Latest from Horse & Hound in Kitty-king

‘Riders need to know their horses well’: watch Kitty King walk key fences on the Blenheim European Championships cross-country course

Gemma Redrup — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 08:52:06 +0000

Kitty King, who has competed at five European Championships, winning four medals, previews Mark Phillips’ course for the forthcoming 2025 Agria Blenheim European Championships cross-country course, with the event taking place between 17 and 21 September.

Course-designer Mark Phillips is in charge of Blenheim’s track for the first time this year and has made some alterations to previous years although the direction in which the track runs remains mostly the same.

“T year’s course has a similar feel to past events at Blenheim,” says Kitty. “The direction it takes is mostly the same, but Mark Phillips has introduced and re-introduced some questions.”

The 2025 Blenheim European Eventing Championships cross-country course features 31 numbered fences.

“I feel the course is appropriate for the level given it has to cater for lots of different nations with varying levels of experience,” says Kitty. “I think it’s of a similar level of technicality to other European Championship tracks I’ve seen. It’s difficult to say how strong some of the angled combinations will be without the brush inserted at this stage, but it could make it look a lot more tricky.

“Mark is testing the rider’s ability to know their horse and their horse’s footwork and their ability to maintain a line at the correct speed – it’s very clear for the horses what the questions are, as long as riders can achieve this.”

Kitty has assessed and rated each of the fences in an exclusive Horse & Hound course walk in the current (11 September) issue of the magazine – out now.

Kitty King walks the Blenheim European Championships cross-country course

Watch below as Kitty walks the direct routes at three key combinations on the 2025 Agria Blenheim European Championships cross-country course…

The Suregrow Dew Pond (fence 6abc)

After jumping fence five, you are suddenly into the throngs of tradestands, cameras and spectators, with a lot for horses to look at.

The direct route involves going up a mound to a narrow triple bar where horses will be able to see the water at the bottom of the bank behind.

“How they jump this and use their footwork down the bank will determine how many strides they will get to the final part, which is another narrow triple bar,” explains Kitty. “Although the distance walks on four strides, many will get five and maybe even six if their horse scuttles cautiously down the bank.”

There are long route options here that will add a minimum of five seconds.

Churchill Corners (fence 11abc)

Built on a straight line in front of the palace, this combination includes a box-type fence, followed by a moving four strides to a tricky corner, followed by another moving four strides to another tricky corner.

“This should ride OK if horses stay on their line,” states Kitty. “As you get closer to the corners, the angle becomes more severe and this is a serious test. There are alternatives to parts b and c, but each option will take five or six seconds.”

FEI Mounds (fence 22ab)

This combination comes at the top of a two-minute climb and marks the highest point of the course. There is a right-handed rollback approach to part a, which is an open oxer on top of a mound, before horses run back down the mound and up another mound to an open corner on a tight angle.

There will be some strategically placed trees on the right-hand side of the base of the bottom of the second mound, which will mean riders won’t be able to ride a curve to reduce the angle to the corner.

“The oxer is big, so horses will still have to be jumping well at the top of the climb in order to jump it well,” says Kitty.

Again, there are options here, but they are twisty and time-consuming and will take even more petrol out of the tank.

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(Image credit: Richard Butcher)

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Dual eventer and showjumper ‘who made so much possible’ is retired aged 20: ‘I owe him more than I can put into words’

Jennifer Donald — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 16:09:21 +0000

British showjumper Will Fletcher has revealed “with a really heavy heart” that he has made the decision to retire his “long time companion” Persimmon.

Boasting the unique feat of representing his country in Nations Cup teams across two disciplines, eventing and showjumping, the 20-year-old gelding has enjoyed a long and illustrious career in both spheres.

Persimmon: eventing silver medallist and showjumping grand prix winner

With event rider Kitty King, the Salute RP x Indorado gelding won team silver and finished fourth individually at the 2015 European Championships at Blair Castle and took the runner-up spot at Bramham CCI3* (now CCI4*-L). The pair won seven times internationally before it was decided that “Percy” might be better suited in the showjumping ring. In 2017 he joined Will Fletcher’s Oxfordshire stables.

“He really has been the horse of a lifetime and made so much possible for me, from taking me to my first Europeans where we medalled, first senior Nations Cups and first international grand prix win, even winning grands prix when he was 19 last year,” says Will. “I owe him more than I can put into words.

“But what makes him even more special is, as well as what he achieved with me he was also a senior medallist in eventing – one of very few horses to compete at such a high level at both disciplines.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

“He really has been a horse that has changed a lot of people’s lives and I’m so happy that he’s retired in a good way, very happy and sound. We’ll miss having him at the stables but will never forget everything he’s given to us all.”

Will Fletcher on Persimmon: “He’s 16hh at a push and I’m 6ft 2in”

When Will took the reins on the Dutch-bred “small horse who’d fallen out of love with dressage” he explained: “We took it slowly for the first year as I was in the middle of my A-levels.

“He did well in 1.20m and 1.30m classes but then we jumped a Foxhunter second round, which was by far the biggest course we’d done, and I thought ‘OK, this one has more in the tank than we thought’ and we went on from there.

“He’s 16hh at a push and I’m a full up 6ft 2in but his strength comes straight from his heart; he wants it more than any other horse,” said Will. “He has so many quirks though! The first time I jumped him after a break during lockdown, he splatted me like a 12.2hh pony at a tiny cross-pole and I was left on the floor with him standing over me – I’m sure he was laughing. But once he’s in the ring he’s in the zone. What he’s done to help me with my career has been unbelievable.”

Kitty KING (GBR) riding Persimmon, during the dressage phase of the Longines FEI European Eventing Championship 2015 at Blair Castle, in Blair Atholl near Pitlochry in Perthshire, Scotland, UK , on 9th September 2015 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Kitty King bought Persimmon as a rising six-year-old thinking “he could certainly go out and win a few nice classes, but I wasn’t necessarily expecting him to go on to the European Championships!”

“But he stepped up at every level and found it all very easy – he was very bold cross-country and enjoyed his jumping,” she said. “He was tough mentally and physically and although dressage wasn’t his favourite phase, you could work with him and produce the test you needed to on the day. My proudest moment was finishing fourth at the Europeans at Blair. He’s an amazing little horse.”

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Drama at Luhmühlen five-star final horse inspection as top four partnership is spun

Gemma Redrup — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 08:11:05 +0000

There was drama at the final Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials trot-up this morning (15 June) when four horses were sent to the holding box and three were not accepted upon re-presenting to the ground jury. There were also four horses withdrawn following the cross-country.

The highest placed of those spun was Kitty King and Vendredi Biats. They were in fourth overnight and looked set for yet another top-10 placing at five-star level, but it wasn’t meant to be and they will take no further part in the competition.

The Netherlands’ Janneke Boonzaaijer and I’m Special NOP were also not accepted by the ground jury of Katrin Eichinger-Kniely from Austria, Merel Schurink from the Netherlands and Ernst Topp from Germany after re-presenting. They were in 19th following their clear cross-country jumping round.

The third combination not to be passed fit to continue at the final Luhmühlen Horse Trials trot-up was Morocco’s Noor Slaoui and Cash In Hand, who were in search of a five-star completion on their debut at this level. They were in 29th after the cross-country.

Ireland’s Declan Cullen and Seavaghan Ash were sent to the holding box, but were accepted upon re-presentation.

Belgium’s Lara De Liedekerke-Meier and Origi were the highest placed of the horses withdrawn prior to the final horse inspection – they were in seventh after the cross-country. This 11-year-old gelding pulled up lame after jumping clear inside the time across country, but Lara reported that he was “happy in his stable”.

Aaron Millar opted to withdraw KEC Deakon after the cross-country. They were in 17th after the cross-country having jumped clear across-country, picking up 16.8 time-faults.

Britain’s Kirsty Chabert and Opposition Heraldik Girl, who were in 21st, were another pair to withdraw, as was fellow Brit, five-star first-timer Phoebe Locke and Bellagio Declyange, who was 25th after a steady clear across country.

The five-star showjumping gets underway at 10am (9am UK time).

There was a sad postscript to yesterday’s CCI4*-S cross-country action when Chiquita, ridden by Germany’s Maj-Jonna Ziebell, was injured in a fall at fence 14c.

A statement released by the event read: “The mare received veterinary treatment directly on-site and was driven to a nearby veterinary clinic. It is with great sadness, that we announce that Chiquita had to be put down as a result of a broken shoulder.”

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‘Being sat on a horse like that is something I have to treasure’: Laura Collett leads the way at Luhmühlen following action-packed cross-country

Gemma Redrup — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 16:14:01 +0000

Fast clear rounds were few and far between during the five-star Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country today (14 June).

Just four of the 46 cross-country starters completed clear inside the time around the 11 minute 2 second track, which was designed by Mike Etherington-Smith.

The fastest of those was dressage leader Laura Collett on the second of her two rides, London 52, who stopped the clock with five seconds to spare and remain on their 25.4 dressage score.

“He’s sensational – I’m not very good with words and I genuinely don’t have enough to do him justice, but he’s insane,” said Laura, who is looking to maintain this horse’s unbeaten record at five-star having won this event in 2023, Badminton in 2022 and Pau in 2020.

“The feeling he gives is like no other, so to be in my position and sat on a horse like that is something that I just have to treasure.

“Everything he does, the way he gallops, the way he listens – he’s a big horse, but he’s so adjustable and nippy around these tracks, and at the end of the day, he just loves it.

“He’s so honest, and he looks for the flags, and he makes my job very easy.”

Of the 46 combinations that started the cross-country, there were 20 clears, while 32 completed. This means that 10.8% of the field jumped clear, inside the time, 43.5% of the field jumped clear and 69.6% of the field completed.

“There was nowhere you felt like you could just sit and breathe and gather your thoughts,” explained Laura of the track. “It was, bang, bang, bang, whether it was turning and twisting through the trees or setting up for a combination.”

Ros Canter and Izilot DHI maintain their second place after the dressage. Ros and the 12-year-old she owns alongside Alex Moody, picked up 2.8 time-faults, a contributing factor of which is this horse’s inherently spooky nature.

