”

The work is endless, but the results are coming. She ticked off this year’s goals by the summer, yet there’s no sense of complacency or assumption that she’s made it. Kananaskis will be 19 next year, and Cerys is building from the bottom up.

“With Ru, my goal is just to keep him sound and happy,” she says. “If he looks like he wants to keep going, great, but he doesn’t have to do four-star. He needs a job, but he could also do prix st georges dressage or jumping, and just have a nice time.

“My ultimate aim is to do a five-star, particularly Badminton as I grew up going there every year. To do that well would give me a lot of satisfaction.”

Next season she’ll be out of the under-25 category, and finds the idea of “aiming for senior teams, being British, quite scary”.

“If I had a horse that was good enough, of course I’d think about that, but for now I want to keep producing nice young horses well and maybe doing some Nations Cups – that’s a great way of getting team experience without so much pressure.”

The wonderful Ru may be coming to the end of his remarkable story, but for Cerys, this is just the beginning.

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A teenager who only started riding in lockdown because she couldn’t dance has qualified for the LeMieux Grassroots Championships at Badminton – with her “hairy, patchy cob”.

Hope Wilson and 14hh Charlie Girl (Poppy) came third in the Forgandenny BE90 regional final in August, earning their ticket to Mars Badminton 2027. This was the crowning achievement of their six years together, during which they have also competed up to elementary level dressage and won at the national side-saddle championships – not to mention welcoming Poppy’s unexpected BOGOF foal a few months into their journey.

They were also on the winning Scottish team at the Chillington Hall regional youth championships in 2024, and walked away with the individual BE80 title.

“I was just numb, when they won at Chillington,” Hope’s mother Hazel told H&H. “I think I just couldn’t believe it. People were coming up and saying ‘You must be so proud’ and I said yes but it was probably a week afterwards that I actually realised the extent of what she’d done.”

Hazel said she had always ridden, describing herself as a “happy hacker” and local competitor, but Hope had never really been interested. She preferred her ballet and dancing – “She wasn’t really that interested in getting her hands dirty!” Hazel said – but when lockdown was on, so dancing and school were off, she found herself at a loose end and needed something to do.

“She quickly formed a bond with the little 11h Welsh A I bought as a companion,” Hazel said. “The other companion pony I’d bought had bucked her off a couple of times so she was nervous of getting on Belle but finally we got there.”

Belle and Hope got on well together and progressed to winning their first 60cm showjumping class. After a few months, Hazel said, as Hope’s desire to ride and leg length increased at a similar rate, she decided to buy a pony she and her daughter could share and have fun on.

“This was a hairy 10-year-old cob; I thought we could share her, and if we came out of lockdown and she went back to her dancing, I could ride the cob and just tootle about,” Hazel said. “But the sharing lasted until we discovered Poppy was actually in foal!”

Hazel suspected Poppy’s extra weight might be an unexpected guest, and in March 2021, her vet confirmed she was due in a couple of weeks.

“Both Hope and I had the privilege of being there at the birth and it was amazing,” she said, adding that no one knows who the sire of the foal, now five and called Daisy, might be.

“I think she’s got more Welsh in her as she’s slightly finer-boned,” she said. “She’s about 15.1hh so she should hopefully be a good type for Hope to take up the levels.”

Once Poppy was brought back into work, there was no stopping her, and Hope, who had also recently been diagnosed with autism – but having the horses helped.

“We’ve found a balance, and the horses have held everything together,” Hazel said. “Hope started eventing at a low level, with the Pony Club. I’d never seen her do a dressage test till our first event with the Pony Club and everyone said ‘She’s good’. She got the highest dressage score of the whole thing.”

At the start of 2024, Hope said she wanted to be chosen for the Scotland team for the youth championships, and duly was.

“Hope never wants to know her dressage score until the whole thing’s over, but the other girls on the team said she was in the lead,” Hazel said. “She showjumped and I could see the nerves were beginning to take over.

