Latest from Horse & Hound in Eventing-opinion

‘How could this fiasco have happened with so many senior officials present?’ asks Mark Phillips

Mark Phillips — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:32:00 +0000

Mark Phillips has his say on an extraordinary situation at Royal Jump and who impressed at Bramham

A number of Brits travelled to France for Royal Jump, with courses designed by Eric Winter, two weeks before Defender Bramham Horse Trials. Little did they know what surprises lay ahead.

The CCI4*-L was a middle of the road track, but many were able to slow down early and finish 20 seconds under the time, so those that went for a minimum eligibility result for the World Championships at Aachen got a cheap qualification.

In the CCI4*-S, after rider complaints the course was re-measured and came up 247m shorter than published, so the time was altered, but not all the riders got the message. Storm Straker was expected to be the winner, only to be demoted to fifth when the time was put back to that originally listed.

In the end, the FEI reversed the decision, something I’ve never heard of before, and Storm was deservedly reinstated as the winner.

The FEI determined that it was the riders’ responsibility to have attended the riders’ meeting and understood the revised timings and so favoured the results with the re-measured time from the two sets signed off by officials onsite. Well done to eventing director Molly Day and the FEI.

But how could this fiasco have happened with so many senior officials present?

At Bramham, the course-designer and technical delegate measured the course and came out 4m different on the short and 11m on the long. In over 40 years as a designer, I’ve never been 100m apart from my technical delegate, never mind north of 200m.

The FEI make much in their seminars of teamwork among officials. At Royal Jump, that must have broken down in a catastrophic way. Someone did not do their job as an official, with unacceptable consequences for the riders.

Impressed by Andrew Heffernan

After some years away from Bramham, I was impressed by the welcome from the Lane Fox family, the organisation and the wonderful atmosphere.

I was there as a selector for the Brits and also to work with course-designer Andrew Heffernan, who showed courage, passion and empathy for the horse. He has a great future as a designer and as he becomes “flavour of the month”, he must be careful not to spread himself too thin.

I thought that Bubby Upton rode with a discretion and a maturity that seems to have taken a long time coming. Selina Milnes was impressive and Yasmin Ingham continues to show promise with Gypsie Du Loir.

And on to Germany

Having worked as the five-star course-designer at Longines Luhmühlen for more than 10 years, it’s always good to return. On arrival I was greatly saddened to hear German coach Peter Thomsen had suffered a fall while riding at home and was in hospital. His many friends will wish him a speedy recovery.

The five-star had only 20 horses, with only two from Germany. It needs more support from the home team. But when the date falls so close to an August championship, numbers are always likely to be down.

The firm footing after last year’s drought was a factor in many Brits staying away. What an irony that this year they worked harder than ever on the ground and with thunderstorms after the Verti-Drain on Thursday and Friday evenings, the going was the best ever.

As always, Mike Etherington-Smith was kind with his angles and the jumpable width at the skinnies, but there were enough questions to warrant five-star status, if “five-star minus”. Much of the riding was definitely below par for a five-star.

Caroline Harris, though, was foot perfect across the country. With this confidence, hopefully next time she will leave a little more petrol in the tank for the final day as she finished 18 seconds under the time. But she had what she needed in reserve to jump clear and win her second five-star with D. Day, with Emily King taking second place.

The Brits travelled home from Germany with smiles on their faces. Let’s hope we can repeat the process in Aachen in August!

● Which up and coming course-designers do you rate? Write to us 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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‘It shouldn’t be a given that riders will go clear when stepping up to four-star’, says Andrew Nicholson

Andrew Nicholson — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:38:07 +0000

The five-time Burghley winner and cross-country coach to the Swiss eventing team analyses recent course-design trends

In a year when lots of riders are choosing to compete abroad, it’s great to see a very healthy number of entries for Defender Bramham Horse Trials this week.

I haven’t been to a British CCI4*-S yet this season – I’ve been to two Continental ones, Marbach and Strzegom with the Swiss team – but, looking at the results, the courses at Thoresby and Bicton caused plenty of trouble. I think that’s a good thing. Why should it be a given that you go clear at your CCI4*-S just because you’ve been popping round CCI3*s?

I thought the Marbach track was very good. Last year it was decent and one nation in particular complained, so Mike Etherington-Smith was called in to be the course advisor. In fairness, I gather that all that was changed were a few of the alternatives at tough fences, but those tackling it were very much encouraged to try the direct routes.

The eventing Nations Cup teams were first and the majority made it look easy. Then it came to those less experienced at CCI4*, and problems started occurring all round the course. That’s natural – there were plenty of competitors at their first CCI4*, and it shouldn’t be automatic that they go clear when making the step up.

Perhaps that was also the case at Thoresby and Bicton. I spoke to a few riders, and asked if they had done an advanced class first, and they hadn’t – they’d gone straight up from three-star.

That seems to be the culture of riders today – they believe they should be able to move up a level and it will be easy. But the questions become harder, the let-up jumps aren’t so straightforward, and that is what it is supposed to be.

Frangible questions

From the results sheet, a lot of frangible devices seem to have been broken at Thoresby and Bicton. I do wonder if, sometimes, fences are being put in the wrong place because they’re pinned? If pins and MIMclips didn’t exist, would designers have put those fences in those locations, and if not, surely it is the wrong fence?

At Marbach and Strzegom very few frangibles were triggered. I know there are lots more runners in four-star classes over here, but you’d expect the overall standard to be better as well.

The subject of course advisors is an interesting modern phenomenon. How many of these four- and five-star tracks now present the course-designer’s original plans, and how much input do these advisors have? And did these advisors have – or take – advice themselves?

However, I think the concept of assistant course-designers at the very top level is a good one to help them progress and gain experience.

Putting ideas into action

Andrew Heffernan designed the Strzegom track, and it will be interesting to see his Bramham course. I gather he’s made various changes, now he’s got the feel of it and can put his ideas into action, which is exactly what we want from designers.

Of course as a rider you want a course to be the same as the last time you jumped it – it’s a lot easier! But a designer needs to be confident and to have self-belief without arrogance.

Andrew is also going to be responsible for the new track for the national under-25 advanced class at Cornbury, which will be a bit of a “test event” for the 2027 under-25 World Championships.

The more I’ve thought about this new championship, the more I like it. Take, for example, the Swiss. They don’t have many young riders and serious competitors often start their careers later. This will be a real help in putting them on an upward curve.

There is a really good vibe about it in Europe. It gives riders an incentive to push their boundaries a bit and aim for something higher up the ladder. It also gives them the experience of being part of a team. It doesn’t take much to ignite someone’s thinking and who knows where they will end up as a result?

● What have you thought of cross-country courses this spring? Write to us 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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‘Riders’ focus on their horses’ body health is a positive step,’ says Pippa Roome after Kentucky Three-Day Event

Pippa Roome — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 09:32:38 +0000

H&H’s eventing editor Pippa Roome shares her thoughts on dressage prep and how young riders develop in eventing

I noticed at Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event how many riders said they had been taking a “less is more” approach to dressage and focusing on what Tim Price called “body health”.

Asked what he’s been working on with the 16-year-old Vitali, second after this phase, he said: “I don’t drill my horses. I don’t target one-day events. He’s a sound horse, touch wood, and he looks really good through his body. As horses get older, I think that’s important, because he’s proven time and again that he gives you what he’s got to give.

“It’s my job to ask the right questions and to have him in a place where he feels strong and ready, so he has the ability to answer the questions; they’ve got to be fair questions.”

Dressage leader Monica Spencer said of her build-up with 15-year-old Artist: “I’m getting braver with my warm-ups – just letting him stay loose and soft and trusting that when I get in there, I can get that competition frame. I’m learning to believe I don’t need to practise, so I can keep him fresh and just go out there and push the button.”

Monica added she does her dressage sessions early in event week, then rides in a jumping saddle.

“We go out little and often, twice a day, to keep him fresh in his body, not tired in those dressage muscles, so that he can do his best,” she said.

I wonder if this is a result of horses lasting longer, now our three-days are without roads and tracks and steeplechase, so they spend more years at the top level and become more established. Once they know the movements and have an established way of going, the focus moves to keeping them well.

Whatever the reason, it’s great from a horse welfare and social licence point of view.

Dumbing down or bridging a gap?

The way we develop younger riders has taken a new turn this year with the introduction of the under-25 World Championships, at CCI4*-S. This year it’s in Millstreet, Ireland, and in 2027, at Cornbury.

Part of me understands it’s useful to bridge the chasm between young riders at CCI3*-L (it used to be CCI4*-L) and senior championships, where those participants are among riders of vast experience competing at CCI4*-L or a hybrid CCI4*-L–CCI5* level.

The counter argument is that if the under-25 championship becomes prestigious, it will, over time, encourage some to hold back at CCI4*-S – and to choose and train horses with that event in mind – for a shot at those medals, rather than pushing on and gaining experience at five-star. However, the effect of the dumbing down of youth sport on five-star entries is another topic!

Yasmin Ingham was senior world champion at 25 years old. Zara Tindall held that title at 25. If you’re good enough to play outside the gilded underage cage, you’re old enough.

We’ve just seen Isabelle Cook, 21, finish seventh in a hot CCI4*-S in Kentucky with Cymoon “F” Z. It’s likely she will prioritise her final year in young riders, with her prolific youth medallist Mexican Law, over the under-25s; riders cannot compete in juniors or young riders and the under-25 worlds in the same year.

Meanwhile in Australia, Oliver Barrett, 22, has just won Adelaide CCI5* and is targeting the senior World Championships in Aachen.

While the USA plan to send a team to the under-25 worlds and I expect many European nations will too, I don’t necessarily foresee Australia or New Zealand doing so.

A rider can do both the under-25 worlds and a senior championship in the same year, but definite entries for the seniors close the day after Millstreet ends so it’s tight. But Australia could send Oliver and Sandhills Briar to the northern hemisphere for the under-25 worlds and then, if that goes well, to join the seniors in Aachen.

● What route do you think young riders should take? Write to 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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‘If British riders want an early four-star event, why not run one at Barbury,’ asks Andrew Nicholson

Andrew Nicholson — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:32:19 +0000

Five-time Burghley winner and Olympic team medallist Andrew Nicholson shares his thoughts on Barbury and how professional riders progress their horses up the levels

You really know you’re getting old when you don’t recognise anyone in the warm-up at your first event of the season. I wore my glasses the following weekend – and still didn’t! Luckily, at the third – Barbury – the older professional riders were out and about and I did spot some people I know.

Alec Lochore does a good job with the course at Barbury; he knows how to work with the hills, it flows very well and he’d moved some jumps around to freshen it up. The fences were a good size for the novice and intermediate classes, and the ground was beautiful.

We’re meant to have had a very wet winter and spring, yet we all drove our lorries in, parked on grass and drove out. I was there on the Friday and the dressage arenas looked the same leaving as when I arrived. The showjumping was a little bit muddier but still rode well at the end of the day, and you could see broken grass at a distance on the cross-country but it still rode like good turf.

Mark Phillips wrote in his last column that something was wrong somewhere when so many British-based riders are going abroad at this time of year. Why aren’t we looking at Barbury to put on a CCI4*-S for them? Owners like going to Barbury, where they can easily watch everything. The bank was full of people when I was there and it felt like there was a real buzz.

British Eventing should swallow its pride and beg Musketeer to put on an international there. It’s one of the few places that could cope with wet weather and still look like a serious event with good conditions.

If riders really want a four-star so early in the season and are organised enough to go to Kronenberg, the sport here should be catering for that and trying to keep riders supporting British events.

Making progress

However, I couldn’t work out why so many riders were going so slowly across country at Barbury.

It was perfect ground, and I came away thinking, is it because they have more galloping to do here and therefore they waste time setting up for the fences, whereas at twisty, turning tracks they happily wing them round? Or is it because riders are deliberately creeping along because they believe they should be “thinking of the future”?

I have always thought you should go at the correct speed for the class, whether it is novice, intermediate or advanced, especially when the going is excellent. I’m sure they have their reasons, but I don’t understand them!

When I’m warming up for the dressage on my novice horse, I look across at the others and think that mine definitely doesn’t feel the way theirs look to be going. Then I find out that lots of them are very experienced horses. Do you really need to start at that level every season these days?

That, and the fact that so many of the professional riders start their horses in 90cm classes now. I’m not sure this is a good idea. Surely it delays the whole procedure of progression up the levels? And the more little stuff you do, the less confidence you have in the horse’s ability, I think. You doubt yourself, and then start doubting the horse too.

I’m not talking about amateurs who are competing sheerly for fun – I’m talking about proper professionals who aren’t moving their horses up through the classes quickly enough. There was a time when BE100 and novice were simply there to get horses going in a dressage arena, and used to jumping a course, not as a means to an end in themselves.

For the vast majority of my career my five-year-olds started at novice, and by their third event I expected them to go inside the time across country. And all they’d done was go cross-country schooling beforehand. Sure, I fell off some of them, but most of them went on to have long careers. It’s something to think about!

● What are your thoughts on progression of horses up the levels? Write to us at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your views published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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Is Badminton not attracting enough entries to force a waiting list a cause for concern? H&H’s Pippa Roome shares her thoughts

Pippa Roome — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 10:28:39 +0000

H&H eventing editor Pippa Roome considers why Mars Badminton Horse Trials has a smaller entry this year – and whether it matters

The news that the Mars Badminton Horse Trials entries did not generate a waiting list for this year’s event (6-10 May) has been met with some concern.

Badminton has pulled in 80 entries. That includes double entries for David Doel, who will only ride two of his three horses listed, and five possible mounts for Harry Meade, who will start on a maximum of three. This means the actual possible line-up is 77 horses, but withdrawals mean this will whittle down to probably around 60 or 65 going to post.

The release of the Badminton Horse Trials entries comes off the back of the announcement that Mars Maryland 5 Star will not run this year, spiralling a discussion about the potential demise of the five-star level of eventing.

But is there really cause for worry? Let’s take a look at the history and consider some reasons why entries may be down.

Badminton final scores

Badminton Horse Trials entries: the numbers

First, let us put an entry of 80 in context – remember, this is not the first year there has not been a waiting list.

Since 2023, when qualifications for five-star were effectively tightened by changes in rider categorisation, the Badminton entry has been smaller than in the years before. In 2023, there was no waiting list (83 entries; 64 starters), in 2024 there was a waiting list of three (90 entries; 68 starters) and last year there was a waiting list of 16, who were all accepted (102 entries; 81 starters).

With those numbers in mind, an entry of 80 and no waiting list this year does not feel disastrously out of kilter with the three previous years. It’s on the small side, yes, but we are certainly not seeing a general downward trend.

Championship versus five-star

There is no doubt, though, that eventing has changed and five-stars – particularly the “bigger” British five-stars – are no longer the only goal in mind for riders. Where once upon a time the same horses were aimed at Badminton and then that year’s championship, increasingly the sport has two pathways at the higher levels, which run in parallel.

Our championships – with the first and last phases often on a surface and the cross-country over a shorter and less difficult course than at Badminton or Defender Burghley Horse Trials – tend to favour a different kind of horse to those who excel at the British five-stars. Yes, some horses can do both successfully – double Badminton and Burghley winner, Olympic gold medallist and European champion Lordships Graffalo is a case in point. But many horses are better suited to one sort of competition or the other.

Some riders will prioritise championships, depending on factors such as their personal goals, their owners’ desires and national funding, and so will channel their horse selection programme towards those which can excel in those medal arenas rather than aiming towards Badminton.

With the championship cycle in mind, it’s not overly surprising that this year’s Badminton entry is smaller than last year’s. This year, we have a World Championships, which means riders from nations such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand are considering their route to selection and perhaps not thinking of Badminton as their optimal pathway, whereas in a European Championship year such as 2025, American and Antipodean riders do not have a major championship to consider.

Across those three nations, there were 16 starters last year and are 14 entries this time, a gap which isn’t huge but may grow before the event with the natural wastage of withdrawals. As a side point, the big drop is in New Zealanders, with US entries actually up this time.

Additionally, the Europeans are considered a less important championship. If a rider from a Continental European country wanted to give Badminton a go, they’d perhaps be more likely to do that in a European Championship year, with less at stake. There were four Belgians at Badminton last year and two are entered this time, while Germany also fielded four last May and that has shrunk to one potential starter for 2026.

Last year’s Agria Europeans at Blenheim was the least important championship of the four-year Olympic cycle from the point of view that it had no bearing on Olympic qualification. This summer’s worlds offers nations a first chance to get a team qualification for Los Angeles 2028 under their belts and that will be a looming factor for selectors, coaches and chefs d’equipes advising riders on where to compete.

The next generation

On a different note, we are seeing the gradual dumbing down of the sport at under-age level. We have just four British first-timers among the Badminton Horse Trials entries this year and none of them are very young; their average age is 37, with a span from 29 to 46 years old.

Back in the day, the young rider Europeans ran at what is now CCI4*-L so a significant proportion of riders contesting that championship came out of the under-21 level ready to give Badminton a crack the following year. Now, the young rider Europeans run at CCI3*-L and the step up to five-star is more of a gulf.

Last year, the under-25 championship at Defender Bramham Horse Trials ran at CCI4*-S rather than CCI4*-L for the first time – this does not help to funnel younger riders on up to five-stars.

This season, the under-25 World Championships makes its debut, again at CCI4*-S level. There are good reasons for picking this level, not least that fewer nations could field a squad at CCI4*-L level and number of flags is important at championships. But the existence of this championship, at this level, will over time encourage some riders to hold back at CCI4*-S – and choose and train horses with that event in mind – for a shot at those medals, rather than pushing on to five-star.

Does it matter?

I remember some 15 years ago, an eminent event director telling me that from a spectator point of view, 85 starters at Badminton was too many. As the hardest core eventing fan around, I found this hard to believe – the more horses, the more sport, the better, right?

But they may have a point – a top-class showjumping grand prix generally has 40 starters and one of the oft-cited downsides of eventing when we try to sell it to a broader public is that the sprawling nature of the sport, building up over eight hours a day for four days, makes it difficult to follow and lacking excitement.

There is a balance, though. I would say the optimal number of five-star starters for the crowd is perhaps 70 to 75, with 60 to 65 starting to feel a little small.

It was heartening earlier this year, when interviewing for a Horse & Hound magazine feature about what movers and shapers would like to keep and change in eventing, to hear the huge support for keeping five-star as the pinnacle of the sport. There is no doubt “the ultimate test” still features significantly when asking what matters in eventing.

I don’t think we need to panic about the Badminton Horse Trials entries and the lack of waiting list. Some variation in numbers is natural and inevitable and we have not seen a general downward trend over the past few years. Let’s keep an eye on it – and keep talking about it.

Why do you think entries are smaller at Badminton this year than in 2025? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com and your comments may be published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine. Please include your nearest town and county for publication and note letters may be edited for length and clarity.

If you want to watch the live action from Badminton Horse Trials from the comfort of your home, wherever you are in the world, you will need to subscribe to Badminton TV. Badminton TV has teamed up with ClipMyHorse.TV, but you do not need a full ClipMyHorse.TV subscription to watch Badminton – you can just subscribe to Badminton TV for £22.99. Go to ClipMyHorse to subscribe. If you are already a ClipMyHorse.TV premium member, Badminton TV is included in your subscription.

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‘We must not be complacent’ warns Mark Phillips as cancellation of Maryland five-star highlights equestrian sport’s ‘fragility’

Mark Phillips — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 10:28:33 +0000

Former Olympic team gold medallist, four-time Badminton winner and top cross-country course designer Mark Phillips says 2026 will be a balancing act to keep horse sport thriving

After a long wet winter, spring seems to have come in the nick of time for a positive start to the 2026 eventing season.