“I rode him earlier this morning and he wouldn’t go near one of the showjumps, which was slightly concerning,” laughed Ros. “But when he got out there, he really settled. I think having the woods to gallop through at the beginning really channelled and helped him focus. He ducked and dived all over going into the main arena and coming out of it again.

“He doesn’t find it so easy to gallop for so long, but that’s why he can dance so easily in the dressage, so we know his strengths and weaknesses, but I couldn’t fault his attitude today.”

“It felt fast!”: other top riders reflect on performances

British-based New Zealander Samantha Lissington continues her superb run of form, having recently filled the top three spots in the CCI4*-L at Royal Jump in France, where she also finished third in the CCI4*-S on her ride this weekend, Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ.

Sam and this striking black 14-year-old gelding, who she owns alongside her husband Brayden and Pip McCarroll, had the pedal to the metal around today’s track and finished with just .4 of a time penalty, one second over the optimum time.

“I’m really proud of him, and it felt fast!” said Sam, who said she was still wracking her brains this morning about today’s track. “I like to watch some go and then make decisions for myself, but this course was one of the ones where I was a little undecided going out the start box, and I didn’t know quite what I was going to do in the main arena, so I felt like I just had to ride it off feel, and thankfully, it came off.”

The most influential fence on Mark Etherington-Smith’s Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country track was the much talked about fence 8abc, the Longines Kombination. This consisted of a maximum width oxer at the first part, followed by a right-handed turn to two acutely angled brush fences with blue water trays below on a forward one stride distance.

Some riders opted to put in a small curve in-between the b and c elements and clever horses made this look comfortable, however, with the nature of the main arena, with plenty of crowds and marquees to distract horses, some quite simply didn’t lock on to the c element and ran out. Ultimately, this fence caught 15 combinations out – almost a third of the field (32.6%).

Kitty King fourth after Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country

Kitty King and the now incredibly consistent Vendredi Biats – who both really deserve a five-star win having knocked on the door so many times with three top-five five-star placings, including finishing second here last year – finished bang on the optimum time and go into tomorrow’s showjumping in fourth on 31.2.

Kitty was emotional following her round, dreading the day this 16-year-old, owned by Diana Bown, John Eyre, Sally Lloyd Baker and Samantha Wilson, retires from top level sport.

“It wasn’t our tidiest of rounds and we were a bit scrappy in places, but I think that’s the makeup of the course.,” explained Kitty. “It’s very twisty and fast with lots of lines, and the horses don’t really know where they’re going, but he kept helping me out, and I helped him occasionally. He’s just such a dream and I’m going to miss him so much when he has to retire.”

This marked “Froggy’s” fifth run of the season and Kitty has been experimenting with bitting after this horse’s original Myler combination bit was banned for 2025.

“We’ve been trying to find new bits for him – he’s very sensitive and tricky, so this year we’ve run in a different bit at every event,” said Kitty. “Therefore we haven’t really got that continuity yet, because on his first few runs, the bits didn’t work, so we had to keep swapping, so for an older horse, he’s been quite confused.”

Kitty and Froggy finished fourth in the CCI4*-S at Bicton on their most recent run and she decided to stick with the new combination bit she used there for Luhmühlen.

“Although we had a good run at Bicton, we’re probably still a little bit at sea,” said Kitty. “I was really nervous going out the start box here, because I sometimes when you put the bit on the second time, they don’t work at all and he was a bit stiff and wooden in the warm up – I was thinking, ‘oh gosh, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to turn’.

“But he just did his job and was fast as we could be – I was smacking my head into branches everywhere in an effort to save time!”

Young US rider impresses on Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country day

US rider Cosby Green, 24, who is based with Tim and Jonelle Price in Dorset, impressed with polished performances aboard both of her rides today.

She clocked the second fastest round of the day with the second of her rides, Highly Suspicious, finishing four seconds inside the optimum time to move from 16th after the dressage into fifth.

Cosby also finished just one second over the optimum time on her other ride, Jos UFO De Quidam to rocket from 36th after the first phase into ninth.

Laura Collett is another rider to have two horses inside the top 10, with the grey mare Hester seeming to have grown in confidence over the past 12 months – she retired across country at Badminton last year and then picked up 20 penalties in the five-star here last year, but today she finished just three seconds over the optimum time and has moved from 13th into sixth.

“She was phenomenal. The improvement in her in 12 months from where she was here last year was amazing,” said Laura. “And for me, that’s what it’s all about, is building that partnership.

“I’ve had her all the way through her career, like Dan [London 52], so it’s taken years but she feels amazing. She’s like my little unicorn that I get to fly around.”

Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country: the rest of the top 10

Origi, the mount of last year’s winner, Belgium’s Lara De Liedekerke-Meier, finished one second inside the optimum time to currently sit in seventh, but the gelding pulled up lame at the finish. Lara has since posted on social media to say that “he is being taken care of by the vet team and is happy in his stable”.

Rounding off the top 10 is Austria’s Lea Siegl, who at the age of 26 is another young rider to have two horses inside the top 10 following the Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country. She has DSP Fighting Line in eighth having picked up 3.2 time-faults and Van Helsing P in 10th. Van Helsing P dropped from sixth after the dressage having picked up 11.2 time-faults. Lea has been given a yellow card by the ground jury for “abuse of horse for excessive use of the whip” aboard DSP Fighting Line.

Some of those who dropped out of the top 10 today included Gemma Stevens and Jalapeno, who were in fifth after the dressage. Gemma pulled this 17-year-old mare up quickly after jumping through all elements of Manske’s Irish Bank at fence 20. Jalapeno was loaded onto a horse ambulance and Gemma posted on Instagram to say the mare was “comfortable in her stable”.

Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp dropped from third to 12th with Carlitos Quidditch K after activating a frangible device jumping into the second water at fence 11, while Piggy March and Halo dropped from seventh to 24th due to a run out at the final part of this same water fence at 12b. Finally, Selina Milnes and Cooley Snapchat, who held ninth after the first phase, opted to retire after a run out at 8c was followed by a run out at the middle part of the second water at 12a.

The final showjumping phase will get under way tomorrow morning after the final trot-up, which is at 7.45am (6.45am UK time), with less than one fence down separating the top three.

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Find out when your favourites and top names go cross-country at Luhmühlen five-star

Gemma Redrup — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 18:04:03 +0000

The 2025 Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country times have been released – and the five-star is not to be missed with British riders holding seven of the top 10 places after the dressage phase.

The five-star cross-country gets under way on Saturday morning (14 June) at 8.45am (7.45am UK time), and is due to complete at 12.08pm (11.08am UK time).

Britain’s Aimee Penny and the first of her two rides, PSH Encore, will be the pathfinders across cross-country course-designer Mike Etherington Smith’s five-star track, which features 28 numbered fences with an optimum time of 11 minutes and eight seconds. The final rider on course will be Ros Canter riding Izilot DHI.

Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country times: five-star top 10

Laura Collett and London 52: 10.49am UK time (11.49am local time)
Ros Canter and Izilot DHI: 10.57am UK time (11.57am local time)
Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K: 9.21am UK time (10.21am local time)
Samantha Lissington and Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ: 10.05am UK time (11.05am local time)
Gemma Stevens and Jalapeno: 9.25am UK time (10.25am local time)
Lea Siegl and Van Helsing P: 10.53am UK time (11.53am local time)
Piggy March and Halo: 9.53am UK time (10.53am local time)
Kitty King and Vendredi Biats: 10.21am UK time (11.21am local time)
Selina Milnes and Cooley Snapchat: 8.57am UK time (9.57am local time)
Aaron Millar and KEC Deakon: 8.29am UK time (9.29am local time)

The CCI4*-S class is then due to get under way at 1.20pm (12.20pm UK time). This class hosts the German Championship – known as the Deutsche Meisterschaft – but, as opposed to 2024, there are no British entries this year.

View the Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country times in full.

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‘He deserves to win every event he goes to’: Laura Collett and London 52 throw down the gauntlet in contentiously marked Luhmühlen five-star dressage

Gemma Redrup — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 17:09:38 +0000

Laura Collett and the indomitable London 52 lead the way after the CCI5* dressage at the 2025 Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials.

The duo have an enviable record at five-star having won all their starts at this level – this event in 2023, Badminton in 2022 and Pau in 2020. They scored 25.4, which puts them 0.6 of a penalty ahead of second-placed Ros Canter and Izilot DHI.

Their test was virtually fault-free, scoring two nines from the judges – which have been a rare commodity in this class this year – one for their mid-test halt and one for their final halt.

“He’s an absolute dream to ride. He knows what he’s doing now, so it’s just about trusting the process and not getting caught up working in too much,” said Laura. “I rode him this morning and he was very, very fresh, but I just trusted that he’s old enough to know what he’s doing now. He was on the edge in there – it’s quite an atmosphere, but he loves an atmosphere.”

On whether she felt more or less pressure riding such an accomplished horse as London 52, Laura said: “I came into this year saying that after last year with the pressure of the Olympics and everything, I just wanted to enjoy him and enjoy having him around and not having the pressure. But the closer we got to here, I was definitely feeling it, mainly because I don’t want to let him down and he deserves to win every event he goes to, so it’s my job to allow him to do that.”

Going more into her test today, Laura said: “In the trot, he was wanting to show a bit of piaffe and show off a little too much, but we could have had just a bit more rhythm and connection.”

Laura explained that she rarely rides London 52 on the flat at home.

“It’s just a case of keeping him happy, to be honest – he knows all the movements now, so I probably only school him once a month on the flat when I have a lesson.”

Ros Canter: “He was an absolute delight”

Ros was delighted with the efforts of “Isaac”, who can be spooky. But the 12-year-old, who was fourth here and second at Pau last year, who won Pau in 2023, held it together in the first phase, which was bathed in 27°C sunshine but with a brisk breeze.

“I’m absolutely over the moon – he’s a spooky chap, but time and time again he pulls it off and he’s an absolute delight,” said Ros. “We’re much more secure and with each other now he’s 12 years old. We’ve been together a long time and I think he’s trusting me a bit more, and I’m certainly trusting him a bit more and I know him inside out – it’s just about building that relationship.”

Ros said Isaac’s neck is “tricky for her to gauge”.