“She was last to go across country and I think even the boy on the tannoy was astounded because there were some pretty horses there and this little piebald cob who I don’t think he’d been taking too much notice of until that point. He apologised over the tannoy and said ‘We’re actually looking at the individual winners here’. It was very emotional.”

At the start of this year, Hazel said, Hope put a list of her goals for 2026 in the tack room, and Badminton was on it. She and Poppy achieved their qualifying places, then went to Forgandenny in August.

“She was putting a hell of a lot of pressure on herself to do it; probably, unbeknown to me, a lot more pressure than she was showing,” Hazel said. “So I think she felt pure relief, joy that she had achieved this and a hell of a lot of satisfaction because her friends are all riding bigger horses than her, and she can’t help but feel sort of the underdog.”

Hope Wilson’s double win

Hope also rides 16.2hh Irish-bred Ballygriffen Cooper for a friend – she won one BE90 with him at Scone last month and another with Poppy – but the plan was not to aim him for Badminton as he is still quite green, but also, Hazel said, to give Poppy her chance to shine.

“I want her to have her moment of glory,” she said. “She’s a cake-loving cob; 11am or 11.30 she hears the kettle coming on and makes her way to the tack room as she knows the cake tin is coming out! She’s absolutely amazing, she’s got a heart of gold and I swear in some way she’s trying to repair for us keeping her and her foal together.

“I think she’s had quite a few foals but has been parted from them; I think in her way she’s trying to give back a bit for the home she’s got. It may be nonsense but she looks after Hope and takes it all in her stride, she’s almost like a second mother to her.

“When we bought her, I just wanted to see my daughter happy, I had no expectations. When we go out, we just give it our best shot and it’s not about winning, it’s about the horses and their welfare, and seeing what we can do together.

“I’m not made of money and can’t afford to buy Hope everything maybe others have; she has to make do and make the best of what she’s got and by god, she’s certainly doing that.”

Hope is due to start studying business at university this month, but with her sights firmly set on Badminton 2027. And Hazel said she wanted to take this chance to celebrate her daughter and Poppy’s achievements.

“The aim as always will be to do our best but more importantly enjoy the experience and have fun,” she said. “As long as the pair of them come home safely that’s all I care about. I hope Badminton is ready for a patchy cob!”

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The owner of a horse who brought an “enormous amount of joy to many people” has shared his story to thank his owners, give hope to others – and remind us all to cherish every moment.

Barbara and Ken Cooper’s Dreamaway II, who competed successfully up to four-star level with Tom McEwen, including winning the British intermediate championship in 2019 and coming second in the eight- and nine-year-olds’ class at Blenheim a few weeks later, has died aged 15 owing to colic.

The Irish-bred gelding sustained a significant tendon injury in 2021 but came back to eventing two years later with equine vet Joanna Gillingham, who told H&H she will always be grateful he came into her life.

“He was very laid back, a chilled gentleman, and I think deep down he did really care about me,” she said. “At the end, I worked that out. He was quite grumpy, not the cuddly type, but when he was unwell, it was me he wanted to be with. We definitely formed a great partnership, and a true gentleman is exactly what he was.”

Joanna said that when Dreamer first injured his superficial flexor tendon, there was some discussion over whether it might be in his best interests to put him down. But the Coopers wanted to try, and thanks to them, vets and the McEwens, as well as Jess Draper who took him on a year or so later, he came right.

Dreamaway II: his next home

Dreamer came to Joanna through mutual connections.

“I graduated from vet school and wanted to do more eventing, but don’t come from a horsey family,” she said. “The horse I’d had was on loan, he was 18 and would run across country if he fancied it! I had a real aspiration to go novice but wasn’t sure how I would afford a £40,000 horse on my own.

“It was a pretty fairytale story; I went to try him, sat on him and thought ‘I think I’ll learn loads from this horse’. There were murmurings about someone who wanted him for dressage, and I said ‘I am who I am, I don’t want to pay substantial money as we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. But this is the home I’m going to be, I will love him forever, we’ll help each other, and see what happens’.

“They very kindly came back to me within a few hours and said ‘Let’s meet for lunch next week but you sound perfect, and we’ll just let you crack on’.”