It appears British Eventing (BE) has halted the decline of recent years in membership and horse registrations, even if numbers have not gone up. Early events have run with good numbers and without the spate of cancellations due to weather that have caused the cost of abandonment insurance to spiral.

We must not be complacent – the cancellation of Maryland five-star in October this year is a stark reminder of the sport’s fragility and our reliance on organisers, venues, funding and continued public confidence.

I’m sad about Maryland but not totally surprised. The site layout was expensive, not user-friendly for spectators and the event was over-reliant on state funding.

There have never been enough five-star horses to go round when World Championships, Burghley and Pau all run in the same year. Also, many thought that when the US Equestrian Federation put on a $200,000 (£150,550) CCI4*-L the weekend before, it would be the final nail in the coffin for Maryland.

The Fair Hill Foundation plans to continue to run the CCI3*-L this year but I wonder if it will be as popular without the five-star trappings.

International moves

The FEI has appointed a new director of eventing and driving, Molly Day, to replace Frédérique Reffet Plantier who was dismissed by the FEI at the end of last year. She has made a positive start, seeking the thoughts of many of the sport’s most influential players.

I haven’t spoken to her but I hear good reports about discussions on the Olympic format and introducing modern sport technology to eventing. It remains to be seen what Molly can achieve within the corridors of power in Lausanne.

All in equestrian sport should be worried about the way video evidence was edited to portray riders’ warm-up at the recent Amsterdam CDI. I know sport horses are among the most pampered animals in the world, but that’s not how an increasing number of people see it. Dressage may have the target on its back today but it’s only a matter of time before the target shifts.

In this country we say all the right things, but have fallen short of introducing measures to show that we mean what we say about horse welfare. We still have time to lead the way!

“It’s a shame if progress is held back”

I was part of a strategy task group last autumn to review some of the challenges facing BE, in particular the rising popularity of unaffiliated competitions at the expense of BE membership.

The group developed a concept – first mooted some years ago by Mike Etherington-Smith, Stuart Buntine, Helen West and me when we were then the BE Advisory Group – called BE Lite, to embrace the unaffiliated market and help unite different parts of the sport.

The plan was to roll out this more affordable model at BE80, BE90 and BE100 levels this spring to create a clearer, more attractive pathway into full BE.

However, the extensive consultations with many of the sport’s stakeholders became a painfully long process. Worse, unfortunately the BE office has encountered a hurdle due to issues raised by one high-profile organiser. I know these days everyone has to have their say, but it’s a shame if the progress and development of the BE model is held back in this way.

This weekend more than 30 four-star horses and 20 three-star horses crossed the Channel to compete at Kronenberg in the Netherlands, an event with increasing popularity. With all the wonderful venues in this country, it’s sad that we were not able to find a slot in our fixtures calendar to cater for this early season need.

This year will be a delicate balance to keep the sport thriving for horses, riders, organisers and owners – and acceptable for the public at large. Let’s hope the weather stays on our side!

● How can we keep horse sport healthy? Write to us at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your views published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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‘What could equestrian sport learn from the Winter Olympics?’ asks H&H’s Pippa Roome

Pippa Roome — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 10:26:31 +0000

H&H eventing editor Pippa Roome reflects on the success of the Winter Olympics and opens the discussion on how horse sport could adapt to attract similar interest

Could dressage be more like big air? Having spent evening after evening watching the Winter Olympics last month, that was the question I posed to my colleagues at H&H, half joking – and the response was surprisingly positive.

In big air, the skiing or snowboarding competitors launch themselves down a steep run and off a ledge, performing their best jump for the judges. Three runs, best two scores from two different tricks to count. It’s quick, it’s captivating, it’s easy to understand. I wonder if a novel dressage format could be similar. Everyone would still perform the grand prix and perhaps the special, to show their horse has had the essential all-round training. Then instead of a freestyle, riders get one minute to show the judges their best “trick”.

Repeat three times, best two scores to count. The dressage movements could be grouped by theme and pace so that, like the skiers and snowboarders, you have to show variety across your three goes – you couldn’t just show three-time, two- time and one-time tempi changes. But each competitor would be able to play to their horse’s strengths.

Some might say it would be confusing for the horses to be asked to perform repeatedly, but isn’t that we do in training all the time – work the horse for a period to teach or perfect something, then give him a break?

Reaching a new audience

The widespread interest in the Winter Olympics shows us that there is an audience for different activities and we shouldn’t be afraid to promote horse sport.

The challenge for commentators at both winter and summer Games is making what they say accessible for a new audience, who may be seeing a sport for the first time, without alienating the uber-fans. Aficionados might have to accept that the commentary is a little more simplistic than they would prefer, in order to hook in new viewers. That’s surely a small price to pay for gaining the sport a bigger following?

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) provided extended start lists at the Winter Olympics, with brief information about each competitor’s record and best previous performances. This is a simple idea that could help newcomers enjoy watching more and is very useful for any commentators less familiar with that sport.

As always, storytelling is key when trying to catch people’s imagination. The biggest story of the Games was probably Lindsey Vonn’s determination to compete despite her serious ACL injury just before the Olympics – and her subsequent crash. And who didn’t root harder for Britain’s Kirsty Muir in the big air because she’d been fourth and just out of the medals in slopestyle – and feel for her when she was fourth again?

A big theme in our family WhatsApp group during the Games was fascination with how everything worked backstage, starting with how on earth competitors and coaches got up the big air structure (answer: a very sketchy looking lift). Similarly, we see widespread interest in the logistics of flying horses to big events. The “Athletes’ Village for horses” was a talking point during a tour for non-horsey sponsors in Paris 2024 and while we take the fact horse sports come with stables for granted, we shouldn’t underestimate the interest in those areas.

Banzai’s back

Studying entries is a daily sport in itself at this time of year as excitement builds for the opening of the eventing season. Who’s starting where? Who has a new ride? Which horses who missed last year are back in the fray? Poplar Park will kick things off with full entries and over 100 in its open intermediate sections. This includes Yasmin Ingham’s world champion Banzai Du Loir – back out for the first time since being Britain’s alternate at Paris 18 months ago – and two horses from the British squad at last year’s Europeans in JL Dublin (Tom McEwen) and Its Cooley Time (Bubby Upton).

More big names will roll out at Oasby and Tweseldown the week after. Badminton entries are open, the sun is finally shining (some days) – and eight glorious months of the eventing season glitters before us.

What can horse sport take away from the Winter Olympics? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your views published in a future issue of Horse & Hound magazine

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‘Vets who haven’t seen the horse in the flesh are stopping riders from buying,’ warns Richard Sheane of Cooley Farm

Richard Sheane of Cooley Farm — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:32:28 +0000

Richard Sheane of top Irish horse producers Cooley Farm explains why he feels vets examining X-rays without having seen the horse in the flesh is influencing the sales of future equine stars

Here at Cooley Farm, we’re having an ongoing problem, which is shared by many high-end horse sales yards. It’s common for a client to come in from abroad, buy a horse subject to vetting and for the horse to be presented at their chosen Irish veterinary clinic for the pre-purchase examination.

The horse is clinically examined and X-rayed and when everything is deemed normal, the X-rays and in some cases, scans, are sent to the customer’s home vet. In many cases, they find issues that are irrelevant to the horse’s future performance. It might be something minor and within normal limits, but their concerns mean the sale falls apart.

It feels like the home vet wants to show that they see more than the vet who saw the horse in person and that they are protecting their clients, but ultimately all they are doing is stopping their clients from purchasing a top horse.

The vet check can really only assess the horse on the day – primarily by a clinical examination. No one has a crystal ball to predict what the future holds and the horse could be injured in so many ways. If the vet is satisfied on the day, it’s ridiculous to base its future soundness on unfounded potential scenarios.

We estimate that 80% of the horses we’ve sold that have gone on to be placed at four- and five-star have been judged unsuitable in this way by a “third-party vet”.

Their careers reinforce a lesson we’ve learned through decades of experience. Elite performance is built on ability, temperament, durability and matching of horse to rider and the correct system – not on the misguided opinion of a vet who never viewed the horse in person.

When assessed correctly and in context, minor, non-prejudicial findings do not impact soundness, performance, longevity or ultimately results.

One Cooley graduate, who is now succeeding at four-star and is one of the hottest up-and-coming horses in the sport, fell foul of no less than seven different vets before he found his home – and he’s now beating lots of the riders who turned him down.

Customers then sometimes complain that they didn’t buy the horse “because there was x, y, z wrong with it” – but there wasn’t anything wrong with it, as its subsequent performance shows.

“A focus on horses that will perform”

We are a top-end yard, not the equine dealing equivalent of a used car salesman, and this is affecting horses with a value over £30,000.

We are giving decent money for the horses initially and we have them thoroughly vetted. We have no interest in horses that have clinical or radiographic problems.

Our focus is on horses with exceptional temperament and ability – horses that will perform at the highest level.

We have a record for selling horses that are well and sound – we’d have no business if we sold horses who weren’t up to the job.

If someone did ring up and had a problem with a horse, we’d take it back.

Vets perhaps don’t realise how difficult it is to find a horse with the potential for the top level and then to match the horse and the rider and system to create the perfect formula.

Assessing suitability for elite sport requires an understanding of temperament, ability, production systems and rider compatibility – areas that extend beyond the scope of a vet’s knowledge.

When these broader factors are not fully considered, unnecessary doubt can be introduced by the vet into the decision-making process, often resulting in riders and owners missing horses that would have been an excellent fit for their system and goals.

We do get our horses sold, of course, but it’s such a rigmarole and it feels like we are getting to the point where vets have too much control and they are choosing horses, not riders.

Ultimately purchasers are buying horses that the vets like, not what is best for them and their future.

● Are you a vet with a different view? Or a buyer with an opinion? Write to us at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your thoughts to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine

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11 eventing moments to celebrate from 2025, plus one we really didn’t see coming

Pippa Roome — Sat, 27 Dec 2025 08:30:26 +0000

The dust settled on the 2025 eventing season in Britain a couple of months ago and we’ve now had time to reflect on the ups and downs, from medals to new events, from falls to favourites’ failure.

Read on for my top moments, events and horses to celebrate from this year in eventing, plus one shock I certainly didn’t anticipate…

Highlights from the 2025 eventing season

1. Ros Canter’s Badminton Horse Trials and Burghley Horse Trials double on Lordships Graffalo

This was a huge moment. He is the fourth horse to win both British five-stars in the same year – following in the footsteps of Lucinda Green’s George (1977) and Ginny Elliot’s Priceless (1985) and Master Craftsman (1989) – but the first to win both events twice.

That Ros was publicly and visibly pregnant at Burghley put an extra twist in the tale and I felt it was a hugely brave performance from a rider with total trust in a very talented horse and their rock solid partnership.

2. New international fixture added to the calendar

Scone Palace stepped into the gap left by the loss of Blair Castle Horse Trials – a special event I was lucky enough to ride at twice, as well as reporting several times – with aplomb, successfully hosting six international classes as well the Scottish grassroots finals, with 27,500 spectators attending. Scone Palace Horse Trials is confirmed until 2031, giving the team scope to build on this year’s success.

Bubby Upton and Its Cooley Time win Bramham 2025. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

3. Bubby Upton wins at Bramham

I witnessed Bubby Upton’s Bramham Horse Trials win with Its Cooley Time in person and for all that she has become a standing dish in the prize-giving of five-stars over the past few years, for her to achieve a CCI4*-L win felt like a milestone.

At 26, Bubby was the youngest winner of this class in 25 years, showing just how hard it is to break into the top ranks of Britain’s hugely competitive top-level eventing scene.

4. Under-21 teams have great success

Britain’s under-21 teams consistently give us a reason to shout about their success and this year was no different. Tina Cook’s daughter Izzy led the young riders to team bronze on Mexican Law, Ella Howard and Marchwood scooped the individual gold at junior level and Annabel Ridgway claimed pony individual bronze and spearheaded the team silver with Akim De L’Arquerie.

5. Laura Collett is European champion

Laura Collett’s individual gold at the Blenheim European Championships was the culmination of a lifetime’s work. A much-medalled under-21 rider, she’s been consistently successful since moving into senior ranks but this was her first senior title, after five previous championships on London 52 and coming so close in Paris last year, so it meant a huge amount to her and all her team.

Laura had a big year across the board, with 25 wins, more than any other rider on the British eventing circuit.

6. Halo!

We’ve loved watching this sparkly white (yes, yes, of course he’s grey officially, but that just sounds dirty compared to how dazzling he is in real life) stallion this year and with rider Piggy March, he’s won two CCI4*-Ss, at Burgham and Belsay, the latter an event which was also a highlight of this year as the venue took on a four-star for the first time. It didn’t quite work out for Piggy and Halo at the Europeans – they were having a peach of a round when Halo suddenly decided he had wings and took off a stride out from the corner in water – but we look forward to seeing more of them next year.

7. Thoroughbreds in the limelight

Artist’s lead after both the first two phases at Maryland 5 Star under Monica Spencer and their subsequent second place finish, to Felix Vogg and Cartania, caught the attention of eventing fans and was a marker for the continuing importance of thoroughbreds in eventing.

The 20-year-old thoroughbred Willingapark Clifford, by Passing Shot, also won his fourth Adelaide CCI5* title in May under Hazel Shannon. The last thoroughbred winner of a five-star other than Adelaide was another New Zealand-bred – Clifton Promise, by Engagement, who was ridden to a Badminton win by New Zealand’s Jock Paget in 2013.

8. A breakout star

Katie Magee has been the breakout British star of this year, finishing 11th at her first Badminton, 20th at her first Burghley and winning the British open on Treworra. Katie celebrated her 43rd birthday in January this year, giving hope to everyone who wasn’t a big winner as a teenager that success can come later in life.

9. Harry Meade as world number one

Harry becoming world number one during the 2025 eventing season was another boon for Britain – he’s now in his seventh consecutive month in the top rank and the position is a rich and fitting reward for Harry’s incredible consistency as a five-star rider and his stand-out cross-country performances at that level.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

10. Michael Jung takes fifth win at Kentucky

Michael’s second win at Kentucky Three-Day Event on FischerChipmunk was an apt addition to the 17-year-old horse’s CV and he won in commanding fashion, extending his 7.4-penalty dressage lead to 7.8 marks by the prize-giving.

The pair went on to take individual silver to Laura and London 52 at the Europeans, in a repeat showdown of Paris 2024, but one that went the British pair’s way this time.

11. JL Dublin joins elite club

Finally, a mention for JL Dublin, who joined the elite group of horses who have won individual medals for two riders when he added European bronze with Tom McEwen to the double gold he won under Nicola Wilson at the 2021 Europeans.

And the moment we didn’t see coming…

The big shock of the 2025 eventing season was the collapse of the British team at the European Championships. The Brits started as clear favourites but falls for the first two team members out across country, Yasmin Ingham on Rehy DJ and Piggy March on Halo, wiped out the team’s chances. To add insult to injury, Britain’s two individual riders, Bubby Upton on Its Cooley Time and Caroline Harris on D Day, both also fell.

What were your favourite moments in the 2025 eventing season? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com for a chance to be published in Horse & Hound – please include your full address (town and county will be published).

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‘Good jumping horses that have been trained correctly’: Kylie Roddy on what you need to be successful at Pau five-star

Catherine Austen — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 10:32:22 +0000

Kylie Roddy is a Fellow of the British Horse Society and a renowned trainer. She has finished in the top 12 at five-star three times.

The key to Pau Horse Trials is good jumping horses that have been trained correctly. Horses that had self-carriage and were ridden in good balance prevailed in all three phases. Each phase plays a significant part in the competition result, but the leader often changes after each phase at Pau and I think this is brilliant for our sport – it keeps the competition alive to the very end.

A hurricane on Thursday meant the first trot-up was delayed until 5pm and all dressage took place on the Friday. The trot-up can be high spirited – a large number of fit, excited horses in a tight space – and can resemble a sketch from the TV series Men Behaving Badly. As a competitor, I was delighted not to be doing this until Hurricane Benjamin had left France.

Dimensionally, the cross-country at Pau doesn’t terrify the living daylights out of you. Course-designer Pierre Michelet’s magic is in putting fences in places where horses can’t immediately see them, then adding in distances where riders have to make stride pattern decisions based on the horse they are riding.

The challenge isn’t just about the jumps; the added changes in the terrain are part of the Pau test. The parkland under trees lacks grass cover and grip. The root structure on the more manicured hippodrome creates better footing. The course requires the rider to prepare different changes of balance for the going, jumps, terrain and the man-made mounds that Pierre so artfully uses.

The third water at 21abcd is the sort of question I suspect we will see designers using more and more. The clever numbering of the direct and long routes gave riders options, but you could jump either route and still end up with 26 penalties, for a triggered frangible device and a missed flag penalty, which ends up being more expensive than a run-out.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

My ride, SRS Kan Do – “George” – picked up 20 penalties here. Essentially he was trying too hard and locked on to the fence decoration, rather than the jump, and sadly incurred 20 penalties. With my trainer’s hat on, I need to be mindful of how to develop the horse’s focus and vision throughout those multiple jumping efforts.

George finished brilliantly and showjumped so well the following day, so I feel I am doing more right than wrong in our training, although there will be some tweaks this winter. It is just such a privilege to ride a horse at this level on multiple occasions, and for him to feel so hungry for the sport at 15 is wonderful.

Final phase influence

The showjumping played a serious part in the final result. It was big, square and technical and showed that today’s horses have to learn how to use their bodies after the effects of Saturday.

Rideability is essential when you are against the quick clock at Pau in the stadium. Riders who can open and close canters, while keeping the uphill balance to enable the horses to use their scope, jumped brilliant rounds.

Tim Price’s winner Jarillo reminded me of his 2021 Pau champion, Falco – the flashy, jumper athlete that Tim is so good at riding and producing. It is testament to his skills as a horseman that he is able to look after them and get them home across country, and they are such good jumpers that they pay him back on the Sunday.

Tom Jackson, second, will definitely win a five-star before long – he has the knack of riding the horse’s balance, not just the stride, and makes it very smooth for the horse.

How cool is it that Corimiro, fifth, aged just nine at his first CCI5*, is even alive because of Sarah Bullimore, who rode him to such a great placing. He, like Lordships Graffalo, is a triumph for British breeding, which is something that should be recognised and rewarded.

● Who impressed you at Pau and why? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your letter to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine

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Low entries at Maryland and bumper numbers at Pau – Pippa Roome considers the autumn five-stars

Pippa Roome — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 09:32:37 +0000

H&H’s eventing editor Pippa Roome takes a look at the upcoming five-stars on both sides of the Atlantic, reviews the Europeans and has a request for event organisers...

This week’s Maryland 5 Star has a small entry, with just 23 on the list, despite the fact the US and Canadians have no end-of-year championship this season.

The event had 46 starters for its first running in 2021 – probably helped by the fact US and Canadian competitors were unlikely to travel for a five-star that year, with Covid lingering and Bicton replacing Burghley. Since then, Maryland has not exceeded 26 starters. This year, there’s just one Brit, Alex Bragg on Quindiva, compared to two to five British riders for previous renewals.

Boyd Martin probably starts as favourite on the Kentucky runner-up Commando 3. US-based New Zealander Monica Spencer also has a chance on the consistent Artist, a good-moving thoroughbred.

Caroline Pamukcu has three horses entered, including 2023 Pan Am Games champion HSH Blake. He hasn’t been prominent since his debut CCI4*-L win in May last year, but he’s still only 10 and should re-emerge to fulfil his promise at some point.

Also in the US, 30 started in the first US Equestrian Open of Eventing Final at Morven Park last week, at CCI4*-L. The open is a new competition with showjumping and dressage branches too and US Equestrian awarded $200,000 (about £150,000) prize money for the eventing final, which may have distracted a few would-be Maryland contenders.