“I have to rely on people watching me to tell me how it feels, and sometimes he feels elastic and sometimes he doesn’t. But I knew his neck was good because my supporters told me it was – sometimes it doesn’t feel as good as it I’d love it to and I would like to have him a little bit lower and rounder, but when you have him in a place where you’d have another horse, he always looks over-bent, so we just have to have him that little bit more up and out than maybe I feel comfortable with.

“I think I could always get more elasticity in the canter, and that’s kind of his weakness. He’s very comfortable in trot, which is quite unusual for event horses, as most do their best work in canter, but he’s more elastic in the trot.”

Ros said she rode Isaac “a little bit on the safe side” today but that although he is spooky, his brain is “really easy”.

“He’s not a horse that blows up and gets tense – he’s just spooky, and he’s got a real flight instinct, so if he spooks at something, it’s a bit more dramatic than maybe some other horses, but on the whole, he’s pretty chilled so it’s always about balance of having worked enough so he doesn’t spook but not having worked him so much that he doesn’t show off his true nature.”

The home crowd was delighted when Malin Hansen-Hotopp slotted into third with her 2022 Blenheim CCI4*-L winner, Carlitos Quidditch K, who also finished fourth on his five-star debut at Kentucky last year. They were another pair who made no obvious mistakes and went on to score 28,9,

“He was just awesome,” said Malin. “He came into the arena and was a bit ‘Ooh’ at the crowd, but if I stay cool and just ride, I get him like that.”

Samantha Lissington on “finding the balance”

British-based New Zealander Samantha Lissington, who is on flying form having finished in the top three with all three of her rides in the CCI4*-L at France’s Royal Jump event at the end of May, is hoping to capitalise on that, this week. She sits in fourth on Ricker Ridge Sooty GNZ, who finished second in the CCI4*-S at Royal Jump, on 28.9.

“He’s just so obedient and so easy to ride – I came out here and didn’t have to do a lot because he knows his job so well. It’s more just making sure we’re both sharp enough,” said Sam. “It is tricky finding that balance – you want them rideable enough, but quick enough to be on your leg for the changes, I wanted him relaxed and easy and rideable, but not too rideable that I missed a change.”

Gemma Stevens on the Luhmühlen Horse Trials dressage: “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do”

As was the case on the first day of Luhmühlen Horse Trials dressage yesterday, there were many murmurings about the marks in the first phase. One of the riders rueing the mark given was Gemma Stevens, who sits in fifth with Jalapeno on 29.4

“I’m thrilled with her – I don’t know what we’re supposed to do though. That is the best test she’s ever done and she has scored 22s in the past,” said Gemma. “The changes were on the button, she was soft, through and over her back, good in the frame and her transitions were amazing and she didn’t make a mistake. She normally scores in the low 20s and I don’t know why [the judges] have to be like that – I don’t know what they’re trying to achieve, what are they looking for?”

Austria’s Lea Siegl is sixth and 15th riding Van Helsing P and DSP Fighting Line respectively on scores of 29.8 and 34.4. Piggy March sits seventh on 29.9 riding Halo.

“I was absolutely delighted. I’m in my own bubble all week and I’ve got a cute little horse,” said Piggy. “The field is very hot, but I’m here for my own interest to find out where I’m at with my horse.

“It will be his first time galloping 11 minutes across country – he’s a lovely galloping horse, I just hope he settles at the beginning so he doesn’t run his race too early. But he’s 12 and I think he’s a real championship horse – he’s not the finished article yet and there’s lots more to come.”

On the scoring in the Luhmühlen Horse Trials dressage, Piggy said: “I was watching Gemma’s [Stevens] work all morning and it’s been looking very, very smart, and so it’s quite demotivating. It’s nice when you do something good and judges give it a deserving mark, but they’ve stayed pretty miserable this week.

“Riders need to know what they’re training to – marks inspire them. I’ve spoken to ground juries before about it , but have never found the answer to the problem. Dressage is Marmite, isn’t it? But at this level, [this kind of marking] is actually not good enough. Riders have come back in tears and demoralised – these good sportspeople are trying to get to the very top.”

Kitty King and Vendredi Biats put in a polished performance to score 31.2 to sit in eighth. This is ‘Froggy’s’ worst dressage mark since scoring 32.8 in the CCI4*-S at Belton in March 2019.

“They’re just being fairly miserable, but I thought he did a nice test,” Kitty said.

Day one Luhmühlen Horse Trials dressage leader Selina Milnes and Cooley Snapchat sit in ninth on 31.5; Aaron Millar and KEC Deakon, who were second at the end of yesterday, are 10th on 31.6.

The cross-country gets under way at 8.45am tomorrow (7.45am UK time, 14 June).

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‘Big and bold’: Kitty King shares her thoughts on the 2025 Badminton grassroots cross-country courses

Gemma Redrup — Wed, 07 May 2025 07:49:05 +0000

If you’re tackling either the BE90 or BE100 LeMieux grassroots championships cross-country course at Mars Badminton Horse Trials today (7 May), we have some great insight on the track from top event rider Kitty King and the course designer and builder, James Willis.

Find out what Kitty and James had to say…

“We switch the direction of both the five-star track and the grassroots cross-country course each year and so in 2025, most of the terrain comes early in the course,” says James. “It really makes this a course of two halves, with a lot going on early in the course.”

Fence two (Image credit: creditUnknown)

When we get to fence two, the British Eventing Table, some of those on this guided course walk are shocked by the dimensions of it, as it looks quite large for a BE100.

“I build and design the fences on the BE100 grassroots championship cross-country course at 100cm height, but with British Eventing novice level technicality,” explains James. “The course needs to be a challenge, but I want everyone to have a happy time too.”

Fece 6ab (Image credit: creditUnknown)

Fence 6ab, the LeMieux Hollow, is the first proper question on both the BE90 and BE100 tracks.

Kitty says: “On the BE100 track, I would jump the left-hand side of the first element as there is less terrain to have to deal with than on the right-hand side where the ground runs away a bit. The number of strides you get to the second element depends on how you go down the slope after the first element – it walks on five, but it could ride on six or even seven.”

Fence 8ab on the BE100 course (Image credit: creditUnknown)

Fence 8ab in the BE100, the Equireel Funnels, also involves some terrain and riders will need to ride on a good line between the two elements.

“This should ride on four strides and riders need to keep tight to the tree on the left, in-between the elements, in order to get the line and distance,” says Kitty.

Fence eight on the BE90 course (Image credit: creditUnknown)

As we arrive at fence eight on the BE90 track, the Bedmax Ditch Brush, James explains the work that went into the fence.

“We hollowed out the rail so that it became light enough in weight in order for us to be able to use a MIM Clip on it,” he says.

Fence 10ab (Image credit: creditUnknown)

Fence 10ab, the Spillers Brush, sits next to the five-star track’s Beaufort Staircase.

“The first brush at this question should help back horses off before going down the hill to the second brush,” states Kitty.

Fence 18 (Image credit: creditUnknown)

One of the best photo opportunities for riders on this year’s grassroots championships cross-country course is the LeMieux Saddle at fence 18 for both the BE90 and BE100.

“This was probably one of the first fences we put out and it should make a brilliant photo for competitors in front of the house,” says James.

Fence 20ab (Image credit: creditUnknown)

The Mars Equestrian Gates at fence 20ab on both the BE90 and BE100 courses are very upright, with just two fences left after this combination before you’re home.

“These rails come after a long gallop and are here to try to slow people up,” says James. “Riders will have to really respect this question as the gate is very upright.”

Kitty summarises this year’s grassroots tracks by saying: “They are beautifully built courses. They are big and bold and riders will need to get stuck in and get behind their horses and if they do that, I think they’ll have a fantastic ride.

“I think James has been clever in the terrain he’s used – it’s really interesting and adds to the challenge.”

How to watch Badminton Horse Trials

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. This year, 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 £21.99. Go to clipmyhorse.tv/en_GB/badminton to subscribe or to activate your account as an existing Badminton TV subscriber. If you are already a ClipMyHorse.TV premium member, Badminton TV is included in your subscription. As part of Badminton TV, you can enjoy the documentary programme Legends and Legacy, a fly-on-the-wall insight into the 2024 event and preview of 2025.

Enjoy the best of Badminton with Horse & Hound

To ensure you keep up to date with all the breaking news, behind the scenes insight, and the best of the action throughout Badminton Horse Trials with no limits on how much you can read, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website from as little as £1 a week. Sign up now. And don’t miss our bumper 22-page magazine report on Badminton, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from top names, in the issue of Horse & Hound dated 15 May.

Top rider retains open title while another follows in her mother’s footsteps to claim British championship

Gemma Redrup — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 19:23:36 +0000

Tim Price retained his British open championship title at the British Championships today (11 August). Riding Joe and Alex Giannamore’s Vitali, Tim cruised around the track at the Gatcombe Festival of British Eventing replacement, the NAF Five Star Hartpury International Horse Trials, clocking just 1.2 time-faults – the fastest time of the day.

New Zealander Tim was second after the dressage aboard 14-year-old Vitali on 20.5 with Kitty King leading the way on Vendredi Biats with 20.4, but Tim’s speedy cross-country round propelled him to the top of the leaderboard.

“He’s so well suited to this sort of competition. He obviously hasn’t had the best record showjumping when that phase is on day three – that’s something I’m still working on and it will come,” explained Tim. “But in this one-day format, it suits him. He’s got fresher legs this way around and everything is a bit more related to the training you put in for the dressage over the days leading in so the body is a bit more manageable, whereas in a three-day format, he gets more strung out across country and it’s a lot to put him back together.

“He’s such a showman in the dressage, and then we got a clear showjumping round out of him and it’s then a bit game on because he’s a fast horse. He’s been there, done that. The time was super-tight and then I heard Em [Emily King] had gone pretty close to it and I thought ‘gosh, I was trying to get close to the time on my other rides and I was miles off’. But he was super and is so adjustable at speed, which of course helps.

“There was lots to do on the cross-country and it was strong enough. It is good Burghley prep and for what Hartpury is able to offer, it was up there with one of the better tracks.”

Comparing the British open championship at Hartpury to Gatcombe, Tim says it’s a good preparation but slightly different.