Joanna praised the work Jess had put in; Dreamer was ready to start jumping and they completed some BE100s in 2023. They progressed, coming second in a novice in 2025 and showjumping clear at Osberton CCI2*-S – although the rest of the class was called off owing to torrential rain.

“He did a pretty good dressage and showjumped clear, which was an incredible feeling in that arena,” she said.

“That was gutting but he gave me the feeling. I’d never been to an international; I do everything on my own, so I turned up in the rain on my own, stabled there on my own, had to cycle off site to stay because I don’t have a big lorry.

“But he was a seasoned pro. He just turned up like ‘Yeah, I know what I’m doing’ and was totally chilled the whole time. I’m so grateful I got that experience, and Dreamer gave it to me, which was amazing.”

Joanna was able to have some lessons with Tom, which she said was an “incredible” help with understanding her horse.

“We always laughed as Dreamer was in Dreamerland, which was on another planet!” she said. “You had to be ‘Come on, let’s go’. Early on, we had a fall, and I think till then I’d been a bit star-struck, then I realised we had to be a partnership.

“But his jump was so amazing; you knew you were on something super-classy and clever, And you had to be together; he wasn’t just doing it for you, and that gave you such an accomplishment. I don’t think I understood about horses how much of it is about partnership, until I lost him.”

Joanna said she and Dreamer completed their first event this season, coming 10th in an intermediate, then the next day he colicked. This carried on and Joanna enlisted the help of a specialist but it was thought there were other issues going on, and the call was made in his best interests.

She said she very much wanted to thank the Coopers, who have been great supporters of eventing.

“With Dreamer, for example, they could have really pushed him to be back at the top level with Tom, or sold him to someone random and seen what had happened,” she said “I think it’s really nice they wanted to still follow the sport, but were happy to just do that at whatever level Dreamer wanted to do.

“At Cornbury, we didn’t even go cross-country but they said they’d had the best day. We were a team and it was really fun, and I want to thank them for giving me a chance when I’m not Tom McEwen, I’m a nobody but they were always so supportive, which I’m so grateful for.”

Joanna said another reason for sharing Dreamer’s story is to show that there can be hope after serious injury.

“It’s really hard as an owner, 10 different people can give you 10 opinions but there can be light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “The fact he came back and enjoyed a few more years of the sport is, I think, a really nice story.”

But finally, Joanna said, the story of Dreamaway II reminds us to enjoy of what we have.

“Perhaps most importantly, his story is a reminder to cherish the everyday moments with our horses, because we never know how long we have with them,” she said.

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Five-star horses, 2026 world medallists and former winners head up the Agria Blenheim Horse Trials entries for next week’s event (17-20 September).

Tom McEwen’s experienced five-star ride Brookfield Quality leads the entries for the CCI4*-L, which has 74 listed to start plus an eight-strong wait list.

Tom also has Isa and The Fieldmaster in the class and his eventing World Championship team-mates Laura Collett and Gemma Stevens bring forward the promising Balancero and Chilli’s Jester respectively. Chilli’s Jester is a 10-year-old full brother to Chilli Knight, who won Defender Burghley Horse Trials last week with Gemma.

Up-and-coming stars are well represented in the class. Multi-medalled youth rider Isabelle Cook brings forward Cymoon “F” Z, with whom she was seventh in the CCI4*-S at Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event in the spring and second at Millstreet CCI4*-L in July.

Tom Bird will ride Lenny, the nine-year-old mare with whom he helped Britain to team gold at the inaugural under-25 World Championships at Millstreet, in her first CCI4*-S and US rider Olivia Dutton will make her Blenheim debut on her under-25 world individual bronze medallist Jewelent.

Others to keep an eye on include Jesse Campbell and Speedwell, who were among the New Zealand reserves for the worlds, 2024 Blenheim runners-up Daisy Berkeley and Diese Du Figuier and Sam Ecroyd with Blomfield Manuscript, who was third in the CCI4*-S at Bramham Horse Trials but was let down by his showjumping at Millstreet CCI4*-L.