Buy-in was available to the final, for those who hadn’t completed a qualifier, at $5,000 – it will be interesting to see if any British or European-based competitors take this up in future.

Meanwhile, the French five-star at Pau Horse Trials, the week after Maryland, boasts a chunky 69 horses. Thirty-four British horses are set to line up, including four-time five-star victor Ballaghmor Class (Oliver Townend) and aspiring winners at this level in Galileo Nieuwmoed (David Doel) and Valmy Biats (Emily King).

Three from Britain’s Europeans squad reappear – Tom McEwen and JL Dublin are perhaps a surprise entry after their individual bronze at Blenheim, while Yasmin Ingham and Bubby Upton look to make amends for their falls with the seasoned Rehy DJ and the five-star debutant, Its Cooley Time, respectively. Bubby also rides Cola and Cannavaro.

If the winner isn’t British, it might well be one of the Prices, who have four rides each. Jonelle’s include 2022 Pau winner Grappa Nera.

Shades of Pratoni

The result at the European Championships at Blenheim last month reminded me of the World Championships in 2022, but we’d swapped the all-pervasive Italian dust of Pratoni for green English parkland. In both cases, Britain started as favourites and the reigning Olympic team champions, and came away without a team medal, but with individual gold – in 2022 for Yasmin Ingham and this year for Laura Collett.

Both times I was left thinking, “Thank goodness that didn’t happen last year” on the team front. Of course, all championships matter and this hurt, but for funding, public attention and prestige, the Olympics matters most of all.

I’ve been lucky to debrief with Laura since Blenheim, so look out for our “How I Won” feature talking through the Europeans week in the magazine dated 13 November, and a look at the ups and downs of London 52’s career on The Horse & Hound Podcast’s 30 October episode.

One name please

A plea to organisers – could we have just one fence name for each combination, even if there are two fence numbers within the complex? Journalists and broadcasters want to help by mentioning sponsors where we can, but having multiple names and sponsors makes things tricky.

That situation hit new heights at the Blenheim Europeans, where a single obstacle was numbered as both 17c and 18ab, with fences 17 and 18 having different names and sponsors. I love a writing challenge, but it’s a struggle to find a succinct way to wrap the “hanging hedge arrowhead (fence 17c and 18ab) at the BE Support Trust Healing Garden and Subaru Splash” into a sentence…

● What factors affect whether you enter an event, at any level? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your letter to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine

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Andrew Nicholson says: ‘The right riders got the medals at Blenheim Europeans’

Andrew Nicholson — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 09:32:50 +0000

Individual Olympic bronze medallist and Burghley and Badminton winner Andrew Nicholson, who is currently cross-country coach to the Swiss eventing team, reflects on an exciting European Championships at Blenheim

European Championships course-designer Mark Phillips should be very pleased with what he did. I thought it was a good track when I walked it, and it was very enjoyable to watch the riders tackle it.

It must be an unbelievable feeling for Laura Collett to have beaten Michael Jung – especially as she won it on speed across country. The right three riders got the individual medals. The form was there to be studied beforehand; hardened championship partnerships and five-star winners were going to come out on top.

My role as cross-country coach for the Swiss meant that I didn’t watch everything that happened to each competitor on cross-country day, but from what I did see, it was a very good day for the sport. Yes, there were fallers, but they weren’t struggling round the track and then falling – the majority were going beautifully, making for pleasant viewing and then something happened to make them fall off. The riding was good and horses continued to look fitter than they have done in the past, finishing well, which makes me think that things are going in the right direction.

It was unfortunate for the Brits that four of them ended up on the floor, but these things happen. I was part of the team at the World Championships in 1994 that were favourites to win and yet at least two of us – Mark Todd and I – fell off at the same fence. Vaughn Jefferis saved us by taking individual gold, and we still qualified for the Olympics, but we fell off left, right and centre.

Piggy March was going too well, making it look so easy, which goes to show that sometimes it’s better when you have a couple of little hairy moments to keep you and your horse sharp.

I was impressed with the part of the course from the three-minute mark to four minutes, from the main arena to the end of the section on the South Lawn of Blenheim Palace. There were seven jumping efforts within that time – and, despite the big solid corners in front of the palace causing the majority of the worried chatter beforehand, they jumped really well.

Having so many jumps within a short space of time was clever; it made riders slow down, so do they then speed up and potentially make other places on the track more difficult than they had appeared on walking?

It’s a normal occurrence – when riders are worried about fences, they ride them well. They ride where they walk in those circumstances, whereas it can be easy to get a little casual about bits of the track which don’t seem so difficult.

The door is open

Three months ago, there was a lot of chat about the British being able to field three teams and still win at Blenheim. Now you’d think they perhaps might not have the power and depth they thought they did. It’s healthy – the door is open to be on the British team for the World Championships next year, and for other teams to win medals.

A young German team, with Michael Jung as the 43-year-old “grandfather”, won; good for their chef d’equipe Peter Thomsen, who would have got grief for returning from Paris 2024 with no team medal.

The Irish were impressive to win silver with a largely new-look team, although after Austin O’Connor’s second place at Defender Burghley, they are bound to want him back in the fold for the worlds in Aachen.

Cédric Lyard and Jean-Luc Force are a new partnership managing the French team and, in a new post-Thierry Touzaint era, they would have been under a lot of pressure to win a medal, which they did with some new faces on the squad.

Our Swiss team were so close – they could taste, see and feel that medal, but they didn’t get it. However, at least they are putting themselves in a position to be able to win – and lose – it, which is better than being nowhere near it. Their time will come.

● What are your thoughts on the Europeans shake-up? Let us know at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your letter to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine

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Mark Phillips’ would ‘still bet on the Brits for world gold’ despite four rider falls at Blenheim Europeans

Mark Phillips — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 09:33:55 +0000

The former Olympic team gold medallist, four-time Badminton winner and one of the world’s leading cross-country course-designers reflects on the past few weeks in eventing and issues at the FEI

The eventing Europeans at Agria Blenheim were great and provided a super cross-country day – unless you were on the British team. Not since 1993 have the Brits not finished as a team at the European Championships and never before have four of six Brits had an unscheduled visit to the turf. All the four were going well, then suddenly made rider errors that will haunt them for months.

If I was a betting man I’d back the Brits at the worlds in Aachen next year. The experience gained here will be invaluable and they won’t repeat those same mistakes.

Laura Collett and Tom McEwen showed the benefit of their experience and put in personal-best performances on cross-country day and immaculate showjumping to secure individual medals.

Ros Canter put on a masterclass at Defender Burghley when she and Lordships Graffalo made a difficult five-star cross-country look like a walk in the park. In sport, we are seldom lucky enough to witness such things.

I felt sorry for Oliver Townend with Cooley Rosalent, who was only at Burghley at the behest of owner Paul Ridgeon’s dying wish as he thought he wouldn’t still be alive to watch her at Blenheim. A slightly trusting moment at the Maltings and a fence down on Sunday meant the fairy tale wasn’t going to happen.

“I was dismayed”

I went to Hartpury in August, as a selector and to watch the British open championship I created, ran and promoted for nearly 30 years at Gatcombe, before it moved to Hartpury last year.

I was dismayed and embarrassed. There were so few in the class and almost more foreign riders than Brits. The prize money of £407 for first won’t have covered the winner’s costs and third prize of £192 won’t have covered the entry fee.

The cross-country was identical to in 2024, bar one fence – but Hartpury did do an amazing job with the footing despite the drought.

The CCI4*-S – in which the leading Brits ran – had over £7,000 of prize money. If the British open means nothing to Hartpury and British Eventing (BE), then scrap it or give it to an organiser who wants to make something of it.

My comments take nothing away from winner Katie Magee – beating Tim Price and Vitali is no mean feat. But when I think back to the greats who’ve won the title – Mark Todd, Blyth Tait, Lucinda Green, Ginny Elliot – it’s sad that BE have allowed this competition to fade into the backwaters.

Issues at the FEI

The FEI level four officials programme, designed to pick out those fit to take roles at five-stars and championships, has been much vaunted and probably misconceived from the beginning and many advised the FEI to scrap it.

I believe nearly all course-designers who applied for level four have now been or are being approved. I guess this was the easiest way for the FEI to save face! We’re now pretty much back to where we started – officials for five-stars and championships will once again be chosen by the FEI committee and the organisers, as all are available.

The FEI still refuses to talk to the International Eventing Officials Club, which represents the vital role of officials, since it arbitrarily cancelled their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

This long-running saga, borne principally over the level four programme, is going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on 8 October. This is beyond belief – surely everyone is on the same side, sharing the best interests of eventing?

The intransigence of the FEI reached new heights in August when they dismissed the director of eventing Frédérique Reffet Plantier as she initially wasn’t sure she could accept the new combined role of director of eventing and driving and spend enough time with her family.

Fred has been a breath of fresh air since she took over in January, working overtime to pursue what is best for eventing, and has universal support. Despite lobbying from all stakeholders the FEI have refused to reverse their decision. Maybe one day we will see a good decision come out of Lausanne…

● What was your highlight of the European Championships? Write to us at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your letter to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine

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William Fox-Pitt asks ‘can we maintain Burghley entries?’

Horse & Hound — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 08:00:38 +0000

Six-time Burghley winner William Fox-Pitt reflects on this year’s event

This was a real Burghley, where cross-country was at the core. We must preserve that, with Burghley as the pinnacle.

Worryingly, entry numbers are decreasing – 52 starters this year, with an average of 57 in the past four years, compared to an average of 69 for 2015 to 2019.

We’re not lacking five-star horses, but maybe riders are scared and don’t need to do Burghley any more – an annual five-star campaign can be Badminton and then Pau or Maryland. Modern flashy horses, with great movement and a careful jump over 1.30m, are less suited to Burghley.

We should embrace different horses suiting different venues and there are incredible eventers who shouldn’t run at Burghley. But Burghley mustn’t become just for horses who can’t do dressage. Growing up, it was a dream to ride at Badminton and Burghley and that’s not the case for youngsters now.

To make Burghley more attractive, £250,000 to the winner instead of £115,000 might do the trick. The ex-racehorse class at Cornbury shows the draw of cash – 46 entries vie for the £45,000 first prize this year. Without that prize fund, they might have been lucky to get 15.

Too many at the FEI would like to tame eventing, with shorter, smaller courses, and four-star (the championship level) the top of the sport, but that’s not what riders want. Would it work to pull Badminton and Burghley out of the star system and just call them classics, giving them an elite status?

Perfect ground

For Burghley to produce such perfect ground after this dry summer was incredible. Horses really did gallop on it.

People forget what speeds event horses reach. In doing the required average of 570m per minute, they are regularly travelling at the same pace as National Hunt racehorses.

Designer Derek di Grazia used the terrain to the maximum. Although Burghley is hillier, in some ways Badminton is more unrelenting, with less demanding terrain but fewer chances to recover. Demanding as Burghley’s terrain is, it usually offers recovery opportunities but there were fewer of these this year.

A clever course

On the jumping side, Derek had been brave; retired riders tend to underestimate courses, but I was impressed it was so tough. I expected more trouble and campaigns ending at the Defender Dairy Mound (9abc); the corner proved forgiving and horses found a fifth leg. Five more completions might have been perfect, but 30 from 50 starters was good.

Riders weren’t particularly worried about the Pedigree Brushes (15 and 16), but it was very clever – they had to choose five, six or seven strides and ride an accurate turn. Done well, it looked an easy fence; on the wrong line, it created glance-offs and dodgy jumps and many problems at the following Maltings complex actually started here.

The corners at Joules at the Maltings (17ab and 18ab) were strategically positioned and offered four or five strides to the first, and six or seven to the second. The second (18b) was on one of the most serious lines ever to a corner. The flower pots meant you couldn’t get the line wrong, but you also couldn’t alter it or go wider or narrower to adjust your stride.

Harry Meade and Ros Canter made it look like a two-star fence.

After that, horses had half a minute to gather their breath downhill before the Trout Hatchery (21abcd and 22) – but subsequently, horses were more tired here than riders realised. The double turnbacks were demanding. A good few didn’t drop in well off the rising ground and landed out of balance, leading to awkward jumps and a few problems at the first chunky skinny.

Defender Valley (24abcd) was on a straight line and perhaps caused more issues than expected.

Other designers might have used brush at the final combinations, but frangibles and solid tables demanded respect and meant no opportunity to catch up time.

I predicted two or three inside the time, but wondered if I was losing my judgement when EquiRatings’ Diarmuid Byrne predicted five. I won that round with Diarm and we have a good banter; EquiRatings’ statistics add much to the sport.

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H&H’s Pippa Roome: ‘British Eventing’s national championships at Hartpury are great for riders, but how can we draw the public in?’

Pippa Roome — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 09:28:27 +0000

H&H eventing editor’s Pippa Roome shares her thoughts on recent tragedy, the national championships at NAF Five Star Hartpury and Defender Burghley entries

I can’t start this column without acknowledging the indescribably sad passing of Sarah Yorke in a cross-country fall at Aston-le-Walls on 8 August.The thoughts of the whole eventing community are with her family and friends, as well as the Aston team and medics.

Any fatal accident makes every person who rides cross-country think about their decision to do so. This one, at BE100 level for a rider who had a good record, will hit grassroots competitors particularly hard. But in the end, the huge joy, excitement and fulfilment many take from the sport makes them decide to continue.

I’m not eventing at present, but I made that decision time and again when I was competing. Even with some health issues now that mean any accident could be particularly complicated, I still choose to do another quite dangerous sport in skiing. I love it and, for me, the risk versus benefit stacks up, which is what every individual has to calculate.

Meanwhile we must continue to push for ongoing safety improvements so the number of such falls decrease, while accepting that riding horses can never be risk-free.

Drawing a crowd

I hear that NAF Five Star Hartpury, which again hosted the five British national eventing championships as well as three international classes, is a great event for riders, which is important and kudos to the organisers.

It doesn’t have the same draw for spectators as Gatcombe did and I saw someone on Facebook the week after the event asking if anything would replace Gatcombe and if the novice championships are still held.

British Eventing has a long-term commitment to hosting these national championships at Hartpury. To grow them again, it would be good to see them better publicised to spectators and offering elements beyond the sport to draw people in.

By contrast, I was at the 150th Dublin Horse Show last weekend, where the crowd is huge, knowledgeable and enthusiastic, from Mexican waves during the puissance to gasps as Irish riders jump the Nations Cup.

The Royal Dublin Society, the membership organisation that runs the showground, is engaged in a €52m (£45m) regeneration project, including redeveloping the historic Anglesea Stand all along one side of the arena. That stand was therefore out of commission this year, which must have led to an unimaginable mountain of changes and planning for organisers, but is scheduled to be back next year.

A clear Burghley favourite

Ros Canter’s appearance on the Defender Burghley entries list after the announcement of her pregnancy and withdrawal from Agria European Eventing Championship selection will prompt plenty of discussion over the next few weeks.

Will she start or run cross-country? Burghley is two weeks before the Europeans. And of course, if she does withdraw, the knock-on effects in a solely individual event are far less than in a team situation where other riders’ plans would be affected.

Data analytics experts EquiRatings put Ros and Lordships Graffalo at a 51% chance to defend their Burghley title successfully. I thought the 36% win chance given to them at Badminton this spring was huge in a sport with as much jeopardy as eventing, although they were clear favourites – and that win and a smaller field at Burghley will have fuelled that percentage growing.

But 51% feels wild, much as I can’t see anyone arguing against the fact she’s the out-and-out front runner for the title – if she runs. If she withdraws, that’s a seismic change in the predictions and it becomes a very open field.

Ultimately, that very personal decision belongs to Ros alone, in consultation with her loved ones. I wouldn’t judge her whatever she does.

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Mark Phillips: ‘Has the decline in British Eventing membership turned a corner?’

Mark Phillips — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 09:27:58 +0000

Mark Phillips on the latest course design news from LA 2028, developments on the national scene and a fitness race against time for one top rider who is out of action after a fall from his bike

Olympic course-designer Alec Lochore is now back in the UK after his five-day visit to the 2028 Games venue at Santa Anita, California, where he was joined by course advisor Mike Etherington-Smith for a couple of days. Both are now feeling good about the possibility of producing a circa 5,000-metre track for the Los Angeles Games.

As ever, there are many i’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed, but the people at Santa Anita were very positive in their attitude and have agreed in principle to the groundworks to be done on the hill to the side of the racetrack, which will provide some terrain, and that the course will be crossing the car park.

All being well, Alec will return to Los Angeles to move the programme forward in October.

Fundraising and facebook

These are different times at British Eventing (BE) and I’m definitely feeling my age. Recently BE advertised for people to serve on the fixtures committee, whereas previously people with the perceived expertise have been invited.

Seventeen people responded, two of whom were organisers, so were immediately discounted because of potential conflict of interest. This number is now down to six, who are being interviewed this week. The first job of the selected appointees will be to try to determine the 2026 domestic calendar, which will hopefully be published in November.

The 2026 international fixtures will be published shortly, when the respective organisers have signed and returned their heads of terms.

I was interested to read about the fundraising effort at Defender Burghley Horse Trials for the BE Training Foundation, with a Q&A session with Pippa Funnell and Lucinda Green and a course walk with Alec.

The foundation has been jump-started with a £80,000 donation by David Howden and is currently being used primarily for grassroots coaching around the country.

The Burghley fundraiser is an effort to extend the scope of the foundation into continuing education for officials, which has been non-existent for many years now because of BE’s financial woes, and then to extend it into “modernised learning pathways” and a “digital learning platform”, which I confess means little to an old-fashioned official like me!

Further plans for an outreach campaign to maybe attract new officials from different areas and an effort to align British training and standards with FEI best practice are to be commended. However, I’m unclear about who is going to create and implement all this. Let’s hope the fundraising goes well at Burghley!

The periodic emails from the BE marketing department are nothing if not enthusiastic. They don’t do much for me, old age striking again, but seem to be well received in the big world, where BE Facebook and Instagram views now number over three million a month and TikTok followers are growing, too.

In recent years, BE membership has fallen by 10% every year, but this year membership is down 6%. Maybe the decline has bottomed out or maybe BE has turned a corner – time will tell.

Let’s stick to horses…

This seems to be the summer for biking accidents! Harry Meade had a fall, punctured a lung, broke three ribs and damaged his shoulder. Helen West hit an irrigation pipe, has a black eye and multiple scrapes.

Harry’s accident three weeks ago has obviously hindered his preparations for Burghley and the Agria Blenheim Europeans. However, Laura Tomlinson and Lewis Robertson-Carrier are helping keep his horses going on the flat and Grant Wilson with the jumping, and he has excellent support for his rehab from the World Class team.

Fingers crossed he can be fit in time for the big autumn events.

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Piggy March: ‘I wanted to put Halo on the map – and I was delighted it came off’

Piggy March — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 09:32:51 +0000

Piggy March reflects on new rides and selection tactics for the European Eventing Championships

The last month has been an interesting one. I have fewer horses in my string now than previously, but it includes some fascinating new rides. I’m still passionate about eventing and love getting to know a horse who interests me – I still feel very competitive and love the challenge to keep improving myself and my horses, and I enjoy the journey with the owners who support me.

I wasn’t out looking for an advanced ride, but Pippa Funnell has been a great friend and mentor to me throughout my career, and I tried her 2023 Bramham winner and five-star horse MCS Maverick after many conversations with her and his then owner Sarah Ross.

He’s a blood, athletic horse and very sensitive, but I love working with a horse where you have to use your brain to get into their mind and body. He’s a challenge, but he’s been with great people all his life so I know he’s had happy experiences.