“In terms of Burghley, last year I really missed not having Gatcombe as a prep-run [owing to the event’s abandonment] as it just set horses up so brilliantly. This obviously isn’t Gatcombe, but it still got right into my horse’s bread basket – there were enough hills, so I’m hoping this will stand him in very good stead for Burghley and having a bit more gas in the tank than we had there last year when we didn’t get the Gatcombe run.”

Emily King crowned British champion

Emily King and Valmy Biats become British champions. (Image credit: BENJAMIN CLARK)

Emily King was crowned British National champion in the British open championship, as she was the highest-placed Brit, finishing second on her own, Philippe Brivois and the Valmy Biats Syndicate’s Valmy Biats. Emily follows in the footsteps of her mother Mary King, who took this title in 1990, 1991, 1996 and 2007.

It was very close at the top following the dressage with just .4 of a penalty separating the top three, but Emily’s cross-country round, where she incurred the joint-second fastest round of the day for 3.2 time-faults, moved her from third after the first two phases into the runner-up spot.

The highly consistent combination of Kitty King and Vendredi Biats added 8.4 cross-country time-faults to a dressage of 20.4 to finish third.

“He pulled a shoe off early on at fence eight so that made it hard to be quick, but he went really well, did a lovely dressage test and showjumped brilliantly,” explained Kitty of the 15-year-old, owned by Diana Bown, Samantha Wilson, Sally Lloyd-Baker and John Eyre. “He’s so consistent now at this level.”

Kitty stated that the plan is to take ‘Froggy’ to Maryland 5 Star in October.

“I’ve raised half of the funds to take him there, I’ve just got to raise the other half now. I’m hoping to raise the rest by offering someone to ‘adopt’ him for the week, so they will get the full owner experience at the event, but without being named as an owner.”

Zara Tindall and five-star stalwart Class Affair were fourth on 30.7, while Tim Price finished fifth on 37.8 with Coup De Coeur Dudevin.

Of the 34 starters, 30 jumped clear around the Eric Winter-designed cross-country course, while akin to Gatcombe, nobody made the 7min 1sec optimum time.

To stay up to date with all the breaking news throughout the Paralympic Games, Burghley, Horse of the Year Show and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

‘There is no room for error’: the challenging Olympic eventing dressage test explained

Gemma Redrup — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 07:30:59 +0000

Event riders competing at the Paris Olympics will be riding an Olympic eventing dressage test that was first introduced at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

The shortened dressage test, which lasts just under 4mins, was designed to make the phase more spectator-friendly with movements coming up more quickly. This means it is more intense for both horse and rider.

With fewer movements and less time to reorganise between them, it will be harder to score top marks and there are fewer opportunities to demonstrate the horse’s talent and training to the judges. The test includes movements not previously seen in eventing dressage including the canter zig-zag (canter half-pass in one direction, flying change, then canter half pass in the other direction, and a flying change) and walk to counter canter.

Olympic eventing dressage test: a judge’s perspective

Top international dressage judge Stephen Clarke, says the Olympic eventing dressage test is “very difficult, with no let-ups”.

“The counter canter strike off, which is quickly followed by two flying changes on a straight line across the diagonal is particularly challenging,” says Stephen. “If combinations make a mistake in that movement, it will be very hard for them to recover.”

Stephen was on hand at Royal Windsor Horse Show when the British squad ran through the test in public for the first time ahead of flying to Tokyo in 2021.

“It takes a very well-trained horse to do it well – those who have performed the test proved that if a horse isn’t on its rider’s aids, they will lose marks – there is no room for error,” says Stephen.

A rider’s thoughts on the new Olympic eventing dressage test

Five-star event rider and British eventing team regular, Kitty King, who was shortlisted for these Games and has ridden through the test in training, says: “It’s a very fast and furious test in that everything comes up very, very quickly. There’s the same amount of movements as a normal five-star test, but squeezed into a lot less time.

“If you make one mistake, it’s really hard to recover, and I think the trickiest thing is that horses and riders don’t have the time to recover from a mistake before the next movement comes up.”

On the canter half-pass zig-zag, Kitty says: “You have to be very prepared – you want to finish the half-pass a little early so you have a couple of straight strides through your change. Then you need to get back across in time to have your horse straight and get your other change in before you run out of room at the end of the arena.

“You have to be incredibly accurate to give the horse time, rather than rushing across in one direction and then flying back the other way. It’s trying to make it feel like you’ve got time to prepare the horse and to do good straight changes and then get into the half-pass nicely.”

Kitty also highlighted the walk to counter canter as being a challenge.

“Going from walk straight into counter-canter is not a difficult movement, but the event horses normally walk and pick up true canter, and so it would be easy for horses to anticipate what they normally do,” she says. “As a rider you have to be very clear with your aids and what you’re actually asking so the horse doesn’t second guess you. It’s much more like a pure dressage test.

“Also the first centre line requires you to go from canter to trot, whereas horses at this level are used to going from canter to halt, so through trying too hard, they might drop behind their riders. I trained my horses in this new movement so that they didn’t try to anticipate the halt.”

Find out how to watch the Olympic eventing competition

What are the test movements and how is it marked?

The dressage phase of the Olympic eventing competition is taking place on one day in Paris, with all 65 competitors taking part in the first phase on Saturday 27 July. All riders complete a predetermined test of movements (see below) in front of three judges. The judges award marks out of 10 for each movement and, after combining the scores to give an overall percentage score, this is converted into penalty points (the higher the percentage, the lower the penalty score).

Here’s a full run down of the new Olympic eventing dressage test and what the judges are looking for…

Movement 1:

A: Enter collected canter

X: Collected trot

C: Track right

Judges looking for: Quality of trot and canter, transition to collected trot, balance in turn

Movement 2:

M-X-K: Extended trot

K: Collected trot

Judges looking for: Extension and regularity of steps, elasticity, balance and lengthening of frame

Movement 3:

Transitions at M and K

Judges looking for: Rhythm, engagement of hind legs into extended trot and return to collected trot. Clarity of transitions

Movement 4:

After A: Turn down quarter line, shoulder in left

Judges looking for: Regularity and quality of trot, collection and balance, flexion, bend and angle

Movement 5:

At B-E line: Half-pass left at H

Judges looking for: Regularity and quality of trot, collection and balance, flexion, bend, fluency, crossing of legs

Movement 6:

C: Halt

Judges looking for: Transition, engagement and immobility

Movement 7:

C: Rein-back five steps, proceed collected trot

Judges looking for: Accuracy, regularity of steps, straightness, balance and acceptance of contact in the reinback

Movement 8:

M-Far quarter line: Half-pass right

Judges looking for: Regularity and quality of trot, collection and balance, flexion, bend, fluency, crossing of legs

Movement 9:

At quarter line between B&E: Shoulder-in right to end, then track left

Judges looking for: Regularity and quality of trot, collection and balance, flexion, bend and angle

Movement 10:

P-S: Extended walk

Judges looking for: Regularity, lengthening of steps and outline, acceptance of contact, freedom of shoulders, over-track

Movement 11:

S-M-C: Medium walk

Judges looking for: Regularity of steps, rhythm, over-track, and acceptance of contact

Movement 12:

C: Collected canter right lead

Judges looking for: Transition to collected canter. Quality of canter and straightness

Movement 13:

H-X: Flying change on quarter line

Judges looking for: Precise execution, correctness of flying change, straightness, uphill tendency & expression

Movement 14:

X-F: Flying change on the quarter line

Judges looking for: Precise execution, correctness of flying change, straightness, uphill tendency & expression

Movement 15:

After A: Turn down quarter line, half-pass right quarter line to quarter line

Judges looking for: Regularity and quality of canter, collection and balance, flexion, bend, fluency, crossing of legs

Movement 16:

Flying change on the quarter line

Judges looking for: Precise execution. Flying change on the aids, straightness, uphill tendency and expression

Movement 17:

Between B&E: Half-pass left quarter line to quarter line

Judges looking for: Regularity and quality of canter, collection and balance, flexion, bend, fluency, crossing of legs

Movement 18:

Flying change on quarter line to end, then track right

Judges looking for: Precise execution. Flying change on the aids, straightness, uphill tendency and expression

Movement 19:

M-F: Extended canter

F: Collected canter

Judges looking for: Rhythm, length of stride and frame. Straightness. Transitions

Movement 20:

A: Down centre line

L: Halt, salute

Judges looking for: Quality of canter and straightness on center line. Transition to halt and immobility

Collective Mark: Harmony of athlete and horse

Judges looking for: A confident partnership created by adhering to the scale of training

To stay up-to-date with all the breaking news throughout the Olympic Games, Royal International Horse Show and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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British Olympic contender wins at Bramham – and proves her new cross-country bit works

Pippa Roome — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 17:17:36 +0000

Kitty King topped the Defender Bramham Horse Trials results for the CCI4*-S this afternoon on her Paris Olympic long-listed ride Vendredi Biats. The Brit brought Diana Bown, Samantha Wilson, Sally Lloyd-Baker and John Eyre’s grey home four seconds inside the optimum time across country to finish on her fifth-placed dressage score of 25.2.

Most importantly, Kitty proved to Olympic selectors she has found a suitable new bit – a Swales Pelham – for the European individual silver medallist to run in across country. “Froggy” has previously worn a Myler combination, so Kitty had to seek a novel solution after riders started to run up against problems this spring when using that bit, with confusion over whether it is allowed under FEI rules.

“I can’t thank the two ladies in Neue Schule stand at Badminton Horse Trials enough – I went to them and said, ‘I need a new cross-country bit, he’s gone in the same thing for seven years, gags split his mouth, anything with a joint splits his mouth and I don’t know what to do’,” said Kitty King after heading the Bramham Horse Trials results in this Defender CCI4*-S today.

“They were really helpful – they got bits sent down while they were at Badminton, I kind of played about and spoke with them over Badminton and they actually popped into my yard on their way home to have a look at his mouth conformation.

“He was a good boy today. It just took a few minutes to get used to how much I needed to take a balance or not, just getting the controls working again. It worked, but it was a different feel so it’s both of us just getting used to how much leg and how much hand and how to ride him again. He also pulled both front shoes off, which wasn’t ideal.”