Felicity Collins and RSH Contend Or are also ones to watch, having finished in the top seven in this class twice.

Zara Tindall is among the former Blenheim winners riding, with Classicals Euro Star in this class, and she is on good form after her recent British open win with Class Affair.

The CCI4*-L wait-list includes three horses their riders hope to re-route after they failed to finish at Burghley – John The Bull (Ireland’s Susie Berry), Jaeger Master (Alex Bragg) and Santoro (Australia’s Samuel Jeffree).

Blenheim Horse Trials entries: CCI4*-S

A bumper 108 horses have been accepted to start in the GFS Saddles eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S.

Two horses who have won at the young horse World Championships in Le Lion d’Angers will start among the favourites – last year’s seven-year-old winner Brookfield Danny De Muze for Tom McEwen, who also rides Shannondale Arnold, and the 2023 six-year-old champion Barrington Alice, under Izzy Taylor.

Izzy’s horses had a delayed start to the season because she broke her leg badly in March, but have returned on good form. Izzy also pilots Barrington Boy in this class, an eight-year-old who was national six-year-old champion two years ago and who recently won the CCI3*-L at Scone.

Ros Canter has a ride in this class in Armscote Explorer and Laura Collett will bring forward Romany Cricket, bred by her co-owner Nana Dalton, who rode his dam Romany Piper at Blenheim.

All four members of Britain’s gold medal-winning team ride in this class; Gemma Stevens is entered with Chilli Morning clone Chilli Morning IV, who was eighth in the class last year.

Cushlas Indigo will also be one to watch – he was British intermediate champion last year and is ridden by recent Burghley runner-up Katie Magee.

There are 14 nations represented in the Blenheim Horse Trials entries, and the new team competition, The Blenheim Challenge, adds interest.

Blenheim also has a new cross-country course-designer this year in Canadian Jay Hambly.

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Members of Britain’s world gold medal-winning team are among those who will take on a new arena eventing challenge at the London International Horse Show this year.

Ros Canter, Gemma Stevens and Tom McEwen have already been confirmed as competitors in the London International eventing challenge, which will be the highlight of the Friday evening performance (18 December).

“The challenge will bring together the speed, skill and excitement of eventing in an action-packed format designed especially for the unique indoor setting of London’s Excel venue,” a spokesperson for the show said. “The class has been developed in partnership with British Eventing, and will showcase one of equestrian sport’s most popular disciplines, while providing a spectacular platform for some of the sport’s leading riders and horses.”

The track, which will be at about three-star level, will comprise a mixture of coloured show jumps and cross-country obstacles, “creating a high-octane challenge that tests speed, accuracy and horsemanship in equal measure”.

The show has worked with British eventing performance manager Dickie Waygood and FEI level three course-designer Adrian Ditcham on the class, which will run in the main arena and part of the collecting ring.

Arena eventing at London International: “It’s about time!”

Announcing the new competition on her Talk Horse podcast, class ambassador Pippa Funnell said: “It’s about time!

“It’s brilliant as we’ll be bringing the eventing element to London International. I know we have great stars already signed up to it, including Ros, Gemma and Tom. I think it will be really, really exciting.”

More details on the format and entries will be confirmed in the run-up to the event.

Show director Simon Brooks-Ward said: “We are always looking for new ways to showcase the very best of equestrian sport to our audiences, and arena eventing is a fantastic addition to the programme.

“Bringing together the excitement of cross-country and showjumping in an indoor arena creates a truly engaging spectacle for spectators, whether they are long-time eventing fans or experiencing the discipline for the first time. We are delighted to be working with British Eventing and leading figures within the sport to make this happen.”

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Next week’s Agria Blenheim Horse Trials (17-20 September) will showcase the work of a course-designer who is leading on a major track in the UK for the first time, with Jay Hambly responsible for the course.

Canadian Jay, 52, says he is “super thrilled” to have the job at the Oxfordshire event, which hosts a CCI4*-L and an eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S.