His two four-star short runs mean he’s qualified for Burghley and it was a bonus to win an advanced at Aston-le-Walls. We need the runs to build experience together.

Burghley is as big and serious as eventing gets and I think Maverick is a long way off being the finished article, but he’s scopey and quality and I’m looking forward to the next few years as a partnership. It’s early days and I’m grateful for Pippa’s support and to his new group of owners, the Maidwell Mavericks.

Always learning

I’m also riding a couple of horses who are owned or produced by another friend and mentor in Andrew Nicholson. Fenizio, who has been bought by an owner of mine, Maggie Demuth, won the eight- and nine-year-old class at Aston and I was fourth on the little firecracker Filipo, whom I’ve ridden for a year for Andrew and who is for sale.

Andrew has ridden and produced many horses from these Spanish bloodlines, with a long association with breeder Ramón Beca. They are quality, fast, blood sorts and it’s been fascinating to learn from Andrew about their breeding, their toughness and how to get the best out of them.

We are always learning with horses and I’m lucky to be associated with two top-class riders in Andrew and Pippa so I can absorb their knowledge.

Setting a new Burgham record

With Maverick having his Burghley qualifications all sorted, I made a last-minute swap to put Jayne McGivern’s Halo into Burgham’s CCI4*-S.

I’m delighted he’s on the longlist for the Europeans, but you’ve got to keep proving you can be better to be in the mix. The British horsepower and riders are incredible and the selectors have a difficult job.

Halo didn’t have a super-strenuous run at Luhmühlen, due to the only run-out of his career with me, so I was keen to get him back out and thought the ground should be good at Burgham after some rain.

I was so proud of Halo’s overall winning performance – he’s a beautiful little horse, wonderful to work with and maturing physically and mentally. He set a new record finishing score for Burgham, 19.8 – and felt like he deserved every bit of it.

My aim for the past couple of weeks has been to put his name on the map, so I put pressure on myself and wanted it to happen – without overpressuring him – and I was delighted it came off. I think we’ve done all we can ahead of selection. I believe Halo was put on the planet for championships and he’s as good a horse as I’ve ever had for those competitions.

Burgham is a brilliant event and it was great to watch top-class combinations. Josh Levett is based in my yard and I watched him and his peers in the high-quality young rider final trial. You certainly have to work hard if you want a spot in the British set-up at any level, but the systems and talent we have are exciting.

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Andrew Nicholson: ‘Aachen’s cross-country was a clever taste of next year’s worlds’

Andrew Nicholson — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:27:57 +0000

Andrew Nicholson shares his thoughts on Germany’s mega show at CHIO Aachen and Luhmühlen's five-star

The great German show CHIO Aachen is always top-class. This was Giuseppe Della Chiesa’s first year there as course-designer, having taken over from Rüdiger Schwarz, and I thought he did a very good job. He definitely gave it his own imprint, while respecting Rüdiger’s many years in the role and the feel he gave the track.

Giuseppe was quite clever; he gave us an idea of what to expect at next year’s FEI World Championships without mapping it out too clearly.

No one made the time, and on first walking the course it was clear that they wouldn’t. I don’t think Giuseppe made the time difficult by making it so twisty that riders were struggling to turn the corners – it was just very cleverly done.

There were six jumping efforts in the last 30 seconds or so once riders came into the main arena, including the water, so they had to be up on the clock by the time they entered the ring. One of those obstacles was a gate into water, which raised a few eyebrows but jumped well.

It was exciting, compelling sport to watch, and the right horse – Tim Price’s Vitali – won. To be able to go anywhere near the time, you needed a seasoned horse well used to galloping and to the big atmosphere of Aachen.

When you see the quality of the field there, you realise how seriously countries – and riders – take Aachen; the team competition as well as the individual placings. It was important for the New Zealand squad to have a good result at that level, and they selected hardened five-star horses to help ensure that.

It was significant that the US sent their top combinations, flying four horses and rides over from the States, and they finished second. The Brits, third, were also on very good, highly experienced horses.

I was there in my role as Swiss cross-country coach. Our team were fifth, which was a good result in A-list company, and if one of our riders hadn’t had a late run-out, that would have been third place.

Upgrading at Luhmühlen

I was at Longines Luhmühlen a few weeks ago with the Swiss, and I thought course-designer Mike Etherington-Smith had done well to upgrade the CCI5*. It was quite a bit tougher than in the past few years. I liked the new Irish bank, which rode well but got the riders thinking – the majority of them wouldn’t have jumped one before.

The second half of the track was quite intense, which is what was needed – proper jumping and turning lines. It was difficult for riders suddenly to storm home in the last two minutes – they had to be on it all the way and to ride in a good, even tempo, rather than jog around then pick up the pace and go flat out to the finish.

I know why Mike puts fences in the main arena for both the CCI4*-S and the CCI5* in the way he does – it’s entertaining for spectators. But I thought this year they were a little too gimmicky in their placings; big, angled jumps tucked into the corner next to all the tradestands and the crowds.

It was a shame that Laura Collett and London 52 had a showjump down and didn’t win the CCI5* for the second time. Neither Laura nor the horse did anything wrong – that’s just life. Ros Canter looked very good on her winner, Izilot DHI, and he didn’t seem as spooky as he can sometimes be.

Some younger riders looked good. Australia’s Isabel English rode very maturely, and while the US’s Cosby Green was a bit harum-scarum on her first horse, she was much better on her second, and you can’t get better without doing the mileage.

New Zealand’s Samanatha Lissington, the runner-up, is on a hot streak – she obviously took stock after her Badminton retirement and has been in the front line since.

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Piggy March: ‘Harry Meade deserves to be world number one’

Piggy March — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 09:32:44 +0000

Piggy March, who won Badminton 2019 and Burghley 2022 and has collected six senior championship medals, shares her thoughts on Harry Meade’s achievements and Defender Bramham’s new designer

Well done to Harry Meade for making it to world number one. Harry has grafted, like everyone does in eventing, for many years and had his fair share of knocks that could have finished his career, but he has plugged on through.

I love the fact Harry is passionate about the sport and has strong belief in his system, including the science behind horse care, and is now reaping the rewards with a big string of four- and five-star horses. He’s also built a loyal team of people.

You rarely see Harry win at a one-day event – he uses those as training days and canters round the cross-country quite slowly. He is very talented then to be able to make the time so easily and smoothly at three-days – not many riders can do that without practice.

Surely a five-star win is looming for Harry? A squad call-up must also be in the mix, but sadly now championships tend to require a dressage in the 20s to be competitive. Let’s hope one of Harry’s double-clear machines can step up the first-phase marks.

Competition for British selection will be tough again this year despite there being six spots – a team of four and two individuals – for the Agria European Championships at Blenheim. There were strong performances at Mars Badminton and we have Longines Luhmühlen this week too.

Bubby Upton’s classy Defender Bramham performance will open the selectors’ eyes. She’s a winner who has been knocking on the door and deserves the chance of a senior squad call-up.

Yasmin Ingham is another younger rider who knows how to win, has a nice team of quality horses and good backing. Blenheim is a year too soon for her Bramham CCI4*-S winner Gypsie Du Loir, but she could be her next championship horse.

Caroline Harris also impressed on both her horses.

Whether or not he secures a Blenheim spot, Harry is the ultimate five-star rider and if you do that well consistently at Badminton and Defender Burghley, you have every right to be world number one. His father, 1972 Olympic champion Richard Meade, would be incredibly proud.

The Bramham feel

Congratulations to Andy Heffernan for his first year as Bramham cross-country course-designer.

We were all sad to lose Ian Stark, as we knew Scotty would keep Bramham as the cross-country competition it has always been and should be. It’s one of the few places where you can prepare for Burghley and these courses are much needed for the education of horse and rider.

Andy definitely kept the Scotty feel of a big, brave track on forward, attacking distances, which made for positive riding. The horses could read the questions and therefore the time was very gettable for the bold combinations. We’re lucky to have Andy involved in this side of the sport.

I rode in the CCI4*-S and that track was tougher than before, which is good, especially as it’s now the under-25 national championship.

Previously, I’ve felt that the CCI4*-L was a four-and-a-half-star, but the short test was more about the atmosphere and suitable for a first-timer at the level. This year’s courses were more evenly matched, with the short just over a reduced distance.

I had two good rides on very different horses. Cooley Goodwood was amazing – he definitely found it a step up and needed my experience to keep him believing. And I was excited by MCS Maverick as it was our first proper competition together. To ride a quality blood horse around Bramham is sometimes why we do this sport.

He is sensitive and needs work to keep a lid on him for dressage, but he has been produced for a few years by Pippa Funnell. She’s the best rider in the world for keeping a horse on side and he has only had good experiences in the arena, so hopefully we can keep progressing.

I had a scary moment at the finish when he suddenly pulled up very sore, but thankfully he had just suddenly spread a shoe and twisted a nail so he was quickly OK.

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Andrew Nicholson: ‘Eric Winter should put his name forward to design at LA Olympics’

Andrew Nicholson — Thu, 29 May 2025 09:32:19 +0000

Andrew Nicholson picks out his favourite performances from Mars Badminton Horse Trials

Watching the Mars Badminton Horse Trials cross-country was interesting; there were little mishaps in lots of places without any fence having too much influence. The track had walked like it was relatively straightforward, and riders talked about it as though it was, too.

I thought many of them went a gear faster than normal, perhaps because the good but quick ground meant horses motored easily over it with fences that invited you to keep travelling right up to them, which then allowed mistakes to happen.

The horses also finished quite tired: a lot of riders don’t realise that the course is uphill all the way from the Vicarage Ditch to the top of the Quarry. It doesn’t really feel like that when you walk it, but when you’re riding it, horses can suddenly feel as though they are running out of fuel just before you get to Huntsman’s Close, and there’s plenty still left to do.

But on the whole horses looked, at least, fitter and leaner than previously, which I have noticed as well at events on the Continent this spring.

Fitness was much discussed at the FEI Eventing Forum in January, and it appears that the message has been received and acted on.

Badminton final scores

I wondered if the water in the Lake was shallower than normal, perhaps because the weather has been so dry. The straight route of one stride between elements before they jumped into the water and then four to the first skinny and four to the second looked like gridwork, but rode short in the water, and I thought that, if the water level was a bit lower, it didn’t have the “drag” effect that would condense the horses’ stride length.

It was quite a different track to those Eric Winter has produced in the past, and nice to see he has another dimension to his course-designing. He should put his name forward for the LA Olympics – the way his Badminton track rode, and the result it produced, should act as a good audition.

Impressive rounds

As usual, the best riders made it look easy. Ros Canter was impressive, as always, and Austin O’Connor was superb – you don’t see many horses jumping the second-last at Badminton looking like they are just setting out on the course.

The young New Zealander Tayla Mason played a blinder at her first Badminton. She was the last rider to get in off the wait list, and she had Centennial very fit and well prepared, which must take a lot of willpower when you aren’t even sure that you will get to run.

Katie Magee finished 11th on her Badminton debut, proving that if you work hard, you can still get to the top of the sport once you’ve passed your 30th birthday, which should encourage others.

It was a pleasure to watch Libby Seed and her beautiful grey horse Heartbreaker Star Quality. They are a real team, go at a speed at which they are comfortable, look very professional and present a picture that is great for the sport.

It was good to see a decent contingent from mainland Europe. Germany’s Christoph Wahler did well to make the time across country, and the Belgian squad will have learnt an awful lot. They weren’t overawed by the fact that it was Badminton, and demonstrated that European riders can show up at big five-stars as well as championships and the less imposing CCI5*s. This is what the sport needs.

Ros had to work hard in the showjumping; her victory wasn’t just an exhibition this time, but well deserved, while Oliver Townend rode a first-class round on Cooley Rosalent. Austin matched his easy cross-country round with a classy performance.

Harry Meade’s day will come. If he keeps jumping clear cross-country inside the time and good showjumping rounds, it will happen. If I was him, I wouldn’t get too hooked up on the dressage; for me, it’s more important to be doing what he’s doing in the jumping phases.

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Mark Phillips on Badminton: ‘The cross-country course was a refreshing change’

Mark Phillips — Thu, 15 May 2025 09:33:30 +0000

Mark Phillips reflects on the cross-country course and flag penalties at Mars Badminton Horse Trials

It was glorious to have sunshine again at Mars Badminton Horse Trials, though it was with a wry smile that event director Jane Tuckwell said that while the weather was wonderful, the extreme dry was almost more expensive to handle than the wet.

A new dam in The Lake maintained a perfect depth of water for the horses, while the rest became shallower. There was nothing but praise for the near-perfect ground on the cross-country. That required an unbelievable amount of work in the recent dry weeks, when the natural supply of water has been somewhat limited.

Eric Winter’s cross-country course was very different this year – bigger, better and fairer than some of his previous efforts. It was a refreshing change to the trend of modern courses with fewer skinnies and multi-element questions. Most of the combinations proved effective speed bumps, making the time difficult to achieve, even with perfect conditions.

Some combinations were on shorter strides, where riders had to slow down or make a bending line to make the fences easier for their horse, and there were a number where the rider had to choose between taking the forward distance or adding a stride.

In way too many cases, rider error meant horses arrived at a take-off spot too close to the fence, resulting in an up-and-down jump and a static landing, which uses up a lot of energy as they have to get going again. Whether this design was intended or by accident, I’m not sure!

Badminton final scores

The result, though, was excellent statistics and an exciting competition. Having said that, cross-country day seemed like a long old affair – fewer starters and finishing before 5pm would have been better entertainment.

The seemingly endless queries about whether a rider was inside or outside a flag became tedious, particularly in Ros Canter’s case, where penalties were marked on the online scores as under review, then the review symbol was removed so it looked like she definitely had faults – then the penalties were taken away. A decision took over an hour.

Modern technology helps, but when it doesn’t work and the information has to go overland as opposed to via the airways, the effect is unacceptable.

Much noise is always made about spectators keeping dogs on leads. This year, we had a humorous incident at the KBIS Chasm fence, where a dog chased the horse all the way down the hill. Luckily the horse was unaffected, but the dog hadn’t walked the course and didn’t see the ditch coming. Hopefully it had nothing more than a sore head the next morning!

Invaluable support

Mars Equestrian stepped up from presenting sponsor to title sponsor at Badminton last year and we are so lucky to have them supporting the major five-stars at Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley.

The Mars brand is mostly associated with chocolate and pet food. Few know that Antech, one of their many “arms”, provided invaluable support to horses and riders, doing instant blood analyses, diagnostics and imaging in the stables, so that horses could get the best and exact treatments needed all through the week.

An expensive rail

As expected, cross-country day was a classic showdown between Ros Canter, Oliver Townend and Tom McEwen. Sadly, JL Dublin ran out of gas in the later stages, dropping Tom out of contention.

Harry Meade again demonstrated his outstanding skills across the country, achieving two clears inside the time for the second time in three weeks. Sadly, the dressage remains his Achilles heel as he needs lower scores if he is to go on to international honours.

Gemma Stevens, Emily King and Bubby Upton all impressed across the country and Oliver showed great judgment.

Oliver’s one fence down in the showjumping was one of the most expensive poles ever at a cost of £54,000. You have to feel sorry for him, but their day will come as Cooley Rosalent is still young and improving.

In the meantime, Ros and “Walter” reigned supreme.

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‘It’s obvious why riders love Kentucky,’ says H&H’s Pippa Roome

Pippa Roome — Thu, 01 May 2025 09:28:35 +0000

H&H magazine and eventing editor Pippa Roome reflects on the Defender-sponsored US five-star and shares her favourites to win the title at Mars Badminton

Kentucky is one of those places where they say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” Event week this year lived up to that, with everything from biting wind to monsoon-like rain and blazing sun.

Ask any foreign rider why they come to Kentucky and they say they just love it there; it’s easy to see why. The permanent facilities at the Kentucky Horse Park are excellent, the main stadium is impressive and Derek di Grazia’s cross-country course always gets a result without punishing horses.

The Americans also can’t do enough for their visitors. You know as soon as they hear a British accent, they’ll ask where you’re from and give you a warm welcome. At the Wednesday night party for riders, connections and officials – held at the immaculate sales complex at Fasig-Tipton – they lay on a lavish buffet and free bar.

I flew to Kentucky early this year and spent four days with family as tourists before the event. I’d never even looked at the horse park’s offerings, including a 64,000sq ft museum dedicated to horses, and there’s plenty to do in the local area too, from watching racing or early morning training at Keeneland to bourbon distillery tours and much more.

The riders who travel to Kentucky from Europe are understandably the cream of their country’s crop – few people will put a horse on a plane without even a hope of winning back their airfare. Boyd Martin proved he can mix it with those competitors, with three horses in the top seven, all of whom put in double jumping clears, but otherwise the US riders were off the pace.

There were bright sparks for the home side in their first-timers, all five of whom completed. At opposite ends of the age scale, Mary Bess Davis, 46, and Shannon Lilley, 45, have both had long journeys to five-star – while Cassie Sanger is just 20 and will be in Britain later this year, based with Ros Canter, courtesy of the Wilton Fair Grant.

The US team don’t have a championship this year – their regional championship, the Pan American Games, is four-yearly, falling in the season before the Olympics, unlike our Europeans, which take place every other year. That will give time for new team managers Leslie Law and Karyn Shuter to establish themselves and build towards the Aachen World Championships in 2026.

Olympians head-to-head at Badminton

Trying to pick a winner in the Mars Badminton Horse Trials field, it’s hard to see past Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo, who won there in 2023, were European champions that season and took Burghley last autumn after team gold in Paris. Ros was a wide-margin winner two years ago, which might not happen again in easier conditions, but “Walter” has only gained in experience since then.

Their closest challengers could well be their Olympic team-mates Tom McEwen and JL Dublin or Oliver Townend and the all-time great Ballaghmor Class, who has an extraordinarily consistent five-star record, iced by four wins, although none of them at Badminton (yet). Tom starts with the benefit of having got his eye in for a big track at Kentucky.

If you want a longer-priced one to watch, consider Tim Price and Vitali. This lovely little horse has historically been let down by his showjumping and his single fence down at Burghley last year to hold second drew a huge cheer in the press office; it was one of the moments of the season. Hopefully it wasn’t a one-off.

The Prices didn’t have luck on their side in Kentucky – only one of Tim’s three rides went clear across country and two, including the well-placed Jarillo, were withdrawn on Sunday morning, while Jonelle had a run-out on Hiarado. Team Price will hope to turn the tide in Gloucestershire.

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‘The unpredictable spring weather is tough for organisers and riders,’ says Mark Phillips

Mark Phillips — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 09:24:53 +0000

The weather is more than just small talk in eventing, says Mark Phillips

The unpredictability of the British climate is enough to make anyone pull their hair out. After two of the wettest winters and springs ever, we’ve only had 3mm of rain on the farm in the past six weeks.

If that makes life difficult for farming, spare a thought for event organisers in this era where the quality of footing for horses has become of paramount importance.

The wet springs of previous years have led insurance costs to rocket such that they’ve forced many out of business and others are hanging on by their fingernails.

Last year, Thoresby only just managed to run, in what could only be described as deep footing; this year they had perfect going. Last year in the wet, Burnham Market was a godsend for competitors seeking a pre-Badminton run; this year, after heroic efforts by Alec Lochore and his team, the crumbled ground was on the firm side of good.

Competitors’ lives are not easy either. Those that ran at Thoresby didn’t have to go again at Burnham and many didn’t. Those that didn’t probably had to run with discretion but, like CCI4*-S winners Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent, were able to have the run they needed.

What will they do next year? Probably enter both and wait and see what the English weather serves up!

Meanwhile the British Eventing (BE) 2026 international calendar, handcuffed by its process, continues to labour under appeals, causing frustration for early organisers as they would like to be able to tell volunteers and sponsors their plans for next year. Maybe next time BE could organise a meeting of interested parties so they could hammer out their differences at the start of the process!