Froggy missed Bicton Horse Trials due to having pus in the foot so today was Kitty’s last chance to show the British selectors her form.

“There was quite a lot of pressure riding on a good result, so I just said, ‘I’m going to have to go out and try and make it happen’. He went and did his bit and he is just such consistent horse. The week’s improved – my dog was put down on Monday, then a family member has not been very well at all, but then I won some premium bonds on Wednesday, so I was hoping that was the turn of a better week and Froggy’s finished it really well.”

Kitty King was also pleased with Cristal Fontaine, sixth in the Bramham Horse Trials results, adding: “It was great to have a spin around on him first and get a feel for the track – that helped me know where I could move and save a bit of time. ‘Louis’ was much improved from Bicton – he’d really come on.”

‘I can’t wait for the Olympics now’

Austin O’Connor surely secured his Olympic place for Ireland when he finished second on his dressage score of 26.4 with The Salty Syndicate’s Maryland 5 Star winner Colorado Blue, despite not wearing a watch across country.

“It was great preparation personally and for the entire squad really,” he said. “I made the decision to be competitive here because if you’re going to Olympics, you want to think you’re in a competitive frame of mind. Hopefully it will set us up well and I can’t wait for it to happen now.

“I probably didn’t have my ideal ride today. I think I put myself under a bit more pressure than was necessary – I’m sort of a results person otherwise I kind of float half asleep. But he was very professional and did his job.”

Dressage leader Ros Canter showjumped clear on the Olympic long-listed Lordships Graffalo and put in a secure but steady cross-country round for 15.2 time-faults. British fans will hope she has bigger fish to fry in Paris in seven weeks’ time.

China’s Alex Hua Tian, second after dressage on potential Paris ride Jilsonne Van Bareelhof, similarly opted for a slower cross-country performance after showjumping clear and finished with 23.2 time-penalties.

Kazuma Tomoto, third after dressage, went quicker, racking up 6.8 time-faults to hold his dressage placing on Vinci De La Vigne JRA. This pair were fourth for Japan at the Tokyo Olympics and they were under particular pressure at Bramham as they needed to achieve their final qualification for Paris, a box they have now ticked.

“It’s a big relief as the Japanese federation deadline is this weekend so if I didn’t qualify this time I couldn’t go to Paris,” said Kazuma, who is based with William Fox-Pitt.

“I fell off last time out at Bicton and then I was worried about Vinci’s condition but William said, ‘No, he’ll be fine, carry on’ and he was right. Vinci is an absolute professional, he knows everything, what he needs to do, what I want him to do and he surely understood how important today was.”

Influential fences

The hollow-style fences on Ian Stark’s Bramham tracks are known for causing problems and the one at fence 11abcd on the CCI4*-S course was no exception. It consisted of a rail in, down a bank to a ditch, then up to a triple brush arrowhead and then a left turn and five strides to a further triple brush arrowhead. Those who failed to break up the rhythm and get their horse back before jumping in generally ran into trouble.

Among the many who faulted here were Ireland’s Felicity Ward, who fell off Regal Bounty when he stopped at the rail in, and Dutch riders Jordy Wilken (who had a fall from Curacao) and Maartje van Riegl, who had a run-out at the c element and was eliminated further round with Eppo.

The Equi-Trek Spinney (fence 8abc) – a narrow box brush, a curving line to a left-handed corner, and then a further curve to another skinny box brush, with striding options available – was also influential.

Ibble Watson had a flag penalty at the c element here when her 2022 young rider team gold medallist Aristoteles SZ jumped the corner big and then bulged out in the turn. She also had a surprising stop at the final fence, the Bishop Burton College Finale (fence 20).

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Two riders bidding for a senior championship debut among British eventing Olympic entries

Pippa Roome — Mon, 20 May 2024 11:05:30 +0000

The British eventing Olympic entries have been revealed. These are the 12 horse and rider combinations who will be submitted as the nominated entries for the Paris 2024 Games. The final team of three and one alternate will be chosen from this list.

The closing date for the nominated entries is Tuesday 25 June and the list may be amended before this; selection decisions are subject to pairs maintaining fitness and performance. The final squad will be announced in late June.

Nine riders have been named on the list, with Ros Canter, Yasmin Inham and Oliver Townend each appearing with two horses. Two of Britain’s horses from the gold medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympics (London 52 and Ballaghmor Class) could make an appearance in Paris, with the same riders in Laura Collett and Oliver. Tom McEwen, who rode Toledo De Kerser on that team, and Ros Canter, who was the alternate with Allstar B, are both listed this time with different horses.

Aside from Tom, Laura and Oliver, the other rider on the list who is already an Olympian is Kitty King, so five riders (Ros, Yasmin Ingham, Emily King, Tom Jackson and Bubby Upton) are bidding to make their Olympic debut. Emily and Bubby would both be making their senior championship debut should they get the final call-up for the Games.

British eventing Olympic entries

Ros Canter with 11-year-old Izilot DHIOwner: Alex Moody and riderBreeding: by Zavala VDL out of a mare by Cavalier

Ros Canter with 12-year-old gelding Lordships Graffalo

Owners: Michele and Archie Saul

Breeder: Lordships Stud Writtle College (GBR)

Breeding: by Grafenstolz, out of a mare by Rock King

Laura Collett with 14-year-old London 52

Owners: Karen Bartlett, Keith Scott and rider

Breeder: Ocke Riewerts (GER)

Breeding: by Landos, out of a mare by Quinar

Yasmin Ingham with 13-year-old Banzai Du Loir

Owners: Janette Chinn and The Sue Davies Fund

Breeder: Pierre Gouye (FRA)

Breeding: by Nouma D’Auzay out of a mare by Livarot

Yasmin Ingham with 14-year-old Rehy DJOwners: Janette Chinn and The Sue Davies FundBreeder: Noel Russell (IRL)Breeding: By Tinarina’s Inspector, out of a mare by Big Sink Hope

Emily King with 14-year-old Valmy BiatsOwners: Phillipe Brivois, rider’s father David King and the Valmy Biats SyndicateBreeder: Phillipe Brivois (FRA)Breeding: by Orlando out of a mare by Aurelie Du Prieure

Kitty King with 15-year-old Vendredi Biats

Owners: Diana Bown, John Eyre, Sally Lloyd Baker and Samantha Wilson

Breeder: Phillipe Brivois (FRA)

Breeding: by Winningmood, out of a mare by Camelia De Ruelles

Tom Jackson with 12-year-old Capels Hollow DriftOwners: Patricia Davenport, Milly Simmie and Sarah WebbBreeder: Jeanette Glynn (GBR)Breeding: by Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvar,out of a mare by Lucky Gift

Tom McEwen with 13-year-old JL Dublin

Owners: Jo and James Lambert and Deirdre Johnston

Breeder: Volker Göttsche-Götze (GER)

Breeding: by Diarado, out of a mare by Cantano

Oliver Townend with 17-year-old Ballaghmor ClassOwners: Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val RyanBreeder: Noel Nickey (ILR)Breeding: by Courage II

Oliver Townend with 10-year-old Cooley RosalentOwners: Paul and Diana RidgeonBreeder: JW Rosbotham (IRL)Breeding: by Valent, out of a mare by Roselier

Bubby Upton with 14-year-old Cola Owner: rider’s mother RachelBreeder: Peter Boege (GER)Breeding: by Catoki, out of a mare by Contender

The names of the grooms have not been confirmed. H&H will include these with the final squad announcement or when they become available.

Nominated entries for Britain’s jumping and dressage combinations for Paris 2024 will be announced over the following weeks. The para dressage nominated entries for the Paralympic Games will be published in June.

Vendredi Biats – from a ‘disappointing’ first viewing to triple medallist with Kitty King

Pippa Roome — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 13:00:34 +0000

What was your first reaction when you saw the horse who would take you to two team golds and an individual silver at European Eventing Championships? One might expect the answer to this to be that the horse looked beautiful, talented or super-athletic, but for Kitty King, the answer was that Vendredi Biats was “a little bit disappointing”.

“It feels bad, thinking that now,” said Kitty in an interview in 2021, for episode 45 of The Horse & Hound Podcast.

Kitty had gone to Lucy and Padraig McCarthy’s Devon base to see Vendredi Biats, then a five-year-old, after Lucy suggested the horse might suit her during a conversation while they were watching the Burghley young event horse class at Badminton Horse Trials.

“They had told me on the phone that he was a little cold backed at times and could throw some funky shapes, but had been getting a bit better,” said Kitty, who loved the horse’s head over the stable door. “I thought, ‘Oh I hope that’s him, it’s a lovely head’ and it was. Then they pulled his rugs off and stood him up and I was like, ‘Oh, you’re a little bit disappointing.’”

Although the horse didn’t inspire Kitty when he was trotted up, she continued the viewing.

“I thought well, I’ve come all the way down to Devon and Lucy and Padraig are not a bad judge of a horse so it’s worth seeing some tack on him. He was a completely different horse under saddle – a lot more athletic, a nice mover with an easy jump,” she remembered.

Kitty had a syndicate of owners in mind – Diana Bown, Sally Eyre (who has since sadly died), Samantha Wilson and Sally Lloyd-Baker – and once he’d been vetted, the purchase was completed.

“We’ve had an awful lot of fun with him since – he’s quite a character and he’s good at bucking you off. He’s still got that streak in him when he wants, but on the whole he’s a very special horse to have in the yard,” said Kitty.

Vendredi Biats: up the grades

Vendredi Biats was very successful as he came up through the levels, including winning a four-star short at Hartpury as an eight-year-old, but his occasional mistakes tended to be high profile.

Kitty explained: “Because he was always putting himself well up there after dressage and showjumping, people always noticed when he then had a green mistake, whereas if he’d been middle end of the dressage and had a fence or two down then no one would have noticed he was at the event if he’d had a 20. He was young and they’re all entitled to make mistakes while they are learning.”

Vendredi Biats went to his first Badminton when he was 10 in 2019, but the competition ended in a fall when he went a bit green across country – he was held at the cross-country start for over 20 minutes, so he didn’t have the ideal preparation for his round.