“I have many friends in the UK and they’re super excited about it. I wouldn’t never downplay it – to come to Blenheim, to design in the UK, doesn’t happens for a lot of people outside of the UK,” he says, referencing US designer Derek di Grazia at Defender Burghley Horse Trials as one of the few other instances.

Jay says he isn’t one who’s good at pushing himself forward. His involvement at Blenheim has grown out of longstanding friendships with British designers and course-builders who have been, and still are, associated with Blenheim.

Like most course-designers, Jay rode up to advanced level.

“I went through Pony Club, got my A test and then I lived at a place called Checkmate, which in North America was a famous eventing facility in the late 80s and early 90s – before we really had star levels, there was Checkmate, Kentucky and Fair Hill,” he says.

“As a kid, to pay for riding horses and being a working student, I would work for Checkmate and help David Evans build. The designer was Mark Phillips and the technical delegate was always Mike Etherington-Smith. So that’s the group who taught me – David, Mike, Mark, and then also Mike Tucker, and later, Ian Stark and Derek.”

Looking for ways to pay for “his hobby and habit of riding”, Jay became a course-builder and then a designer. These days, he still competes but not at the top-level – typically his business is in producing ex-racehorses through the lower levels and selling them ono.

On the course side, he was on the build team for the Olympics in 2008 and 2020. He is the designer at events such as Bromont, Rebecca Farm, the grand prix eventing showcase at Bruce’s Field and the American Eventing Championships at Kentucky, as well as assisting Derek at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event.

Jay has been responsible for the track at several Central American and Caribbean Games and is lined up to do next year’s Pan American Games in Peru.

Blenheim cross-country course: a similar route to 2025

Jay assisted Mark Phillips in designing last year’s European Championships track at Blenheim and then – strongly encouraged by previous Blenheim designer David Evans, who is still the event’s course-builder – he went through the process of applying to take over as designer, with confirmation he had the job in the late spring of this year.

He says the permanent features of the site at Blenheim – the lake, the stabling, the arena and the tradestands – mean that the route is fairly constrained and for this year at least, people should not expect major changes to that, although he will look to make some more alterations in the future.

“In the four-star short for the eight- and nine-year-olds, you want to keep the jumps out in front of those horses so it’s not too complicated for them to pick up the lines – you’re trying to encourage those horses to get more confident, finish better than they started and become team horses in the future,” he says.

The Blenheim cross-country course for the CCI4*-L will be somewhat softened from the European Championships last year.

Jay explains: “I have added a combination earlier, because last year the Dew Pond was the first combination, so this year they have something to do before they get there. And I tried to spread the efforts out a little bit more, to have it feel a bit more balanced, as last year it was very intense from the ditch and wall at the start of the trade fair through to the rollercoaster piece of ground.”

Apart from the first and last fences, the two courses use pretty much completely different fences in order to ensure the best possible ground for the horses.

Jay says the organising team at Blenheim have been “amazing” and he’s actually done much of the work remotely rather than by being on-site.

He explains: “Because I know the venue and the fences, I did a lot of it on a computer. I would go back and forth with David – nobody knows the ground better or obstacles available better David.

“Yes, you have to go to the venues to finalise layouts, put the jumps in place, to see how the ground works and where the lumps and the bumps are. But you can get your distance, your track, your concept finished before you ever get there, when it’s a place you’ve been to before.”

When we spoke in late August, Jay had an onsite course walk with Mark Phillips planned, with enough time for tweaks to be made after that as necessary.

And what does Jay hope people will say about his Blenheim cross-country tracks?

He doesn’t want it to be a memory test, where riders end up eliminated by jumping the wrong fence because of the number of options, and he says he doesn’t have a particular trademark style.

“But I would hope that when it is all said and done, people feel it’s hard enough because it needs to be a competition,” he says.

“I think you can really reward people with time, so I hope the time is difficult and if you ride flawlessly, you get rewarded without time-penalties and then I hope that trickle down happens so people are appropriately rewarded with less time-penalties for riding well.

“And I would hope people feel like their horses are better for having done it at the end, that things were clear to them and their horse, and any mistake was what happens on cross-country.”

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