What we are facing is a calendar where four-star organisers are protected by a four-star free weekend either side of their fixture.

Sadly, those that asked for additional classes to help their viability were turned down as additional FEI classes would have impacted other international fixtures. Perhaps those struggling should have asked for extra national classes. Either way I fear we will see venues leave the calendar in coming years.

Bright spots

On a brighter note, I was thrilled to hear of a new FEI championship for under-25 riders, which needs to be at four-star level so it’s a genuine progression.

Some nations are campaigning for a three-star cross-country with four-star dressage and showjumping to encourage entries, but it must be a stepping stone from young riders, who compete at the three-star level.

It would appear that Bramham, with its new CCI4*-S programme for our national under-25 championship, is already ahead of the game.

It’s also great news that equestrian is confirmed for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics with the same competitor numbers as in Paris. The venue is still to be confirmed and Galway Downs has been ruled out. I believe Santa Anita, site of the 1984 Games, to be the favourite now, particularly as a shorter cross-country test is becoming more acceptable at Olympic Games.

Santa Anita wouldn’t have the backdrop of Versailles, but if the competition is equally enthralling, we will hopefully again get the thumbs up from the Olympic Broadcasting Service.

We hardly dare think as far forward as Brisbane in 2032, but it seems their plans are well ahead. The final answer, though, may well come down to how the Australians deal with their quarantine issues.

A mouth-watering month

Meanwhile, with the prospect of a dry Badminton and an entry list looking like the who’s who of world eventing, headed by our own Ros Canter, Oliver Townend and Tom McEwen, we have a mouth-watering competition coming up. A few horses are double entered with Kentucky, where Michael Jung heads up the overseas challenge.

Wherever the stars of the sport eventually ply their trade, we have two very special weeks on the horizon.

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Piggy March: ‘We need to believe in our British events’

Piggy March — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 09:25:48 +0000

Top British event rider Piggy March is an advocate for giving horses an early start to the season on home soil

As a rider, I have always felt very strongly about starting eventing in March. I would rather compete on softer ground than firm, and you get used to your system and the venues that have worked for you over the years. Those early events have played a key part in educating and getting horses going in good time to make longer-range plans.

This can be the best time for fantastic ground and weather, which has certainly been the case this year. We enjoyed a couple of days in the sunshine at Poplar Park, and that continued through the first few weekends of the season, with dry weather and great footing.

It’s brilliant to have places such as Poplar Park with proper, traditional cross-country courses that feel like an adventure for you and the horse – you are forever going in and out of woods and up and down terrain, rather than just round a couple of big, flattish fields.

It was also terrific to see such crowds there to watch. That always surprises me; the first weekend in March can be bitterly cold, but it shows there is still a huge interest in and love for our sport.

I was pleased to see Barbury back, as it is such a spectacular venue. It is a wonderful place for owners to be able to watch entire cross-country rounds, and March is exactly when it should take place as the camber and chalk going is easier on the horses then.

Spread thin

I spent Barbury weekend at Horseheath, another event with super, rolling cross-country on excellent ground. Again, it is perfect for this time of year with going that can take whatever the weather throws at it. Sadly, it was reduced to just a single day as they lacked sufficient entries to justify running the intermediate and advanced.

This was such a shame; it’s so important not to lose venues like this.

I suppose clashing with Barbury, which got enough entries for three full days, and being the weekend before Thoresby didn’t help Horseheath.

Are there enough horses at intermediate and advanced level to support that many events within such a short space of time?

I know that Weston Park always struggled when it was sandwiched between Belton and Burnham Market, yet it served a real purpose in being a good, galloping course built from solid timber on lovely old turf, and had that “old-fashioned” feel of crossing the country we miss so much.

However, when it got wet at Weston it got very wet, so you were often better off entering the two events either side of it to ensure you got your run before your big spring three-days.

I was amazed to see Lincoln quite low on open intermediate (OI) entries. I’ve always thought of Lincoln as a brilliant place to give your OI horses a good run before the season got busy or more serious. Even William Fox-Pitt used to make the trip from Dorset with a lorryload of horses, as the journey was so worthwhile.

I couldn’t go to Lincoln this year because of training commitments that I couldn’t afford to turn down, but I was sad not to see the numbers and strength of depth in those OI classes that we have been used to. I hope this doesn’t affect its chances of taking place in the future.

Support our events

Thoresby still has the buzz its predecessor Belton had; it’s very atmospheric and the sport there was exciting. The event has sometimes suffered because of bad weather, so it was great to see the sun shine on it and the organisers’ huge efforts in staging this first “big” competition of the year rewarded.

I’m glad Kronenberg in the Netherlands was cancelled, because I know quite a lot of riders were going there, and it allowed Thoresby to show we need to keep believing in British events. We need to support them, and we’re in the lap of the gods when it comes to weather.

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Mark Phillips: ‘This change feels like a retrograde step’

Mark Phillips — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 10:28:17 +0000

The British under-25 eventing championships, strategy and showcases are on Mark Phillips’ mind in his exclusive H&H column

After two soggy springs, it’s difficult to believe that we are nearly at the end of March and have had an uninterrupted calendar on near-perfect footing.

I was sad that the under-25 championship at Defender Bramham Horse Trials has been reduced from a CCI4*-L to a CCI4*-S to try to attract more competitors. To me this is a retrograde step. The under-25 CCI4*-L was pretty much identical to the senior division, so there was little cost involved in running it.

Looking at some of the previous winners – my daughter Zara, Piggy March, Tom McEwen, Yasmin Ingham, Will Coleman, Astier Nicolas – shows what an important goal this has been for aspiring riders in their early 20s.

Since the FEI tightened the minimum eligibility requirements, it has become more difficult for young riders to qualify for CCI4*-L, but to me the quality of the field was more important than the quantity. I hope the longer-term consequences were taken into consideration when this decision was made.

Tom McEwen and Toledo De Kerser land the under-25s in 2016; five years later, they were double Olympic medallists. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

An action plan

Paul Tapner and I were members of the British Eventing (BE) fixtures committee last year, but we resigned in the winter because of the proposed protocol for the new 2026 international fixtures calendar.

As the only two committee members who were not on the staff or board, we were given only a cursory glance of the proposal, which had already been approved by the board and wasn’t going to change. As we didn’t approve of the process, neither of us was prepared to put our name to it.

Not surprisingly, the calendar is now behind schedule because of ongoing appeals. It is sad that an iconic venue like Chatsworth has already been lost because a mutually agreeable date could not be found.

On a positive note, I was impressed to read the latest British Equestrian 2025–2030 strategy document. It ticks all the right boxes for the federation’s future direction, with its 4.3 million-strong equestrian community and £5bn annual economic impact.

Human and, more particularly, equine welfare is at the heart of the strategy, along with environmental sustainability, while we try to maintain our status as one of the world’s leading equestrian nations.

We now have the strategy, but need an action plan. I hear noises about waiting until after the FEI Sports Forum later this month. I wish we could get back to the time when we led the world on equestrian policies instead of reacting to what the FEI and the rest of the world do.

The US on the movee

In the US, I recently designed the course for the $100,000 (a little over £77,000) showcase eventing grand prix in Aiken, South Carolina, and I am also helping to plan a $50,000 showcase at Ocala, Florida, for February 2026.

These short-course, arena-based competitions are great entertainment and easily televised for sponsors. It’s sad the concept has not really taken off in Britain. However, this may be food for thought for some organisers following the BE 2026 international fixtures review, particularly for those finding it difficult to maintain viability with regular fixtures.

In the US, they also now have a new series incorporating all the CCI4*-S competitions, with a $50,000 prize pot for the leading points winners and a $200,000 CCI4*-L final. This huge injection of prize money has come not from sponsors – although they are now showing interest – but from the US Equestrian Federation board, with a three-year guarantee. I have to admire their thinking.

Leslie Law has been appointed as the new US coach and chef d’equipe with Karyn Shuter, who has worked successfully with Oliver Townend as his “right hand”. Leslie and Karyn could be a powerful partnership. It feels like US equestrian is on the move – food for thought for this country.

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Andrew Nicholson: ‘Where’s the progression and aspiration that was once central to eventing?’

Andrew Nicholson — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 10:35:40 +0000

Andrew Nicholson on hopes for 2025 and the sport’s new grassroots format

It’s the start of a new eventing season, and many of the professional riders were out competing last weekend. I always liked to get going at the very beginning of the year as March can often be a good month weather-wise, whereas the proverbial showers in April make cancellations likely.

I have three young horses starting their careers at BE100 and one intermediate, so I’ll be out and about a bit – it keeps me busy!

I’ve got a young French eventer based here who is hoping to ride at four-star; he rides very well. And my very first French rider pupil, Cedric Lyard, is now a coach for the French team. He came here for two years, then rode for France at the top level. I’m very proud of him.

Positive vibes

I was asked what I hope for in the sport this year. I think having the European Championships at Blenheim in September will be good for eventing. With Mark Phillips designing the course, it should produce a result in which cross-country will be a major factor. Blenheim is the ideal place to use the terrain to make the time difficult to get.

Mark has been the advisor to designer David Evans there for a few years – he knows it well and I imagine he will make it fair but quite difficult, which will be a good reminder for European riders of the central importance of the cross-country phase.

With the dressage and showjumping taking place on grass, it should be a proper, British-style championship. And there are enough strong European nations and good combinations to press the Brits for the gold medals.

On the national side of things, I’d like to see something being done to halt the number of good events falling by the wayside. The desire to hold horse trials in venues that aren’t already equestrian centres needs to be reignited.

It’s good, therefore, to hear positive vibes about Scone Palace, which is replacing Blair as Scotland’s major event. I know that horse trials have been run at Scone in the past, so it has some history.

The combination of Alec Lochore as event organiser and course-designer and the marketing, infrastructure and knowledge of ground from the Perth Racecourse team on-site should combine together well.

The advantages of the racecourse facilities – permanent stabling, hospitality structures and other facilities – right next door to the big, open park bowl with the palace on one side and the River Tay on the other make it an exciting place to stage an event.

Lack of progression

British Eventing’s new idea of “XC+” where riders can choose to do two out of the three phases of eventing is, I think, absurd and just shows how frightened the organisation is of losing more of its lower-level membership.

The press release said it would “save valuable time” – will it? How? Once you’re there at an event, you’re there. In Europe, you usually do just one phase a day over three days, but in Britain we traditionally do everything in a single day. Is another hour going to make that much difference to what is nearly always a day’s commitment?

Presumably everyone doing it will skip their weakest phase. How’s that going to improve your riding, your experience, your horse’s way of going – the things that the three phases of eventing are there to test?

This won’t be a popular opinion, but I personally believe that British Eventing has put far too many of its eggs in the grassroots market and has neglected the upper levels. As far as I can tell, there are fewer advanced and intermediate horses, while the BE100 and below classes are chock-a-block.

Where’s the progression and aspiration that was once so central to the spirit of the sport? There’s no problem with anyone not wanting to jump bigger jumps – but that’s what the unaffiliated world is for, surely? Why is the national governing body of our Olympic sport so involved?

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Mark Phillips: ‘It’s nice when persistence finally pays off!’

Mark Phillips — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 10:38:46 +0000

I passed the landmark age of 75 in September and am ramping down my cross-country course-designing. I leave this week for the US for what will probably be my last CCI4*-L course, at Terra Nova in Florida.

In contrast, my course advisor consultancy is on the increase and I enjoyed helping with the junior and young rider European courses in Montelibretti this summer. I see my role now as trying to help the next generation of course-designers. Alec Lochore takes over at Terra Nova next year and Helen West at Stable View, South Carolina, and I’ll continue to help at both venues.

I was super-happy for Ian Stark, who got his five-star track up to speed in spectacular fashion in his third year at Maryland 5 Star. That’s no surprise – it takes three years to get to grips with a venue and the level at five-star. Ian is a super talent and when he retires at the end of next year, he will leave a void that the sport will struggle to fill.

Everyone was happy for Austin O’Connor when he won in Maryland. He decided not to go to the Europeans, but came to the Festival at Gatcombe, which was rained off, and then Burghley, where he had an early glance-off. It’s nice when persistence finally pays off!

Returning to course-design, I was also pleased to see Adrian Ditcham’s improvements at Boekelo. Also in his third year, he has brought more size to this course since the Sue Benson era and with a change in the site meaning fewer woods, no maize fields and more grass, he provided some interesting questions.

I understand why the FEI wants organisers to change designers at four-star every six years and at five-star every eight years, to give more designers a chance to develop. However, as we keep seeing, it takes time for a new designer to build up to the standard. We are in danger of seeing too many designers in the build-up phase, which means more disparity at every level than currently, giving riders increased opportunities to get cheap qualifications – so much for risk management!

How the sport has changed

Looking back over 50 years, it’s amazing how things have changed. I was fourth at Burghley at 18 and fourth at Badminton at 19, before realising I had to learn to trot in a 20-metre circle. Richard Meade, Richard Walker, Jane Holderness-Roddam, Princess Anne, myself and others all enjoyed five-star wins or international success in our early twenties.

It’s a sad reflection on the modern sport that the young rider (21 and under) European Championship is now at CCI3*-L, whereas it used to be CCI4*-L.

I know my generation grew up with the “long format” and the technical requirements in all the phases have increased. Combining that with the qualification boxes that must be ticked, it’s not surprising it takes so long for today’s young to gain the skills and experience needed for consistent top-level success.

Of course, a superstar horse can accelerate the process. I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t realise how good Ros Canter was until she hit the headlines with Allstar B around 2017. She is now 37 and the outstanding professional rider of our time.

At the other end of the scale, I retired after the Seoul Olympic Games, where I had my 40th birthday, feeling I was struggling to stay competitive. Back then, Bill Roycroft, Derek Allhusen and Eddie Boylan had competed in their later years, but now you have Andrew Hoy, Phillip Dutton and company in their sixties. Maryland runner-up William Fox-Pitt is one of a multitude of riders still going in their fifties.

More broadly, thank goodness the future of the three Olympic disciplines is guaranteed in Los Angeles in 2028 and I can’t see the Aussies wanting to lose equestrian sports in Brisbane in 2032, but after that my crystal ball is a little cloudy.

Meanwhile, we have to continue to work overtime to show the public how much we love and respect our four-legged partners.

● Why do you think it’s harder for young riders to do well at the top level these days? Write to us at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your views published in a future edition of Horse & Hound magazine

This exclusive column is also available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 2 November, 2023

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Piggy March: ‘I’m entering into the unknown’ with two rising stars

Piggy March — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 09:20:35 +0000

Piggy March, who won Badminton 2019 and Burghley 2022 and has collected six senior championship medals, looks forward to two weeks of five-star action

As I write, I have two exciting weeks of five-star rides ahead. I’m entering into the unknown with Brookfield Cavalier Cruise (Fletcher) and Coolparks Sarco (Jeremy) both new to the level – I quite like that as there’s less expectation than riding a seasoned campaigner. This will be the first time I’ve ridden at Maryland 5 Star (19–22 October), the US five-star which began in 2021, but I’ve heard a lot of good things.

After Fletcher finished second at Bramham Horse Trials, I discussed his autumn plan with owners John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn. He’s a lovely, big horse – at least 17hh – and low on mileage. However, I feel Bramham is the hardest CCI4*-L in the world and the water jumps are tougher than some at five-star. We felt some CCI4*-Ls might be a step backwards for him and that we should try a five-star when he is fit, well and feeling confident.

It was important to us to find the right terrain for him at this stage – mentally he can cope with any ground, but physically he’s immature so we wanted to give his body the nicest possible trip. Burghley is so undulating and Pau is twisty, so Maryland was an obvious choice and I’m grateful to his owners for taking on the cost of the trip.

The journey to the USA

Fletcher flew from Stansted to Indianapolis on Wednesday (a week before the trot-up). From there, he travelled a couple of hours to Louisville, where he met my travelling head girl, Amy Phillips, who I call Ames. It’s unnerving to think of the horses flying without someone they know, although the flying grooms are experienced and we were kept well informed.

The horses moved to Louisville in trucks that are quite different to ours – they travel loose in a big area so they can move around.

During the horses’ 48 hours in quarantine, the grooms are allowed in for an hour twice a day. I asked Ames to walk Fletcher as much as possible because it’s not ideal for such a fit horse to stand still for so long. One day she messaged saying she’d walked five kilometres!

The horses then have a 12-hour road journey to the event, arriving Saturday evening. Ames will give Fletcher two or three short rides a day – mostly in walk with a little trot. Doing too much too quickly could cause a fit horse to tie up. We’ve also cut back his feed while his work is reduced.

I arrive in the late afternoon on Monday. We’ll go to the venue, but I won’t ride that day. It’s a good idea to keep me away from Fletcher for as long as possible to avoid the temptation to overwork him!

There’s no quarantine on the return journey, so the horses travel a couple of hours by truck to John F. Kennedy airport in New York, then fly to Liège in Belgium and return by road. We’re in good hands with Peden Bloodstock, so as long as we’re on it with the paperwork it will hopefully be a slick operation.

And on to Pau…

I had to scratch my head when packing, because anything that goes to Maryland in the trunk with the horse won’t return until the Thursday of Pau Horse Trials (26–29 October).

We are teaming up with Tom McEwen for travel to Pau – his ride JL Dublin is co-owned by Jo and James Lambert, who own my ride Jeremy, so it will mean a good base for the owners and helps with costs and logistics.

I’m looking forward to the fact Pau is over half term so our seven-year-old son Max can come. We’ll stay in a hotel with a jacuzzi and spa and he had a great time last year when we went to support my sister Nini. I find it hard to leave Max for a long period, so it makes it easier for me as a mum to know he can enjoy one of these two weeks.

Both Fletcher and Jeremy are on good form and hopefully can maintain that through the rigours of travelling, so we’re looking forward to seeing how it goes.

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This exclusive column will also be available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 19 October, 2023

H&H’s eventing editor: ‘There are vital roles beyond riders’

Pippa Roome — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 09:32:16 +0000

Eventing’s new boss, plus who will compete in Paris, are on Pippa Roome’s mind

I was sorry to see Helen West stand down as British Eventing (BE) chief executive in March, “due to personal circumstances, including the need to provide primary care for her father”. Helen understood the sport from multiple points of view and took brave decisions such as shaking up the membership structure.

The chief executive role is one I wouldn’t take on no matter what the salary – balancing the needs of all stakeholders alongside escalating costs is a hugely difficult and thankless job and the social media feedback can be vicious.

New chief executive Rosie Williams circulated a survey to members in her first week, saying “listening to and understanding our membership is paramount to me”. The survey asked for information such as how many events you participate in and at what level, as well as seeking feedback on areas including communications from BE, safety and welfare at events and improvements that could be made.

I applaud the spirit of seeking feedback, but feel the survey would have been more inclusive with a different structure. An early question asking responders’ role or roles (such as rider, owner, official, volunteer, organiser, supporter) and then tailored questions might have helped.

I am a BE member, mainly for the insurance provision, but am unlikely to compete again for health reasons. The question, “How many BE competitions do you typically participate in each year?” didn’t have a zero option so I couldn’t complete it truthfully. The following questions about level of competition and what factors would influence my decision to participate in an event were irrelevant.

On the plus side, these were not compulsory questions so I was able to leave them blank, but it felt like the survey was targeted at riders and didn’t fully account for those who are BE members – and often vital to the sport – but don’t compete.

I look forward to seeing where Rosie takes eventing and wish her all the best in the role.

Consistency and commitment

Italy have won the Olympic spot for the top unqualified team in the Nations Cup league ahead of the final event at Boekelo later in October – Spain are not fielding a team at the Dutch four-star and the next-closest nation, Austria, are too far behind to catch the Italians.