“He hadn’t done a fence for over half an hour when we started – we just weren’t really switched on and warmed up like we would normally be, which may have caused some of the issues,” said Kitty. “So a couple of fences found us out and that was the end of our Badminton.

“But I think things always happen for a reason and we regrouped, he had a run round an open intermediate to see he hadn’t lost any confidence and then we went to Bramham Horse Trials, where he was absolutely fantastic and won the four-star long really well. He made it feel very easy and he felt like a real schoolmaster round the track.”

The pair went on to be selected for the Luhmühlen Europeans later that year, finishing seventh while competing as individuals.

Kitty King and Vendredi Biats on the cross-country at the 2019 European Eventing Championships in Luhmühlen. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Since then they have been reserves for the British squad for the Tokyo Olympics, ninth at the 2021 Avenches Europeans, contributing to team gold, and then in 2023 claimed individual silver and team gold at the Haras du Pin Europeans.

Along the way they have been seventh at Badminton and sixth at Burghley Horse Trials in 2022 and second at Luhmühlen Horse Trials in 2023, as well as gaining numerous good placings at four-star.

“‘Froggy’ hasn’t always had the opportunities as he’s often been a reserve so it’s nice to prove how good he is,” said Kitty after their success at the 2023 Europeans.

Hear Kitty talking about Vendredi Biats by listening to episode 45 of The Horse & Hound Podcast in the archive here, or search “The Horse & Hound Podcast” in your favourite podcast app.

Watch Kitty King walk the Burghley cross-country course: ‘A real course for horsemanship’

Lucy Elder — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 16:29:35 +0000

Kitty King has given her exclusive insight into the 2023 Defender Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course for H&H’s preview ahead of this year’s event (31 August to 3 September).

Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course-designer Derek di Grazia returns for a second year. His 2023 track features a change of direction of the loop comprising the Dairy Mound and Cottesmore Leap this year, taking competitors uphill through Winners’ Avenue.

Kitty, who walked the course exclusively for H&H days after winning individual silver and team gold at the European Eventing Championships, describes it as “a brilliant track, beautifully built and designed.”

“Horses need to be brave, to have stamina, to be scopey and accurate. They have to listen, to be able stay on a line or a curve, and to be manoeuvrable – absolutely everything that riders should be training into their horses. You cannot have missed anything in your building blocks of preparation to come here,” says Kitty, adding that it is “a real course for horsemanship”.

“There are so many questions and only a true five-star horse will make it look easy.”

Read Kitty’s thoughts on every fence on the 2023 Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course in Horse & Hound magazine, in shops from Thursday 24 August

Watch Kitty walk three key combinations on the 2023 Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course

Defender Valley (fence 5abcd)

The direct option, which Kitty walks in the above video, takes competitors over a set of rails (the park railings will be removed), followed by a ditch, then up a slope to a big corner. There are also a number of longer alternative options here at this early question.

“The horses will be quite fresh coming down this hill. I think you’ll see a few conversations going on between the rider and the horse, about getting the horse in the right balance, as you want a nice, bouncy canter for this upright, quite imposing rail,” says Kitty.

She adds that horses should then meet the ditch (5b) on a one-stride distance, but riders will need to be prepared as some horses may fiddle their footwork through here and on landing.

“The way the ground is means you don’t quite know how their footwork and stride pattern is going to be,” says Kitty, “They could jump into the base of that slope [after the ditch] and things could all change. I wouldn’t be concerned about the number of strides, but more about riding my horse, his canter, the route and keeping the balance and control of the shoulder.”

Defender Trout Hatchery (fence 10abc & 11ab)

“You’ve got real rollercoaster terrain around to the Trout Hatchery,” says Kitty, walking the direct route.

She adds that horses will not know that they are not going to be landing in water after the rolltop at 10a, so riders need to be prepared.

The direct route then takes competitors through the water for the first time, before coming out and over a bounce at 10bc and back into water.

“The bounce will have brush at the back, so again horses won’t know they are landing on dry land. Riders will need to be behind them with their leg and nice and upright in their body,” she says.

The direct route then takes horses and riders out of the water over a step, before a right-hand turn to a rolltop and back into more water.

“I would try to put in a nice curve [after the bounce] so I’m not jumping out the step on too much of an angle,” she says.

Joules at the Maltings (fence 14abc)

Horses and riders have several options here, but all must jump the big white corner at 14b. There is an alternative carved hare at 14a, and also a choice of white corners at 14c. The direct route involved less turning than in previous years at this fence.

“Competitors have had a long pull up from the Trout Hatchery, it’s uphill all the way, so horses may well take a bit of a blow when they get to the top of the hill here,” says Kitty.

“You’ll need to keep the engine going. There’s a big hare (14a) to jump, and then you want to keep curving through these corners (14b and 14c).

“There’s a bit of a drop on landing here [from 14a], so riders will need to be sitting back in case the horse pecks.”

She adds that riders don’t want to take this question on too much of a straight line.

“You want to give the horse every option to see where he is going,” says Kitty. “These are big, wide corners. Nearly 90 degrees, I would say, and they are on MIM clips, so riders want to make sure that horses jump these nice and cleanly.”

Horse & Hound has a team of reporters covering all the Burghley action. To keep reading on our website after five articles, readers will need to buy a subscription. Visit horseandhound.co.uk/join to buy a Horse & Hound website unlimited subscription or, for great value, visit magazinesdirect.com for a combined magazine and website subscription. If you are already a magazine subscriber, the cost to upgrade your subscription to include full website access is minimal – call 0330 333 1113 to find out more.

First look at the Burghley cross-country course – check out photos of Kitty King walking the track

Pippa Roome — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 11:32:21 +0000

With Defender Burghley (30 August-3 September) fast approaching, it’s time to get a first look at the Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course for 2023.

Horse & Hound sent recent European team gold and individual silver medallist Kitty King to Lincolnshire to review Derek di Grazia’s second Burghley track, following his debut as course-designer at the event in 2022. You can read her thoughts on every fence in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine (dated 24 August). In the meantime, check out these pictures of the course…

Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course: first look

Kitty King at Fence 4AB LeMieux Arena Rails, during a cross country preview of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials 2023 at Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire in the UK on the 17th August 2023. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Kitty checks out the first combination, the LeMieux Arena Rails at fence 4ab.

Kitty King at Fence 7, Holland Cooper Leaf Pit, during a cross country preview of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials 2023 at Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire in the UK on the 17th August 2023. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

That’s a long way down! The big drop at The Holland Cooper Leaf Pit (fence 7abcd) is always a feature fence on the Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course.

Kitty King at Fence 9AB, Herbert;s Hollow, during a cross country preview of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials 2023 at Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire in the UK on the 17th August 2023. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Kitty susses out the line through fence 9ab, Herbert’s Hollow.

How big is it? Kitty peeks over the top of fence 9a.

Kitty King at Fence 10ABC, Defender Trout Hatchery, during a cross country preview of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials 2023 at Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire in the UK on the 17th August 2023. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

The Defender Trout Hatchery (fence 10abc) always catches out some of the field. We’re pleased to see Kitty has her wellies on ready to take a thorough look at the water fences.

The bounce into water at the Defender Trout Hatcher (fence 10abc), seen from the landing side.

Kitty King at Fence 15ABC, Rolex, during a cross country preview of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials 2023 at Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire in the UK on the 17th August 2023. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

The angled skinny hedge in a ditch which forms the first element of the Rolex combination (fence 15abc).

Kitty King at Fence 27, Lion Bridge, during a cross country preview of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials 2023 at Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire in the UK on the 17th August 2023. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

The Lion Bridge (fences 26 and 27) is the final big question before two plain fences on the way to the finish.

Pictures by Peter Nixon

Read Kitty’s thoughts on every fence on the Defender Burghley cross-country course in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, on sale 24 August 2023, plus videos of Kitty walking some of the key combinations online the same day

Medals, a tack drama and fall reflections: top stories from the last day of the Europeans

Pippa Roome — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 17:03:11 +0000

The Eventing European Championships showjumping today (13 August) ended in triumph for Great Britain – team gold, plus individual gold for Ros Canter (Lordships Graffalo) and individual silver for Kitty King (Vendredi Biats). What a week!

Check out these seven stories, which will bring you up to date on all the action…

The morning started with one top-20 contender withdrawing before the final trot-up…

Who left the competition at this stage?

And Michael Jung shared his feelings after elimination for a fall yesterday.

What did the German superstar say?

Then individual rider Tom Jackson got the Eventing European Championships showjumping action started for Britain.

Congrats to Tom on finishing the week with a clear!

The afternoon came to a golden climax when Ros Canter secured her second individual championship title.

Find out what Ros said after her round

Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo secure double European gold. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

Kitty King wasn’t pleased with her performance – but it was good enough for a silver.

Why was Kitty annoyed with herself?

The individual bronze went to a rider with a special connection to the venue, Haras du Pin.

What’s the link?

And finally, we spoke to a rider who completed the European Championships, despite a tack malfunction on the cross-country.

Which piece of tack broke?

We hope you have enjoyed our coverage of this week’s European Championships, brought to you by Horse & Hound’s team of reporters at home and in France. To keep reading on our website after five articles, readers will need to buy a subscription. Visit horseandhound.co.uk/join to buy a Horse & Hound website unlimited subscription or, for great value, visit magazinesdirect.com/XHH-brandsite for a combined magazine and website subscription. If you are already a magazine subscriber, the cost to upgrade your subscription to include full website access is minimal – call 0330 333 1113 to find out more. Our full magazine report of the European Championships is published this Thursday (17 August issue).

You might also be interested in:

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Ros Canter leads Britain to double European gold: ‘I have Walter to thank for this’

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

‘It means so much’ – Kitty King claims first individual championship medal

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

‘A special place’ – rider returns to scene of her greatest triumph and secures another honour

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

‘So disappointing’: individual favourite reflects on European Championships elimination

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

‘It means so much’ – Kitty King claims first individual championship medal

Pippa Roome — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 13:50:21 +0000

Kitty King secured her first individual championship medal in the European Eventing Championships showjumping this afternoon (13 August), saying this honour “means so much”.