In showjumping, the ticket goes to the best unqualified team at the Nations Cup final, rather than the league winner. I like the fact the eventing route rewards consistency and commitment and it encourages nations to focus on the Nations Cup, in a sport where this is a relatively recent addition.

The Nations Cup has a long history as a prestigious competition in showjumping so no one needs an incentive to compete – and having a ticket on offer at the final ensures that extra interest angle there, which has now disappeared from Boekelo.

It was a pity the Canadian leg of the eventing Nations Cup, at Bromont in August, had to be cancelled because only Canada and the US confirmed their participation. As the competitions must have three teams, this meant this year’s series was confined to Europe.

On to Paris 2024

It’s been good to see two British combinations who had a hiccup at the European Championships, Yasmin Ingham on Banzai Du Loir and Tom McEwen on JL Dublin, setting things right at Blenheim and Little Downham, with Tom planning to go to Pau.

The Europeans was a slightly strange one – Britain came home with team gold and two individual medals, but only Ros Canter and Kitty King will have been satisfied with their performances, with none of the other four jumping clear across country.

Looking to the Paris Olympics, the event raised more questions than it answered about selection, and there will be everything to play for at the spring events. These days there are different pathways to championships, rather than obligatory trials. It will be interesting to see who stakes all on a strong five-star run and who opts for four-star shorts.

What do you think of the Olympic qualification system in different sports? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com

This exclusive column will also be available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 5 October 2023

Andrew Nicholson: ‘Let’s have more vertical fences and fewer big, wide spreads’

Andrew Nicholson — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 09:28:51 +0000

The five-time Burghley winner and cross-country coach to the Swiss eventing team, Andrew Nicholson, analyses Burghley’s five-star course and shares which riders impressed him

When I walked the Defender Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course early on the Friday morning of the event, I thought it had a smoother feel to it than in 2022. It posed difficult questions, but riders could get into the swing of it a little earlier, which is a sign of designer Derek di Grazia knowing the place better second time around.

I was still fascinated by the way riders jump off the drop at the Holland Cooper Leaf Pit and are in a hurry to get their horse to the next element – the big brush oxer – forgetting they’ve got to line up the skinny third part. I know the drop and the ground encourages horses to run, but it is the rider’s job to say, no, wait a fraction longer here, and get their line right, rather than only thinking about getting over the oxer.

I thought the Defender Trout Hatchery, with its uphill bounce into water, rode very well. And the carved wooden hare to the two corners at the Joules at the Maltings jumped better than I expected. In my experience, horses aren’t so sharp with their legs over something that appears to look different, as the hare did, but perhaps that made riders respect it more.

I am not a huge fan of open skinny triple bars. After you’re three minutes into a track, they are quite flimsy for a horse that is going well across country to back off and respect, especially placed where they were on the Dairy Mound – which is the most difficult piece of ground at Burghley, given where it comes on the course. These fences are much harder to jump correctly than perhaps people realise, and there weren’t that many pretty pictures over them.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

I know it is easy to say when you aren’t the course-designer, but I’d like to see more vertical fences and fewer big, wide spreads. They make riders sit down in the saddle and ride a bit more, and they would be easier for horses to jump well than more open, wide oxers. They save a horse’s energy, but you lose time at them and have to ride correctly.

Some superb riding

I thought there was some superb riding. David Doel did a very good job – I see him competing in Europe a lot when I’m working with the Swiss team, and it’s paid off. He knows what he can do, what his horses can do and what speed he can go, and has improved a great deal in the past couple of years. And Wills Oakden is a classy rider who deserves some more good horses.

Oliver Townend’s winner, Ballaghmor Class, is a proper five-star horse and then some. To win a second Burghley six years after his first is a serious achievement, and the horse has done a lot in between, not missing a beat. That’s a great testament to both horse and rider.

Tim Price will find the key to a clear showjumping round on Vitali. Like quite a few good event horses, Vitali doesn’t find showjumping on the Sunday straightforward, but I am sure Tim will keep trying different things.

From youngster to five-star

My main job at Burghley was judging the final gallop element of the Dubarry Burghley young event horse classes. I’ve never competed in the classes, nor ever really watched them – I just know that when I was doing the five-star at Burghley, I’d look over at the young horses and think that none of mine looked as classy and as polished as those!

But in the early days of the classes, a lot of the finalists would end up back at Burghley in time; that has happened less recently, and I know Burghley director Martyn Johnson is keen for the classes to regain their place as producers of five-star horses.

I’d love to see the finalists in both classes gallop round the ring and jump a brush fence out of their stride as they do so – that would be a useful test of a future event horse, I think.

● What fences would you like to see on five-star cross-country courses? And what do you think of Andrew’s idea for the young event horse final? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your views published in a future edition of Horse & Hound magazine

This exclusive column will also be available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 21 September, 2023

Mark Phillips: ‘There’s a new positive energy at Burghley’

Mark Phillips — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 09:39:01 +0000

The British autumn five-star sets the standard, says Mark Phillips

I first rode at Burghley in 1963, on the Beaufort team in the Pony Club horse trials championships. Slightly irritatingly, we were beaten by the West Norfolk!

I returned in 1966 to watch the World Championships and rode Rock On to be fourth in 1967, while my team-mate Jane Holderness-Roddam (née Bullen) won team gold at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Such is the inspiration of Burghley.

For the first time since I started designing the Burghley Horse Trials course in 1989, there is a new air of enthusiasm and friendliness, under Martyn Johnson in his second year as director and with Tim Henson in his first as chairman.

Most importantly, they have the support of the estate, the like of which I have not seen for a generation. How wonderful it would be if the World Championships could come back to this energetic new team in 2026, after 60 years.

Derek di Grazia, who took over from me as cross-country course-designer last year, had a much better feel for the ground this time to produce a big but fair track. On perfect footing, just under half the field had clear jumping rounds – the five-star level is not for everyone, no matter what your qualifications. The other five-stars should aspire to the example set by Burghley.

Some great horses were left legless at Aachen CCI4*-S in July because the time was so tight, and at the eventing Europeans in Haras du Pin, tired horses struggling home left an unpalatable taste. It was good at Burghley to see so many more happy horses finishing.

Early on, David Doel and Wills Oakden made the course and time look ridiculously easy. Hopefully they will be inspired to work harder on their dressage, for surely they would be a shoo-in for any team.

Tim Price took eventing dressage to a new level with Vitali and Pippa Funnell showed all her evergreen class across the country on Majas Hope.

Not everyone had a good day. Tom McEwen started the year with two of the world’s top horses, but how fickle are the fortunes of sport, with a fall from JL Dublin at the Europeans and injuries to Toledo De Kerser and Luna Mist here, which may rule both horses out of contention for Paris next year.

Harry Meade jumped the wrong side of a flag coming out of Capability’s Cutting on Away Cruising, Cavalier Crystal went well and then Tenareze pulled up lame. Oliver Townend too had a mixed time, breaking a rein with Tregilder and landing in the oxer at the Dairy Mound on Swallow Springs before the evergreen Ballaghmor Class saved the day.

With Ballaghmor Class and Vitali not having the best showjumping records, we were guaranteed a nail-biter. Many feared the last fence fault would deny Oliver another win, but Tim’s three down gave Oliver a fairy-tale victory. The £110,000 of prize money will be some consolation for being left off the team and missing out on a European gold medal.

Asked if Ballaghmor Class would now retire after his 10th top-five five-star finish, his answer was simply, “Paris next!”

Must do better

After the celebrations of European team gold and individual gold and silver, Chris Bartle and Dickie Waygood and the selectors will look hard in the mirror. Only two of our six riders jumped clear across country. Next year at the Paris Olympics, with three to a team and all to count, three clear cross-country rounds are essential.

I have a problem with the fact I’m told the FEI think they ran a successful championship. Pierre le Goupil, also the designer for Paris, is undoubtedly an exceptionally talented designer. But the course was too strong for a European Championship and he did not have a good enough back-up team to help him with his first championship effort.

We all know from the worlds in 2014 how tiring soft ground is in Haras du Pin. The course was shortened by two minutes, but they should have done more and earlier in the week if we are to preserve this special sport.

● Who impressed you at Burghley? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your views published in a future edition of Horse & Hound magazine

This exclusive column will also be available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 7 September, 2023

Andrew Nicholson: ‘Top event horses still need to be able to gallop’

Andrew Nicholson — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 09:15:40 +0000

Multiple five-star winner Andrew Nicholson reflects on last week’s European Eventing Championships and looks ahead to Burghley

The site for the European Eventing Championships – Haras du Pin – was a vast improvement from when it hosted the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in 2014. This time, all the stabling was permanent, there were lots of all-weather arenas and other touches, such as a nice restaurant-coffee bar overlooking the dressage arenas.

I thought the fences on the first half of the Europeans cross-country course were very big; perhaps a warning from designer Pierre le Goupil that his Paris Olympics track next year might not be too small, either. He had used all the hilly areas in a nice way, and the entire course was on undulating ground.

It was just unfortunate that it has rained in that area of France like it has here this summer, which meant plenty of green grass, but that the ground was soft enough already before heavy rain on Friday afternoon and night.

After that wet WEG, the organisers knew what to expect and wisely, I think, took a loop of nearly two minutes off the track. Bearing in mind that Ros Canter was the only rider inside the time, it was the right decision.

Obviously taking out a section of the cross-country upsets the plan the designer has for the track as a whole, and I think fence 18 was more influential than it would have been otherwise as a result. It was a corner into water that appeared quite straightforward when I first walked it, but the changes meant that competitors went from fence 11 direct to 17ab and that probably affected their approach to 18.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Initially, the brush fences were pretty high, but they were trimmed when it was clear that conditions would be demanding. Both the jump into the first water and the skinny in the water were lowered, and that probably meant more people got through there clear than I had thought would.

Cross-country day was a good one, overall – the results sheet was shaken up nicely and in general, riders rode to the conditions and horses looked tired but not excessively so at the finish.

Still but strong

Ros Canter gave an absolute masterclass – for sure Lordships Graffalo is a very good galloper, but Ros does a brilliant job. She sits still but is very strong and effective.

Michi Jung looked to be doing it all very easily until his horse just didn’t put its front feet out on landing for some reason, knuckled on to its knees and shot him through the air.

Ros – and Ireland’s Sarah Ennis, first of the day – made it look easy. But as more and more of the warmblood-bred horses left the start box, it was apparent that the time would be difficult to get. Riders had to make sure they kept enough of a rhythm to jump the big fences at the beginning, but with enough gas left in the tank to get them to the finish.

It was good to see Kitty King doing well, too. Her horse isn’t the galloper on soft ground that Ros’s is and she had to work hard in the final third, but she has been rewarded for her preparation and her riding.

Some riders will be disappointed with their day and might need to look at why. Perhaps they had overdone the dressage training and neglected the fitness, thinking it was “just” a Europeans. Then the weather came along and caught them out.

On to Burghley Horse Trials now, where I am judging the final gallop phase of the Burghley young event horse championships. That’s definitely a new role for me at the event I consider the best in the world, but I’m looking forward to it. After all, big events so far this year have proved how essential gallop is to top event horses.

● Who impressed you at the Europeans? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance to have your views published in a future edition of Horse & Hound magazine

This exclusive column will also be available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 17 August, 2023

Opinion Dogs, extendable leads and preventable accidents – where do we go from here?

Lucy Elder — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 15:03:42 +0000

Love for four-legged friends runs deep in the horse world – whether those legs end in hooves or paws. They are our companions, we adore them, we want to do the best for them, always.

Which is why we need to have a re-think about what is in the best interests of both dogs and horses at events.

Tom McEwen’s cross-country fall at the Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials is a wake-up call nobody wanted.

I am not suggesting a ban on dogs at fixtures. But we need to reassess how they are there for everyone’s sake – four-legged and two.

Tom and Bob Chaplin were on their final approach to the penultimate question on Mike Etherington-Smith’s five-star course – a brush corner at 29a (Kombination “Close to Home”) when a dog on an extendable lead ran on to the track.

“I found my line to the corner and then I could hear the extendable lead extending, with this lady screaming at a dog. Sadly the line is so tight, the dog came from Bob’s right side so it pushed him further out left and that put him into the corner,” Tom told me on Saturday.

“Horses at that point in the course are tired and they are also unbelievably honest and love what they are doing. Bob, being Bob, went, ‘I can do it’ and just jumped in. Sadly for him we went into the widest part of the corner all because a dog came in and popped him off his line.”

This was not the interview I wanted to be having with Tom, nor the one I was mentally preparing in my mind as I watched him to that point. Their round stood out because of how carefully Tom was building the horse’s confidence, fence by fence, on Bob’s first attempt at this level. Tom’s skill in allowing the horse to understand each question, rewarding him when he answered, and how Bob seemed to blossom and grow as the course progressed was beautiful to watch.

After their dressage, I watched as Bob tucked into a packet of Polos with relish – delighted at the fuss from his connections. The thought of his team waiting almost certainly with more Polos at the finish line, only for that to happen, makes me choke at the desperate unfairness of the situation.

I saw Tom’s fall on the live-feed by the cross-country finish area, and saw him get up and throw his hands in the air in apparent frustration, clearly not at the horse, but something else. Rumours about a dog then started to filter through. I knew I needed to speak to him to find out the facts and to stop dead any speculation, given the penalties would go on the horse’s record and because our readers – like me – would have seen his out-of-character reaction on the live-stream, without the context of what caused it.

“It’s probably the first time that I’ve properly been angry in a long time, but I just felt gutted for the horse, for the owners and everyone involved because he was a star and didn’t deserve that from a dog running on to the course on an extendable lead,” Tom told me, adding his main concern was that the horse was alright.

Eventing is a risk sport and the volume of work and research that goes into minimising those risks is vast. Every inch of the ground, the water and the fences on that course will have been designed and prepared to strict standards. There are strict rules about riders’ protective equipment for a reason, too, and horse welfare is the absolute priority of all involved in the sport. Which is why dog-related incidents are so frustrating.

They are also not isolated incidents – who hasn’t heard tannoy announcements about loose dogs at events? H&H has written countless stories over the years about dogs chasing horses on course at fixtures and the FEI introduced CHF100 (£84) fines in 2019.

So what is the answer?

Aside from banning dogs at events, which would be a shame and questionably workable, perhaps there are some simple things that I believe could prevent dog-related incidents:

No extendable leads. Keep them at home and use a short lead at events. Forgotten one? Buy one.
Properly fitted harnesses, unless there is a legitimate veterinary reason that they cannot be worn, to prevent dogs slipping their collars
£1,000 fine – to charity – if your dog is on course (loose, or otherwise) while the field of play is live. £2,000 for repeat offenders

Accidents happen, no dog owner would do this on purpose, and I’m certain those it has happened to feel absolutely terrible.

We as a sport have a responsibility to look after each other and the animals involved. There needs to be action and accountability before a rider, an adored horse or a beloved dog is hurt.

Thankfully Tom and the horse were both fine; looking at the way the horse had jumped to that point, he is incredibly exciting for the future at this level.

But the point remains that this should never have happened. From a safety, welfare and sporting perspective, this kind of incident must stop.

Dogs love walks in the park. They also love tennis balls, but that doesn’t mean a certain quota of loose dogs is accepted, with an eye-roll, at Wimbledon each year. So why are they in horse sport?

What do you think? Send your thoughts to hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and country, to be considered for the letters’ page in a forthcoming issue of the magazine

British Eventing CEO Helen West: ‘Staying the same is not an option’

Helen West — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 11:00:37 +0000

British Eventing’s chief executive Helen West shares her vision for the sport’s future

IF Carlsberg made first days in jobs, mine was it. I started as British Eventing (BE) chief executive on the day the British team won two medals in Tokyo. I was all packed up to go to head office when I received a phone call asking me to do a live BBC interview and it went on from there, with three TV interviews and one on radio.

The radio interview, where I was alongside the chief executive of British Weight Lifting, highlighted some of our accessibility and inclusivity challenges. He said anyone could pop to the local gym and sign up to get started, which isn’t quite so simple in equestrianism.

Four weeks later, I was lucky to go to Avenches for the Europeans. This was special because I have competed with and against many of those riders – Piggy March and I were on a gold medal-winning young rider team together in 2001.

In terms of top-level sport, we’ve never been in a better place. The future is bright for the short Paris Olympic cycle and on to Los Angeles 2028.

IT, people and money

IT’S no secret there are challenges at BE. The IT set-up has been a disaster, a lot of money has gone down the drain and we have diminished reserves. Covid has been challenging. IT, people and money are our three big issues. We have a plan to move the organisation forward into a stronger position.

A membership drive at grassroots, to reverse that downward trend, is key. I’m staggered that 73% of members never compete above BE100.

We have to start listening to what the membership wants and work collaboratively with organisers, who deliver the product. Historically BE has been able to subsidise the sport, but financially we can’t do that now, so events have to be sustainable. In the future I’d love to say BE can support events in difficult areas to keep a wide geographical spread.

My vision is for a more dynamic sport. We’ve become bound by process, protocol, red tape and bureaucracy and it’s made us slow, clunky and unable to adapt. On fixtures, I understand why organisers want the security of knowing dates years in advance, but Covid proved how flexible we can be.

We need to empower organisers to offer what works for them, in consultation with BE to serve the membership. I’ve been a younger, ambitious organiser and at the moment there’s no incentive. It feels like there’s no point knocking on the door because you won’t get an opportunity.

It all comes back to balance and keeping the integrity of the sport. I don’t want eventing to become confined to purpose-built facilities. We need to keep variety and utilise the right venues at the right time for the right classes.

Compete more, pay more

EVERYBODY acknowledges changes are needed, but people are terrified of change. We’ve certainly seen that in the reaction to the membership restructure and changes to the abandonment insurance.

There are constraints – financial and IT, particularly – but doing nothing is not an option. We’ll never keep everyone happy but we have to do what’s best for the majority.

Price is a major factor that puts people off eventing. The new introductory membership, for those at BE90 and below, brings cost down by a third. And the pay as you go option works at every national level to allow the one-horse rider to have a go.

The average number of times members compete in a season is eight for those at BE80 and BE90 (new introductory membership), 12 up to novice and two-star (new standard membership) and 34 at intermediate and above (new premier membership). It’s right that those who compete more, pay more.

I appreciate this hits the one-horse rider who wants to try a three-star. We haven’t had the time, resource and IT to add in extra layers of membership to capture everybody, but this is ongoing – there is more to come in 2023.

There is a lot of work to do, but with change comes opportunity. We’re not always going to get it right but we need to be brave and try different things, then admit what’s wrong and make tweaks. But staying the same is not an option.

This exclusive column is also available to read in Horse & Hound, 6 January 2022 magazine

Mary King: Falls, full-fat coke and five-stars H&H Plus

Mary King — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 11:00:45 +0000

Mary King reflects on Houghton and the ups and downs of this season

THE King family result at Houghton was definitely one-nil to my daughter Emily. Her CCI2*-L win on the Kerr-Dineen family’s Imposant was especially pleasing, because it was bad luck when they came down on the flat at Thoresby last season, and also because it’s been a rough few weeks with her boyfriend, Sam Ecroyd, sustaining multiple facial injuries in a horrible rotational fall.

Emily had a broken hand, so I went up to north Wales to help out with driving, so she could visit Sam in hospital, but he has made an incredible recovery, thank goodness. He was able to come to Houghton to watch and looks as if nothing has happened – and he still has his teeth!

At Houghton, I ended up on the floor – or, rather, underwater – which was so annoying as King Cyrus had done a nice dressage, but he made a babyish mistake, landing unbalanced and stumbling. I was properly submerged and got a mouthful of dirty water. However, I have learnt something new, as the doctor told me I should straight away go and drink a can of full-fat coke to kill any bacteria.

Overall, though, it was a great family weekend and the ground at Houghton was the best it’s ever been.

COMPLEX OPTIONS

JUST as you think and hope that horse trials are returning to some sort of normality, there is more bad news.

First the cancellation of Burghley, which will have serious ramifications for British Eventing’s finances unless a meaningful replacement at a prestigious venue can somehow be scrambled together, then the red tape and inconvenient quarantine rules faced by British-based riders getting to Luhmühlen.

This could result in a severely dented CCI5*-L, as the top German horses tend to run in the CCI4*-S.

Fortunately, most top British horses, as well as those ridden by Australian and New Zealand riders, are double entered at Bicton. I believe, at the time of writing, a couple of riders were trying to circumvent the problem by travelling from Millstreet in Ireland this weekend, where the entry is predominantly Irish, but this is a fiendishly complicated option.

The announcement of the Olympic long-list presented some sort of normality, although how normal the Games will be is anyone’s guess. Long gone are the days when a championship team of four would be a mix of strengths and weaknesses; now, everyone has to be thoroughly proficient in all three phases to win medals, even with the new substitution rules.

This long-list certainly demonstrated the strength in depth in Britain if combinations of the calibre of Houghton winners William Fox-Pitt and Little Fire, Tina Cook with Billy The Red and Pippa Funnell’s 2019 Burghley winner MGH Grafton Street can be left off.

ON TO BICTON

BY the time you read this, I will have marked a significant birthday. My treats include leading the annual Dartmoor Derby – fortunately a spoiling night in a five-star hotel is included – and Bicton this weekend, where Emily has her last chance to win the under-25s again.

I am looking forward to seeing what organiser Helen West has done to upgrade the event, with the help of Mark Phillips; I am sure they will have done an amazing job.

I was delighted to hear about Helen’s recent appointment as British Eventing CEO; she’s very much in touch with all aspects of the sport through her competing and course-designing, as well as running Bicton Arena, and is a lovely, straightforward person.

She’s got a daunting challenge on her hands, but let’s hope she can move the sport on out of this current difficult patch.

This exclusive column is also available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 10 June 2021

Pippa Funnell: ‘Don’t let Covid dumb down our sport’ H&H Plus

Pippa Roome — Wed, 19 May 2021 14:00:25 +0000

Pippa Funnell appeals to eventing’s iconic venues to preserve eventing

LAST week’s monumental fixture at Aston-le-Walls gave many top horses the run they so desperately needed, but it’s left me with mixed feelings. I don’t usually stick my head above the parapet with my opinions as I’d hate to offend anyone, but if it does resonate with others, consider this a cry for help to those who can assist our sport.

Firstly I commend Nigel Taylor and his team for running two very successful four-star sections at Aston. He did a fantastic job, the going was excellent and the sections featured the very best horses in the country.

I was delighted with my four boys all posting sub-30 dressage scores. They showjumped well and felt amazing across country. Was the cross-country as demanding as Chatsworth? Probably not, but we are grateful for it filling the gap in this strange season. But is this the permanent shape of things to come?

Aston – like Burnham Market – plays a huge, vital role in our sport, but for the sake of eventing and the safety of future generations, we must do everything to preserve the spectacular iconic venues.

I understand the colossal impact Covid has had on all aspects of life over the past 15 months but we must not let it change our lives forever. Yes, I sympathise with Badminton, Burghley, Bramham, Chatsworth and Gatcombe’s reasons for cancelling. I’m sure the financial risk was the overriding factor, but I feel very saddened that riders, owners, sponsors and so on were not put in the picture. We only knew once the official statements of cancellation went public.

Everyone wants the same outcome – the resumption of these key, historic events – so we all need to pull together. Maybe there are people out there with magic wands – the more of us looking, the more likely we will find them.

DEVELOPING QUALITY HORSEMEN

AT the risk of holding out my begging bowl, I am pleading with these iconic events and their land owners, who have so generously allowed our sport to take place on their land over the decades, that Covid should not be their reason not to hold future horse trials.

Arguably the most special thing about our wonderful sport is that we have unbelievably beautiful locations in which to compete. Many hundreds of thousands of people hear about, visit or watch our sport on TV in these historic country estates. It gives us an opportunity to see and be proud of the beauty of these parklands.

But it goes much deeper than the aesthetics and privilege of competing in front of these splendid houses. The changing terrains of these venues is what teaches us to be horsemen. The challenge of cross-country is not just jumping daunting fences, it’s also being able to balance horses over different terrain.

Before Covid, many riders steered clear of the likes of Gatcombe Park because it is so hilly; it’s tough to ride and you’re more likely to blemish a horse’s record by picking up 20 penalties. But this terrain is what teaches us the most crucial lessons, much more than practising angles and skinnies in all-weather arenas.

It is the Chatsworths, Gatcombes and Bramhams that prepare us and tell us if we are ready for the challenge of Badminton and Burghley.

Please, please let us preserve these venues. By dumbing down our sport, horses will be ridden faster and faster; they will not have time to think, riders will take too many chances and none of us wants to see that. I’d rather see fewer but properly prepared combinations at our five-stars. What will do our sport irreparable damage is images of tired horses, or partnerships that aren’t equipped to compete at that level.

It is absolutely essential that there is no easy passage through; that riders have the opportunity to find out for certain if they and their horses are ready for every aspect of the ultimate test of horsemanship.

On a positive note, let’s all get behind the Jockey Club in their new role of running what will be our only top event this year, Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials. We must all pull together. We need everyone – owners, sponsors, riders, organisers, landowners and the BBC – to keep our great sport special and in the public eye so it can continue to be enjoyed by all its enthusiasts for years to come.

You can also read this exclusive column in the 20 May issue of Horse & Hound magazine.

Mark Phillips: ‘Why couldn’t we crowdfund Burghley?’ H&H Plus

Mark Phillips — Tue, 18 May 2021 14:00:43 +0000

Mark Phillips gives the inside story of what happened with this cancellation

THE twists, turns and unforeseen consequences of Covid-19 keep coming.

The Land Rover Kentucky five-star behind closed doors was a surreal experience. Restrictions in the UK prevented Badminton running a similar model and we’ve recently cancelled the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe because of the uncertainties.

Without terrestrial television, it was difficult to see how we could give our great sponsors value for money behind closed doors – they sign up for the occasion and the experience, not just to be philanthropic and support a horse trial.

DISMAY AT BURGHLEY

NOW the latest coronavirus casualty is Burghley, which had even more twists and turns. Event director Liz Inman has been working 24/7 for weeks on various models to try to make the event financially viable.

As at Gatcombe, she found that having a limited number of spectators incurred too much cost in terms of tentage, parking, security and so on to make any anticipated income worthwhile.

So she eventually came to the conclusion that the only solution was for the event to be crowdfunded by the sport, running behind closed doors. This would avoid exposing the Burghley Estate to any more liability than the cost of cancellation in May. That cancellation cost is a serious six-figure number because of rates, rents, licences and fixed annual overheads, a lot of which had already been cut by furloughing non-essential staff.

So when the powers that be at Burghley agreed before the 1–3 May Bank Holiday weekend that she could explore and start planning for funding, she was off and running. She had commitments of support from sponsors, tradestands and the Event Horse Owners Association – who said they would use some of their reserves – as well as many individuals.

I was hired as course-designer at a reduced cost to save money flying Derek di Grazia in from the US. Adrian Ditcham and I were scheduled to go to Burghley to try to cut the cross-country budget further – for example, by using sheep to cut the grass in early summer instead of mowing, using a British Eventing Agri-vator if needed instead of irrigation, borrowing machines from JCB to move fences and so on.

It was, therefore, with complete dismay that we discovered after the Bank Holiday that the Burghley Estate powers had decided to do a U-turn and cancel.

The overriding charity under which the horse trials operates is the Burghley House Preservation Trust. I don’t understand the complexities and liabilities around charitable governance, therefore it is difficult for me to understand why, when the estate had the opportunity of reducing their cancellation liability, they would not have taken advantage of it. As we start to come out of Covid restrictions, there may have been opportunities to create more profit to reduce the liabilities even further.

It is even more puzzling when you think that Lord Exeter set the event up 60 years ago for the benefit of the sport, not the estate.

This is bad news too for British Eventing (BE) as they will not get any more funding from Burghley until the estate has recouped the cancellation losses from 2021. Therefore, it would not be unreasonable to predict no significant funding from Burghley until after the 2023 event, which will create a major hole in BE’s ongoing budgeting forecasts.

A SEVEN-DAY EVENT

THERE are a lot of jealous people quick to criticise Nigel Taylor’s Aston-le-Walls, where combining the Chatsworth fixture with his usual May one resulted in a seven-day horse trials. Nobody, though, can question the demand or the quality of what he laid on, with two sections of CCI4*-S, each with over 100 starters.

I was the course-designer for the four-star and perhaps gave the course a different feel, with five or six serious questions. But Nigel had produced near-perfect footing that gave riders the opportunity to give horses confidence-boosting rounds at this stage of the season.

I was impressed with the improvement in the dressage standard, with roughly 25% under 30. There was some excellent cross-country riding, with Piggy March, Sarah Bullimore, Harry Meade, Ros Canter, Izzy Taylor and Tom McEwen all British standouts.

As Tokyo beckons, Aston-le-Walls was a boost for the UK sport after the shadow cast by Burghley’s cancellation.

You can also read this exclusive column in the 20 May issue of Horse & Hound magazine.

Pippa Roome: will fans, riders and journalists be baffled by substitutions at the Olympics? H&H Plus

Pippa Roome — Wed, 05 May 2021 11:00:18 +0000

Pippa Roome looks at how the format in Tokyo might influence selection

KENTUCKY was the first chance this year for riders to make an impact on their country’s selectors.

On the British side, winners Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class will be the names on everyone’s lips for Tokyo now.

Harry Meade’s fifth on Superstition’s five-star debut was impressive – particularly after Harry’s serious brain injury last autumn. But the selectors may want a longer history of consistent performances for an Olympic berth, in which case the Europeans would be a likely destination for this pair.

Kevin McNab (sixth on Scuderia 1918 Don Quidam for Australia) and Jesse Campbell (11th on Diachello for New Zealand) have given themselves a real boost to join their nations’ Tokyo line-ups.

The US may have been a bit disappointed that six of the top 10 places and all the podium spots went abroad.

Phillip Dutton showed his reliability in eighth on Z, while Boyd Martin was best of the home side in fourth – but on the British-bred On Cue, rather than the predicted star, Tsetserleg TSF. The latter was going well when he fell near the end of the cross-country and a strong result at a four-star could bring him back into contention for selection.

Tamie Smith’s only error on the way to ninth with Mai Baum was breaking a frangible device across country and I suspect the US selectors may forgive her that – her reliably top-notch dressage is such a bonus and she showjumped clear. But with six more American pairs grouped between 10th and 16th, there’s some thinking to do.

SELECTION TACTICS

ALL three team members’ scores will count in Tokyo, which brings reliability to the fore in selection tactics.

In some cases, combinations can do the later phases even if eliminated in the dressage or cross-country, although the rules prevent continuing in some circumstances, such as after a horse fall. But a pair who don’t finish a test will carry 100 penalties in each of dressage and showjumping or 200 in cross-country, so a team with three true completions has a better medal chance – which may lead nations to select pairs who are more likely to finish, but less likely to record an excellent score. But no one is guaranteed to complete and banking on a team medal with three mediocre completions is a risky strategy.

Other nations may decide to send three potential individual medallists, even if they are less reliable. That way, they have three shots at individual honours, plus if all three complete, team gold could follow.

The fourth squad member, the “alternate”, can be substituted into the competition for medical or veterinary reasons for any of the three tests, with a 20-point penalty. It’s not rocket science to say rider temperament will be vital in the alternate.

I also feel jumping reliability is more important than dressage prowess in the alternates. It’s more likely they’ll take part in the later phases, so putting a pair with exceptional dressage in this spot feels like a waste – unless this horse is expected to go tactically lame after dressage and be replaced, of course!

I’m fascinated to see whether nations name three team members and an alternate when they make selections or simply announce a four-pair squad. The entries deadline is 5 July and at that point, teams will have to differentiate between their three team members and the alternate.

That said, assuming all four horses pass the first trot-up, a substitution can be made without penalty until two hours before the dressage. In that case, the withdrawn horse becomes the alternate and can later be substituted in – so in reality, it’s possible to adjust who is the alternate without penalty until two hours before the dressage.

The rules around substitutions are fiendishly complicated – it will be interesting to see whether they seem any simpler as the competition progresses or if fans, riders and journalists alike are baffled!

● What would be your tactics if you were a selector? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com

This column can also be read in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 6 May

Mark Phillips: ‘An unacceptable number of horse falls’ H&H Plus

Mark Phillips — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 14:00:02 +0000

Mark Phillips explains why quality in qualifiers matters more than quantity

I’M over 70 years old and lucky to have had both my Covid vaccinations – and to be able to travel on an elite athlete back-up ticket. However, I’m beyond tired of all the restrictions and bureaucracy surrounding sport and travel.

Two weeks ago, I spent two hours in a hot immigration line at Heathrow, where the charming ladies handling the frustrated travellers were giving out water to the weary and battery chargers for drained mobile phones, such was the embarrassment of our border force.

My travels have highlighted the paper-thin FEI risk management policy. Strzegom had probably 80% of its fences up to height, but the technical difficulty was barely of intermediate standard, with combinations on five to eight strides. In Kentucky, at the same qualifying level, the combinations were all on two and three strides, plus there was terrain.

The FEI solution is to get people to do more and more “qualifying” runs, but they would be better advised to focus on the quality of these outings rather than the labels organisers put on them, particularly when they are Olympic qualifiers.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

I HAVE the greatest respect and admiration for Andrew Nicholson. I read his recent column in Horse & Hound with interest and understand his sentiments on perceived conflicts of interest within British Eventing (BE).

To set the record straight on Weston Park, organiser Janet Plant offered to put on a four-star long and short on the Badminton weekend to replace lost events at Bramham or Chatsworth, at the behest of British high performance coach Chris Bartle.

Once BE decreed that any Chatsworth or Bramham replacement fixture had to be on those events’ original dates, she was not able to run because of other functions at Weston, though her offer to run on Badminton weekend stood.

However, this met with hostility from other organisers, who were worried about how their entries might be affected, and the BE board turned her down. It’s sad when such a valuable site is not used because of conflicts within the sport.

There is soon to be a new chief executive at BE and they would be well advised to look at the paper that Mike Etherington-Smith, Stuart Buntine, Helen West and I spent hundreds of hours working on last year as the BE advisory group.

A key recommendation was to scrap the existing affiliation agreement with organisers and the fixtures protocol and start again, with the members’ interests at heart.

A REAL FIVE-STAR

STRZEGOM may have been an apology for a four-star, but this year’s Derek di Grazia-designed Land Rover Kentucky five-star cross-country was every inch up to standard. In fact, I would say it was “Burghley big”, and that is not a phrase I’ve used before.

It had more brush fences and more frangible fences than ever seen at this level. Yet we still had an unacceptable number of horse falls, a fate I suffered with my 2019 Burghley course.

Such is the lot of genuine five-star course-designers and why not too many people are showing their head above the parapet for the job! Certainly it gives credence to the Burghley committee nominating Derek as my successor there, and is why the quality of qualifying competitions is more important than the quantity.

The Brits in Kentucky had a mixed weekend. William Fox-Pitt rode like the superstar he is, only to fall slithering over an innocuous-looking log three from home. Oliver Townend did an outstanding job on Cooley Master Class, only to fail the final horse inspection with an innocent cut on his elbow from a stud.

On the brighter side, Harry Meade showed true five-star credentials on Superstition’s debut at the level and Ballaghmor Class continued his extraordinary run of five-star form for Oliver.

● Which riders impressed you at Kentucky? What did you think of the course? Write to hhletters@futurenet.com

This column can also be read in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 29 April

Andrew Nicholson: ‘Riders don’t learn and progress by keeping clean records’ H&H Plus

Andrew Nicholson — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 11:00:29 +0000

Andrew Nicholson comments on early-season courses and Burghley hopes

ALEC LOCHORE’S cross-country course for the CCI4*-S at Burnham Market was the best since I’ve been competing there. It was difficult enough, but nice to ride round with good distances and lines.

I thought the intermediate track had been made for the open intermediate horses, rather than the “normal” intermediate horses, though, and it was the same at Weston Park and Tweseldown. I might be getting old, but some of the questions at all three events were pretty strong for proper intermediate horses.

At this time of year – and especially considering that the riders who weren’t in the “elite” bracket have had very little opportunity to go cross-country – you do need intermediate courses that aren’t just designed with older, experienced horses in mind.

I’m a big fan of Weston Park. It can be wet in the spring, but I’ve always run my top horses there and they have come out of it well. But while a few years ago there would be three full advanced sections, the event has struggled to get advanced entries recently.

Janet Plant’s tracks are strong and run across proper old parkland with natural undulations. The terrain in the showjumping arena at Weston isn’t easy to ride, there’s a five-minute hack to the dressage… it seems that the modern generation of riders favour events that are more cramped and which pose less of a challenge.

What happens when they get to Badminton and Burghley, though, to which all of the above comments about Weston apply? Riders don’t learn and progress by keeping clean records; making mistakes sharpens you up and challenges you.

Weston has always been a good preparation for those five-star events, and I was fascinated to hear that its organiser, Janet Plant, had offered to put on a CCI4*-L and CCI4*-S during what would have been Badminton week this year and had the support of the Weston Park estate to do so.

She would have had to use a different course-designer who was qualified to design at that level, and it would have given a fresh look and feel to the track – and may have kept the long-standing event in the calendar for another few decades.

For British Eventing (BE) to say no to her, and to say yes to Aston-le-Walls holding a CCI4*-S and Bicton a CCI4*-L and CCI4*-S was a surprise. I get on with the organisers of both events, but they are both BE board members – isn’t there a bit of a conflict of interest there? I would have thought there were enough horses around to fill the entries at all three events, and there’s a real danger that we are losing the variation of events which makes the sport in this country so strong and so competitive.

FIVE-STAR SPORT

IT’S great that Kentucky is happening this weekend. Who knows – it may be the only CCI5* to run this year, and it’s a good, bold move by British-based riders to go. Their presence gives it a proper international flavour and competitiveness. Top horses don’t have endless time at that level, especially having missed last year, and good competitors need good competitions – that’s what we thrive on.

I’m very much hoping that I will be taking Swallow Springs to Burghley in the autumn.

We don’t seem to have heard much from Burghley yet about their plans; it will take bravery to run in this uncertain world, but I, along with all the other riders with five-star horses, hope they grasp the nettle and make it happen.

I’M a big fan of National Hunt racing, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching Rachael Blackmore’s run of success at Cheltenham and Aintree in the past month. She doesn’t just win races; she looks very good doing it and is an excellent race-rider. You don’t pick her out in a race as being physically any different to her male counterparts – she’s just a very good jockey. She’s a great advert for horse sport in general.

This report is also available to read in this Thursday’s H&H magazine (22 April, 2021)

Mary King: ‘Is eventing fading from public memory?’ H&H Plus

Mary King — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 11:00:31 +0000

Mary King discusses why the lack of high-profile events is now worrying

THE 2021 season has begun where the last one left off – with a no-frills system of “compete and go” and limited grooms and owners permitted. Who could have predicted, one year after the pandemic started, that we would still be subject to such restrictions?