Riding Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Samantha Wilson and the late Sally Eyre’s 14-year-old Vendredi Biats, Kitty put in a jumping clear in the final phase to claim the silver medal and contribute to Britain’s team gold.

“I was cross with myself when I came out of the arena, so I didn’t cry then, because I rode so badly. But luckily ‘Froggy’ remembered all the good rides I’ve given him and he just did it,” said Kitty. “Now you begin to realise it’s been a long time coming and he deserves it so much.”

Elaborating on her European Eventing Championships showjumping round, Kitty said: “I just didn’t give him a very easy job. I kept him guessing the whole way, I kept missing. Normally he’s so smooth and it’s so easy and I just messed it up for him every time we came to a fence. I was a muppet.”

Although Kitty did look a little tentative in the early part of the round, her talent and years of practice and experience kicked in as she piloted Vendredi Biats round, despite her modest assessment of her performance. She could afford her three seconds over the time and still keep her overnight position.

Kitty King, Ros Canter and Sandra Auffarth on the podium at the 2023 European Championships. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

This was a richly deserved honour for Kitty, who has finished in the top 10 at Europeans three times individually on this horse (seventh in 2019 as an individual, ninth and team gold in 2021). She was also a team silver medallist at the 2015 Europeans on Persimmon, when she was just off the individual podium in fourth individually.

Kitty has often been right on the margins of team selection during this incredible era of British strength – in 2021, Vendredi Biats travelled as far as the airport with the British team as first reserve for the Tokyo Olympic squad – which will make these medals all the sweeter.

Horse & Hound has a team of reporters covering all the action at the Europeans in Haras du Pin. To keep reading on our website after five articles, readers will need to buy a subscription. Visit horseandhound.co.uk/join to buy a Horse & Hound website unlimited subscription or, for great value, visit magazinesdirect.com/XHH-brandsite for a combined magazine and website subscription. If you are already a magazine subscriber, the cost to upgrade your subscription to include full website access is minimal – call 0330 333 1113 to find out more.

Ros Canter leads Britain to double European gold: ‘I have Walter to thank for this’

Pippa Roome — Sun, 13 Aug 2023 13:23:28 +0000

Ros Canter topped the European Eventing Championships results this afternoon, securing individual gold and leading Britain to team gold on Michele Saul’s Lordships Graffalo.

“I’m very relieved – there’s quite a lot of pressure when you have a bit of a margin,” said Ros, who entered the arena with two fences in hand, and had one down. “It almost makes it worse – there’s longer to fall and the expectation was I should win it so I had to keep myself in my bubble, remind myself who I was sat on and try to do the best job I could in that situation.

“For me the team always comes first. It’s what I do it for, what I dream of doing and always has been. My family are sporting all-rounders so it’s always been about trying to ride for Britain. After Badminton that was a massive box ticked and I never thought it could get much better. I’ve got ‘Walter’ to thank for it.

“It’s Walter’s world and we are privileged to be able to live with him in it. But that, I think, is really what he thinks; he just cruises his way through life. He was actually probably the most on edge he’s ever been today. It’s quite an unusual place because you can hear the clapping and the cheering from near the stables.”

Fellow team member Kitty King secured the individual silver medal in the European Eventing Championships results, riding Vendredi Biats, owned by Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Samantha Wilson and the late Sally Eyre.

Yasmin Ingham was the first British team rider to jump and The Sue Davies Fund’s Banzai Du Loir just tipped the front rail off the white oxer at three. She was providing the team discard score, so this did not affect Britain’s tally. Reigning world champion Yasmin finished 25th.

Laura Collett provided a secure clear for Britain’s team score with London 52, owned by his rider, Keith Scott and Karen Bartlett, rounding up her week in individual ninth place. She followed French team rider Karim Florent Laghouag into the arena and the crowd gave Karim’s clear a rapturous reception as she entered.

Laura Collett and London 52 at the 2023 European Championships. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

“I think ‘Dan’ thought everyone was cheering for him entering the arena, so I let him think that,” said Laura. “He was fantastic – to come out after what he did yesterday and jump like that, he’s a serious horse.

“I gave him a little jump straight after the trot-up and he felt perky enough. Then I think just coming down here and having the atmosphere really perks him up anyway so that helps and he felt super from the moment I started warming up and he just got better and better in there.

“It’s a great arena and an unbelievable atmosphere, especially when you follow a French person jumping a clear. Luckily he likes crowds – I wouldn’t have wanted to be on one that gets a bit nervous with the crowds.”

Laura’s fault-free round meant the British had a comfortable margin for the team honours, but Kitty did not have a fence in hand to keep her individual silver. She could, though, afford a few time-faults and she took the first part of her round a little more slowly. Vendredi Biats jumped beautifully and Kitty crossed the finish line with 1.2 time-faults to secure her first individual senior championship medal.

Ros entered the arena with two fences and some time in hand and used up some of her margin when the middle element of the treble at fence four fell. But she had no further penalties and added individual European gold to her 2018 world individual gold on Allstar B.

In the final European Eventing Championships results, Britain won team gold by 27.3 penalties. Germany landed team silver, just three penalties ahead of France, and Sandra Auffarth – 2014 world champion here at Haras du Pin – collected individual bronze on Viamant Du Matz.

British performance manager Dickie Waygood said: “It’s fantastic. We rode the dragon yesterday, I think every team did and it was a tough old day in the office for sure. Today was a nail-biting end and a wonderful way to finish the weekend.

“The horses jumped really well off the ground today and looked well coming out of yesterday. There weren’t many poles down, so that’s a credit to how well the horses are from all the teams.”

Falls, course changes and one in the time: your must-reads from Europeans cross-country

Pippa Roome — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 18:00:58 +0000

The European Eventing Championships cross-country day was dramatic, with leaderboard changes aplenty and only one pair making the optimum time.

Catch up on all the action below, with your must-read stories from today…

Watch highlights of Ros’s cross-country round along with her insight in the video below

The day started with changes to the timetable and some fences being removed from the cross-country course.

Details of the changes

Once the action got going, Kitty King put in a great pathfinding round for Britain.

What did Kitty say about how Vendredi Biats found the wet ground?

But second team member Yasmin Ingham had a run-out with Banzai Du Loir…

Read the world champion’s thoughts on her problem

… and British individual Tom McEwen was eliminated late on course.

What happened to Tom and JL Dublin?

Britain’s second individual Tom Jackson also lost his chance of an individual medal.

Tom Jackson talks about his round

Then Britain’s third team member Laura Collett had to have her score reviewed after a possible flag penalty.

What was the outcome of the review?

But the European Eventing Championships cross-country day finished with Ros Canter storming home on Lordships Graffalo, the only rider inside the time.

Read what Ros said about her round – and what happened to dressage leader Michael Jung

And in the final analysis, Kitty pulled up into an overnight medal position too.

Where does Kitty sit in the placings now?

Kitty King in individual silver after Europeans cross-country: ‘I’m so proud of Froggy’

Pippa Roome — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 16:47:52 +0000

Britain’s Kitty King sits in individual silver medal position at the conclusion of the European Eventing Championships cross-country in Haras du Pin.

Kitty was the ninth rider out of the start box today with Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Samantha Wilson and the late Sally Eyre’s Vendredi Biats and finished with 3.6 time-faults in the deep, tiring going.

At the time, no one realised quite how good Kitty’s round would prove to be. The first horse out on course, Grantstown Jackson, under Ireland’s Sarah Ennis, had had just 2.4 time-faults, so it looked as if several others might be able to be as fast or even quicker.

But as the day wore on it became clear few could rival Kitty and Sarah’s speed. Only the overnight leader, Britain’s Ros Canter (Lordships Graffalo) made the time.

“It was hard work – ‘Froggy’ lives for his cross-country and today he wasn’t enjoying himself quite as much as he normally does, which is a huge shame,” said Kitty.

“Today he had to dig really deep and try hard. He kept jumping and galloping for me even when he was finding it a little bit trickier, so I’m very proud of how hard he tried for me.”

The tricky conditions led to officials removing a two-minute loop from the course, which riders agreed was a good decision as, despite the shortened track, many horses finished looking tired.

Germany’s Sandra Auffarth holds the individual bronze with Viamant Du Matz, behind Ros and Kitty. Ros has two fences in hand to hold her lead, but Sandra is within a showjump of Kitty.

Meanwhile Sarah Ennis sits sixth overnight following her scintillating European Eventing Championships cross-country performance, having been 54th after dressage.

Mixed fortunes for first team riders at European Championships on ‘gluey’ ground

Pippa Roome — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 13:28:29 +0000

Kitty King has put in a great trailblazing performance for Britain over the European Eventing Championships cross-country course, finishing with 3.6 time-faults – the second-fastest round from the first rotation of team riders.

Kitty said Luhmühlen Horse Trials runner-up Vendredi Biats, owned by Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Samantha Wilson and the late Sally Eyre, had to work hard today, but her performance will give confidence to the rest of the British squad as they look forward to tackling Pierre Le Goupil’s track.

“It was hard work – ‘Froggy’ lives for his cross-country and today he wasn’t enjoying himself quite as much as he normally does, which is a huge shame,” said Kitty.

“Today he had to dig really deep and try hard. He kept jumping and galloping for me even when he was finding it a little bit trickier, so I’m very proud of how hard he tried for me.”

Kitty explained that the ground meant the pair’s normal stride pattern to fences was disrupted and that showed in a slightly less smooth jump at some fences, including at the fox’s tail (Le retour du renard) at fence five and when Vendredi Biats pitched her forward at the log at fence 26 (Le tronc sous les marronniers Antarès)

She explained: “On the approaches to the fences, he was a bit unsure of himself compared to normal and his stride pattern changed, which I think threw both of us. I’d normally set up and the stride would just kind of keep coming up nicely, whereas today, we were always a half stride off, either half deep or long. It was just trying to get our eye in and work out how the ground took their stride away from them more than normal.”

Kitty added that warming up on a surface meant horses didn’t have any chance to get accustomed to the ground.

“As soon as he set out on course, he wasn’t jumping how he normally would out of the ground,” she said. “He was finding it really hard work – he’s normally such a springy little horse and it just took all his spring and stride away from him.