I’ve managed to keep fit with a lot of tennis and I am starting to run in earnest – I am part of the GOSH (Great Ormond Street Hospital) team for the London Marathon on 3 October, which will be my first. I’m fundraising at justgiving.com/marykingmarathon and support is much appreciated. I’ve also been learning bridge online, which I have found unexpectedly fascinating.

I have low-key weekly outings with my young horses to look forward to; Tweseldown, the first, was a great start: the sun shone, the ground was excellent and both my babies, King Seamus and King Cyrus, were placed in BE100 sections.

Portman was slightly harder work – the lorry registered a temperature of -4°C as we approached the event. It really wasn’t eventing weather and all the officials did well to stick out an absolutely freezing day.

Snow at Weston Park and cold rain at Larkhill this last weekend didn’t deter from some great sport, but roll on summer!

The silver lining to another difficult season is that my local event, Bicton Arena, will finally host a much-deserved CCI4*-L, stepping in to replace Bramham. Organiser Helen West has been longing to do this and it’s well overdue.

It seems a shame Bicton can’t count as an Olympic qualifier, but then there has to be a question mark over Tokyo; thank goodness some farsighted people pushed the FEI for a European Championships, and how great to see it at a new venue, Avenches in Switzerland. I have never been there, but I remember Ginny Leng (now Elliot) winning there on a precocious Murphy Himself.

HIGH-PROFILE EVENTS

THE worry is not the lack of national and behind-closed-doors events, where many organisers are heroically managing to provide qualifying runs for all, but the lack of high-profile occasions for a second consecutive spring and the challenging decisions facing organisers of major internationals.

Badminton was always facing a race against time and the cautious roadmap out of national lockdown. Had it been able to run behind closed doors, it might still have been a vehicle to promote pure elite sport and elite riders and horses on television, with a sports press desperately in need of stories.

However, unlike racing, which has been able to showcase fantastic sport at Cheltenham and Aintree, we are now in a situation where the last big horse trials in this country was 18 months ago, at Burghley in 2019. Pippa Funnell’s comeback win there was as good a sporting story as any, but the memory is in danger of fading from the public psyche.

Equestrianism is a sport in which Britain wins medals, but there hasn’t been any opportunity for that either and a perfect storm of Brexit costs, equine herpes and the slower rolling-out of the coronavirus vaccine in Europe isn’t helping riders to prepare for this year’s championships.

The cancellation of so many county shows – the Royal Cornwall recently raised the white flag on its September date – shows the difficult decisions facing any organiser of a major event, whether it be it a music festival or a horse trials.

The infrastructure required – seating, tentage, contractors and so on – plus sponsorship is a huge commitment and, without a guaranteed audience, some events aren’t viable. A lot will depend on the success of the test-and-trace procedures put in place at next weekend’s World Snooker Championship and at the FA Cup final next month.

I believe things can and will recover in 2022; eventing, which can call on so many dedicated people, is too good a sport and too much a part of British country life not to. However, everyone will need to pull together and make compromises.

This exclusive column is also available to read in this Thursday’s H&H magazine (15 April, 2021)

Mark Phillips: ‘Ridiculous? It’s really off the scale’ H&H Plus

Mark Phillips — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 08:06:08 +0000

Mark Phillips reviews the current global travel and competition challenges facing riders and their support teams

COVID-19 has changed life so much – it’s a struggle even to begin to understand what the new normal will be. Add Brexit on top of that and we almost have the perfect storm, certainly for those of us who have to travel to make a living. The paperwork involved in moving from one country to another, particularly with animals, is off the scale of ridiculousness.

Having to take your truck to mainland Europe or Ireland to get it certified – and the cost involved – is just the start. The 32 pages of vet papers to go abroad and the time that it takes to get them processed at the border is unbelievable, and if you want to take your dog as well, that’s another whole raft of time, money and bureaucracy gone mad.

The politicians are lucky that a lot of the Brexit hassles have been overshadowed and kept out of the news by Covid.

We hope things will improve, but in the meantime European events that rely on a substantial entry from the UK are going to find things tough because most British-based riders will support home events. Will those events have the capacity for the increased demand?

Badminton, Chatsworth, Rockingham and Bramham all cancelling was sad, but totally understandable. Events that traditionally had larger crowds, tradestands and sponsors have struggled to come up with a financially viable model, even with reduced prize money.

Livestreaming can help, but if you put a livestream behind a paywall, the number of hits reduces by 80-90%, reducing the exposure value for sponsors.

One rule for all

ASTON-LE-WALLS will replace Chatsworth in May, a predictable and understandable move because of the amount of infrastructure Nigel Taylor has in place at Aston. Helen West and her team at Bicton Arena have bravely said they will replace Bramham.

As a debut four-star venue, the team at Bicton will embark on a new build but will also borrow fences from some of us further up the M5 and M3.

I will be helping with the course-design at both venues.

It’s just sad that in a typical “one rule for all” move, the FEI has said that as a new four-star venue, Bicton can’t be a qualifier for the Olympics. It’s a rule the FEI brought in to try and stop South American countries putting on easy qualifiers for their athletes and horses, but I feel some flexibility and discretion could be applied in the current circumstances.

At least eventing is up and running again in the UK, if only at venues where the financial model is based on entry fees.

It would not surprise me to see more big event cancellations later in the summer because of the lead time and budgeting needed and the ongoing uncertainties of the Covid goal posts. To me, almost the worst scenario is being allowed to run with 5,000 or 10,000 spectators – then do you have tradestands, and if so how

many and what can they be charged or what can they afford to pay? And how many will still be in business?

A waiver to travel

I’VE been one of the lucky ones with a high-performance waiver allowing me to travel back and forth to the US during this period.

UK-based athletes qualify for a waiver to travel to the Kentucky five-star, based on the fact that their participation will enhance the Tokyo preparation for the US athletes. I know the US Equestrian Federation is working on trying to include owners on that waiver.

FEI competition is due to start opening up on mainland Europe after the 11 April, with new protocols because of the equine herpes virus. That will be good news for Europeans as they will be able to start their Tokyo preparations in earnest.

In the meantime we will all hold our breath hoping that no bad news comes out of Japan so that the Tokyo Games can go ahead, even if with only Japanese spectators.

This exclusive column is also available to read in this Thursday’s H&H magazine (1 April, 2021)

Mark Phillips: When can we get back to normality? H&H Plus

Mark Phillips — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 14:00:11 +0000

These are strange and stressful times for all, with experiences that none of us have ever seen before or want to repeat.

Despite the tragic spiralling death toll, the rapid spread of the virus and the unprecedented strain on the NHS, I can’t help wondering if we are doing the right thing. In Sweden, older and more vulnerable people are isolating, with gatherings of over 50 people banned, but life otherwise carries on as normal.

The UK lockdown will be responsible for bankrupting thousands of businesses and putting the country into a debt situation that will take generations to recover from.

I’m currently in Florida, although hoping to be home before the end of April. In the US, all horse shows are cancelled until 3 May, subject to a two-weekly review. The situation varies from state to state, but most areas are not on as stringent a lockdown as the UK.

No one can come into yards from off-site for lessons, so professionals can’t teach unless they have the horses in their care. Horse sales have dried up because many don’t have the disposable income; this won’t change for some time after the lockdown is lifted as businesses will take time to recover.

Many owners have taken horses home because they can’t afford training livery and a lot of the top riders have given their good horses two or three weeks’ holiday and are then keeping them ticking over, sending their owners weekly videos.

Course-builders have no work and so it goes on, with a lot of people not foreseeing anything happening before August or September. I hear the FEI have discussed there being no four- or five-star ranking showjumping shows before September, worldwide.

Things may be better here than in the UK, but none of it is good. With 330 million people in the US, the situation will arguably take longer to control than in the UK.

Altered courses

In the sporting field, I sympathise with the tentage, portable loo and fast-food contractors. I do hope they will all be afloat when normality returns.

What will the effect of all this be on British Eventing (BE) finances, which have already been laid bare by the IT problems? You can’t help feeling that members will be sharing some of that pain next year.

I also wonder how and when we come out of lockdown. In America, they predict deaths from coronavirus in June and July. How can we be open to running events in that situation – and will there be another explosion of outbreaks when the population starts moving again?

At the end of May, we have to decide whether to run the Festival of British at Gatcombe in early August. For Burghley, it will be the end of June. Those deadlines are frightening close.

If we can run Gatcombe, I’ve proposed to BE that we hold the novice championships over a 3ft 7in cross-country course and the intermediate championships over a 3ft 9in track, both 2in lower than normal as inevitably horses will be short of runs. Burghley will still look every bit a five-star, but it’ll be technically a little less challenging than usual.

Obviously the postponement of the Olympic Games was a massive disappointment, but achieving a satisfactory preparation was looking increasingly difficult, so it may have been something of a relief for some coaches and riders.

You have to feel sorry for more senior riders nearing the end of their careers now that we have a 12-month delay. Hopefully they and their horses will still be fit next year.

We had a carefully planned course-designer handover at Burghley, with Derek di Grazia taking over for 2021 after his duties in Tokyo this summer. I am now wondering what will happen next year with Burghley coming up so quickly after the Olympics. You may not have seen the last of me!

Out of control

There is so much uncertainty at the moment – never before have I felt so out of control, with no idea what the near future holds. Coaches can’t teach, dealers can’t sell, breeders can’t breed and the landscape is changing so quickly.

We can but try to stay safe, positive and in good health until this nightmare is over and we can start planning again.

Ref Horse & Hound; 9 April 2020

Mary King: Shades of foot-and-mouth year H&H Plus

Mary King — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 15:00:50 +0000

The last time eventing was in lockdown was during foot-and-mouth in 2001. However, I had managed to break my neck in a fall and by the time I recovered, the season was up and running at the end of May with Tweseldown and, I seem to remember, the Wiegersmas’ fun event at Penzance.

A sort of “bargain” Burghley was salvaged thanks to the generous donations – of several thousand pounds – from owners and supporters. And in Ireland, which was also in lockdown, everyone was cheered up by the determination of Georgina Colthurst to run Blarney Castle.

Although one can hardly compare 2001 with the current crisis, it is similar in that we’ve been advised only to ride on our own property and to avoid taking risks which could add to the NHS’s burden. Foot-and-mouth wasn’t worldwide, though, and a lot of people decamped to Kentucky, which was then in its relative infancy as a four-star (now five-star).

Like most other riders, the focus now is on my youngsters and, in that respect, things don’t feel too different. I have five home-breds, which I do myself, including a three-year-old that I’ve brought in earlier than usual to back. They all know me well because I’ve been handling them from birth, but I’m trying particularly hard to avoid risky situations.

I have three DIY liveries, one of which belongs to Annie Corbin (née Collings) who worked for me for so many years; it’s lovely to see her every day and we chat from a distance.

I’m also helping on the farm which, of course, must keep going, come what may – animals still need to be slaughtered and people fed. As I write, my husband David has just returned from Truro cattle market, which was only open to buyers, who surrounded the ring at 2m intervals. Vendors dropped off their stock, then had to leave.

24 days to a shower

I am feeling very lucky to have been able to complete my leg of the Clipper Round the World Race, as that’s now been halted, with boats marooned in the Philippines. I joined the race in South Africa, after teaching a clinic at the Stellenbosch District Riding Club near Cape Town and finished with a wonderful family holiday in Australia after David and my children, Emily and Freddie, met me in Fremantle.

Life as an event rider – not only the physical hard work and living out of a lorry, but having to manage the fear factor – really helped me because the race was a huge challenge. Fortunately, I was only seasick once, but it was very cold, you feel permanently damp, including your clothes and sleeping bag, and we lost a helming station (one of two steering areas) in a storm, which was rather exciting!

I’d been looking forward to experiencing the Southern Ocean’s famous “Roaring Forties”, which are incredibly loud, strong, freezing winds – we were quite near the iceberg region of Antarctica. But eventually it became warmer by the day and, after 24 days, I had my first shower. I’m thrilled to have completed an ocean race – I really loved the whole experience, but still prefer four-legged horses to the white ones!

Paying tribute

It’s been a great sadness that Lord Patrick Beresford has passed away. Fortunately I spoke to him the week before he died and reminded him to watch Cheltenham; as we hung up, he was writing a reminder to watch the Champion Hurdle.

Patrick was chef d’equipe for the Brits for my first Europeans, in 1991, and my first Olympics, Barcelona, the following year. He was a lovely man, an exceptionally kind person, who instinctively supported those who were unhappy or marginalised. I always kept in touch with him and he became a great supporter of Emily’s — he had a lovely young horse with her that he hoped to follow this season.

Ref Horse & Hound; 2 April 2020

Harry Meade: Making the best of this tough time H&H Plus

Harry Meade — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 15:30:06 +0000

One evening last week, I had three jobs to do. The first was to enter Badminton, which seemed futile; the second was supplying information for Olympic accreditation, which now proves to have been futile, and the third was to answer questions from my solicitor who was drafting my will, which with any luck will be futile!

We’re trying to carry on as normally as possible since the shutdown of British Eventing competitions. The horses’ preparations are continuing as if they have events coming up. The aim is to have them ready to hit the ground running when we’re given green light, but also to make progress in the meantime, so that when we start eventing they’re all half a season further on in their training than they are now.

We’re all coming off the back of a long pre-season, battling through what felt like six months of rain. Now that pre-season has been elongated indefinitely, it will take self-discipline to maintain focus.

Replicating events

We’re trying to replicate as best we can some of the experiences the horses would gain on the circuit, by adding competition conditions to our existing training. Thankfully our system is designed around our natural facilities; working on grass, hillwork and the like will be key – anything not to be too restricted to a school.

In the past I’ve sometimes opted to take established horses to Badminton off the back of a single open intermediate run. In these instances their preparation is done at home and most of it before the season even starts. Now, we have to replicate that with the younger horses.

With any luck eventing might get going earlier than some activities, once we get to the tail end of the pandemic and the NHS is no longer overstretched. The smaller national events have negligible crowds and unlike sports such as rugby, competitors are not in close physical contact.

One challenge is that many volunteers – the backbone of the sport – are elderly and therefore at greater risk. Once it is safe to restart the season, there may be a shortage of volunteers. In the short term, perhaps riders should have to provide a helper for every fourth start. A professional running four horses at each event would have to provide a volunteer every time, while an amateur with just one horse would have to provide someone every fourth outing.

Be proactive

This break is tough for anyone running a business, but we have to be positive and use the time to be proactive, with owners, sponsors – many of whom face real challenges – and staff. When I was in hospital in 2013 after shattering both elbows, I learnt to cope in a situation of uncertainty with limited income and an unknown recovery time. I learnt that a clear plan as well as good and regular communication with those involved with our set-up was key.

This is an opportunity for us to invest time in our own teams – putting emphasis on individuals’ development will help to keep morale up.

For many, this is a time of recalibration with children at home and jobs interrupted. Seeing our two playing games outside is a reminder of the blessings of a rural upbringing and the joys of a childhood shaped around horses.

Ref Horse & Hound; 26 March 2020

H&H’s eventing editor Pippa Roome: These things will matter again H&H Plus

Pippa Roome — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 09:00:50 +0000

The coronavirus outbreak means the next few months look like being the most extraordinary period in the lives of all of us who did not see the last world war.

The speed of change has been unbelievable. At Tweseldown two weeks ago, “washing” was all about how many early season events would be washed away by the rain. Now, washing is all about hands, and a bit of rain seems like a minor concern.

Those who were at events last weekend said it felt like the last horse show on earth. People who were far from home scrambled to catch planes back to loved ones. Freelancers hedged their bets on which side of the Atlantic was likely to provide work soonest, with free movement between the two shutting down.

Meanwhile social media was awash with questions. Can I ride if I’m self-isolating? Will my livery yard look after my horse?

Of course we all continue to prioritise our animals’ welfare, but it’s amazing how quickly many normal concerns recede in these situations. Suddenly, thoughts are with elderly or sick relatives and friends, how we can best protect and help them.

For many, having three showjumps down or losing the chance to ride in a grassroots championships regional qualifier doesn’t seem important any more.

Panic buying

At H&H, last week was characterised by a creeping realisation that the equestrian calendar was going to be decimated. We watched social media announcements come in thick and fast and started contingency plans to replace sport report pages with features.

We are buying up features in large quantities instead of loo roll. Don’t worry; our offering over the coming months will be a lot more imaginative than many people’s stockpile.

This issue went to press just hours after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement that all non-essential social contact should stop and emergency workers will no longer support mass gatherings.

By the time you read this, there will have been announcements by British horse sport’s governing bodies, but against such a background it’s hard to see events continuing to run.

Timescales are uncertain and while as H&H went to press the official line was that the Olympic Games are still on, everyone is asking the question. If they do go ahead, there will be few athletes whose build-up has not been affected in some way by this pandemic and certainly many rider’s programmes have already been interrupted.

You will care again

Everyone knows the economic consequences of this pandemic will be great, as well as the human cost. And the horseworld will not be immune to the hit – show centres are going to struggle without income and many people will have less disposable cash, the consequences of which are far-reaching in our industry. All our lives will be affected for months and years to come.

Hold on to the fact that at some point in the future, you will again drink champagne to celebrate a red rosette, cry tears of joy over a precious qualification, punch the air as you celebrate a long-awaited clear round. Such things may seem trivial now, but we will need hope to get us through the next few months, which promise to be frightening and tedious in equal measure.

Ref Horse & Hound; 19 March 2020

Andrew Nicholson: Eventing in March is a lottery H&H Plus

Andrew Nicholson — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 15:00:16 +0000

The eventing season has started – for some people. I tried to go eventing at Tweseldown last Thursday, and I was quite sure that if I started the dressage, I’d get a complete run into my horses. Yes, it was wet and cold, but only once have I started the dressage there and not finished the day – about 25 years ago, when it snowed. I’d already been round the cross-country twice when they called it a day because the snow was so heavy.

Last week, we knew before we started that the ground in the dressage warm-up and arenas was going to be messy, but it can look bad there and the ground takes it well.

I was first to go in the advanced intermediate (AI), which was the first of the intermediate sections, and was warmed up for cross-country, having jumped all the practice fences. The ground there was perfectly OK – even the warm-up fences that the BE100 competitors had used were fine to jump.

There were at least eight of the 15 or so of us in the AI down at the start, and I was shocked when the announcement was made that the event was being abandoned. I enquired why the plug had been pulled, and was told that the organisers were worried about the inexperienced competitors riding in wet conditions on heavy ground, and that some of the more senior riders insisted it was dangerous to keep going.

Tweseldown’s going is very sandy, and it thrives on rain – it gets deep there when it’s dry, not wet. There were no new fences on the course, so there was no element of mystery about how anything was going to ride.

Eventing in March is always going to be a bit of a lottery. I don’t mind an event cancelling, or abandoning – these things happen. But when you’ve got a small section of advanced horses ready to do intermediate cross-country, why not run those and get some feedback about how the course actually rides before making such a huge decision?

Of course, the emergency vehicles need to be able to get around the track safely, and the organisers posted on social media on Saturday evening that the fact ambulances were unable to move around was the final deciding factor.

I was also surprised to learn that the course was open for cross-country schooling on the Friday. If that was possible, perhaps it would have been better to try to stage the lower classes that were scheduled at the weekend?

Swiss training

It’s the Cheltenham Festival this week, but sadly I’m not there this year as I’m in Switzerland doing my job as cross-country coach for their team. Our training has been indoors so far this year, and this is our first outdoor session at Avenches.

I’m delighted that my former ride Jet Set has completed the first half of his Olympic qualification with Swiss rider Robin Godel. He looks very good in the videos I’ve seen and Robin rides him well.

He should be a good back-up to Robin’s other horse for Tokyo – although who knows what’s going to happen. Will the Olympics be delayed, moved, cancelled? Coronavirus is adding even more tension and pressure to the season.

Ref Horse & hound; 12 March 2020

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