“By the time he got to the first water, he suddenly started to pick up and jump really well again, but the first four or five fences I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is going to be a terribly long way around if we’re going to be like this the whole way. It was a little bit kind of unnerving for both of us, but he kept trying and he finished really well.

“It’s very dead ground – like he doesn’t mind sloppy, dirty mud, but he found that really really hard work.”

The Brit said this was the most tired Vendredi Biats has ever finished a cross-country course – more so than over a much longer course than at Burghley Horse Trials – and officials made the right decision in shortening the track.

European Eventing Championships cross-country: great pathfinding round

Pathfinders Sarah Ennis and Grantstown Jackson made the track look relatively easy when they finished six seconds over the 8min 18sec time for the Irish team, the fastest round so far.

Sarah Ennis and Grantstown Jackson at the 2023 European Championships. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

“He’s a very fast horse and we had a bit of ground to make up after our dressage. I knew that these conditions would suit him – he’s very light, he’s out of a thoroughbred mare,” said Sarah.

“It is gluey – the take-offs and landings are very sticky. They’ve done an amazing job on the ground, they’ve dug out take-offs, put gravel in.”

Watch the full interview with Sarah in the video below

Sarah said riding the European Eventing Championships cross-country shortened course is “like going round in a tumble dryer”.

She added: “It just happened so fast and you’re going round and round and round and round. It’s just fast and furious, really quick. I think I was as out of breath as he was coming through the finish line.”

Sarah took a long route at Le bivouac du Domaine Cécile Tremblay at fence 20ab, turning back to take a second tent rather than going for the left-hand corner as element b on the direct route. She said she never liked the direct route here and Grantstown Jackson was also more tired than she expected jumping the preceding cart.

After Sarah, these first riders and horses generally made heavier weather of the track.

Cyril Gavrilovic and Elmundo De Gasco – the discard score for the third-placed Belgium team after dressage – finished clear, but with a heavy load of time-faults (26.8) as they came home 1min 18 sec over the target.

German trailblazer Malin Hansen-Hotopp had a risky moment at fence 27, Le lavoir du Conseil Departemental De L’Orne, when Carlitos Quidditch K put his back feet down in the ditch in front of the skinny house at element b, but survived to finish with 18.4 time-faults. She was the discard score for the second-placed German team after dressage and the Germans will hope their other riders can improve on that performance and not use her score.

The first Dutch rider, Andrew Heffernan (Gideon), incurred 20 penalties at the corner at fence 18 – the L’étang du Conseil Departemental De L’Orne – and also had 21.6 time-penalties. He too took the long route at the tent complex.

Italy’s Giovanni Ugolotti added 18.8 time-faults, for his round with Swirly Temptress, and Robin Godel 20.4 for his with Grandeur De Lully.

Sweden’s Frida Andersen had to sit tight after Box Leo hit fence two – which Sarah said was the first sticky take-off and Grantstown Jackson also had to learn from, saying, “He knew then on you have to pull out the mud” – but survived to come home clear in 8min 54sec.

The other outstanding performance in this first tranche of team riders came from French first man Stéphane Landois, who put in a great round on Ride For Thaïs Chaman Dumontceau. He rides this grey in memory of his friend and the horse’s former rider Thaïs Méheust. They came home with 8.8 time-faults.

End of day update: Kitty King sits in the individual silver medal position overnight, Sarah Ennis is sixth and Stéphane Landois fourth. Full individual results

Disappointment, delight and a groom’s story: must-read stories from today at the Europeans

Pippa Roome — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 21:21:14 +0000

The European Eventing Championships dressage started today and the Brits made a great start, holding first and third at the end of the day courtesy of Kitty King and Yasmin Ingham.

Catch up with all of the day’s most important action here…

Watch the video below for interviews with the leading riders on day one

Britain’s Kitty King and Vendredi Biats took an early lead in the first rotation of team riders.

What did Kitty say about her test and her pathfinder role?

Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Sarah Ennis kicked off Germany and Ireland’s efforts…

Read about their performances

In the first block after lunch, Germany’s second rider, Christoph Wahler, felt Carjatan was maybe too relaxed.

Find out how that relaxation showed in his test

This first European Eventing Championships dressage day’s real excitement came in the final session, when Yasmin Ingham grabbed top spot on Banzai Du Loir.

What were the highlights for Yasmin – and what did she find frustrating?

Tom Jackson makes his senior squad debut for Britain here, riding his test as an individual tomorrow and we spoke to his groom Chloe Whitelam.

Find out what’s Capels Hollow Drift is like to look after

Finally, we caught up with several top riders, including Yasmin and Kitty, to hear their first reactions to Pierre Le Goupil’s cross-country course.

Who said the early drop has a “Burghley Leaf Pit vibe”?

‘That has Burghley Leaf Pit vibes’ – Yasmin Ingham, Kitty King and others react to Europeans cross-country course

Pippa Roome — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 15:59:31 +0000

Kitty King has declared the European Eventing Championships cross-country course combines “Bramham dimensions and terrain with Luhmühlen’s twistiness” after her first walk of Pierre Le Goupil’s track.

“It’s going to be a tough track,” she said. “It’s very twisty and hilly and the ground’s obviously fairly soft, so it’s going to be good stamina test and there’s lots of questions right to the very end.”

Kitty added: “I’d say it’s kind of a cross between a Bramham and a Luhmühlen – Bramham dimensions and terrain with Luhmuhlen’s twistiness – and my ride Vendredi Biats has done well at both so I’m hoping that will set us in good stead. It’s a great track and I look forward to Saturday.”

Fellow Brit and overnight leader Yasmin Ingham commented: “I think it’s going to be a very interesting track, very well built and designed and absolutely beautifully presented. I’m really looking forward to riding round it – there’s some serious questions.

“I think the ground is the same sort of ground we’ve been dealing with in England, they’ve had a lot of rain here. So I’m really hoping that over the next few days drying weather will help with that.”

Europeans Eventing Championships cross-country course: tough first water

Yasmin was among the riders to pick out the start of the course as particularly challenging, saying: “You get a big shock at fence seven – you’re jumping off quite a large step [pictured above], sort of a Burghley Leaf Pit vibe, and then you’re rolling down the hill to quite a large drop into the water. That’s quite an intense part of the course I would say very early on.”

Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp rode here at Haras du Pin last year and echoed Yasmin’s thoughts, as well as seeing similarities between that 2022 track and the European Eventing Championships cross-country course.

“We thought the first water [fence 7abc] really tough then and I think it’s the same this year,” she commented.

Germany’s Christoph Wahler added similar thoughts: “The first water [pictured below] is coming quite early in the course and it looks very big to me. Also the step going downhill before the first water – I know that some horses had some issues there last year.

“I think if you could get through there, then it becomes more rhythmic, with more flowing lines and you have also more gallop stretches. But until the first water it’s going to be hard work keeping the horses focused.”

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Testing undulations and ground

Dutch rider and coach Andy Heffernan praised the track and builders Jump 1, headed up by Dominic Moore, who he has worked with in Britain,

“I loved the track actually,” he said. “That’s the first thing – everybody I think is quite quick to be negative and I think it’s a really super championship track.

“Dom Moore and Jump 1 have done the job that I expected them to do, which is fantastic. Pierre has done an amazing job as a designer and he’s come up with some really unique and fun ideas. I think if you have a good ride around it, it will be fun.

“My concern, I suppose, is that it’s quite hilly and and although the weather is quite pleasant now, I think the damage to the ground has already been done and I don’t think it’ll dry out. So I think it’s going to ride quite holding and then tiring.”

Italy’s Giovanni Ugolotti, who rides Swirly Temptress, also said the undulations will be wearing for the horses.

“She’s a very bold mare, but she’s probably never been to such an undulating kind of course. I think I need to be quite careful not to set off too quick and just see where we are after five or six minutes and then decide if I actually go a bit slower or a bit faster,” he said.

Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier made similar comments with regard to the terrain being a major test: “I like the course because it’s really attacking. You really feel that it’s clear for the horses – there is no nasty corner or angles to tricky things. I think it is just really straightforward.

“But you need stamina, you need fit horses. I think the ground going to be quite loose. The sun is shining, so I don’t know how much it’s going to dry off.”

Kitty King proud of Vendredi Biats but disappointed with mark at Europeans: ‘Let’s hope the judges don’t get too generous later’

Pippa Roome — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 10:00:29 +0000

Kitty King has taken the lead at the conclusion of the first rotation of team riders in the European Eventing Championships dressage, but admitted she was disappointed with her mark.

Riding Vendredi Biats, owned by Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Samantha Wilson and the late Sally Eyre, the British rider put in a virtually mistake-free test from the lovely still, square first halt onwards and scored 27.2.

“I hope the judges don’t get too generous after a nice long lunch,” said Kitty. “He was really onside and didn’t really make any mistakes. The rein-back [where the pair did one extra step] was a shame because he’s really good at those, but it was just a little bit of miscommunication between us. But otherwise he was really super and tried the whole time, so I’m really proud of him.”

Talking about her role as team pathfinder on the cross-country, Kitty said: “I’ve got a job to do, going first, hopefully to put in a good score for the team to get us all going and fill them all with confidence.

“I’ve done it once before, at Blair at the 2015 Europeans. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it but it’s not as bad as it seems. A friend of mine reminded me that actually probably my best rides have been when I haven’t sat around all day watching.”

Kitty added she will try and replicate her ride at Luhmühlen in June, where she set off early and finished the competition in second, as well as other top events where she has had an early time and gone well.

Dutch rider and team coach scores 29

Andy Heffernan was the first to break the 30-barrier when he scored 29 with Gideon, as the pathfinder for the Dutch team. He holds second at this early stage behind Kitty.

“I was pleased with the horse. I was slightly disappointed with the mark – I thought it would be a couple of marks better, but it’s in the 20s,” said Andy.

“His trot work is always quite flash. He’s quite an eye-catching horse. I was a bit disappointed because the judges went straight from the trot down to fives and sixes for his walk and he normally gets eights for his walk. Even the people that help me were a little bit perplexed by that.

“His canter is his most difficult gait – just he can get a little bit stampy in his hind leg – so I could see that being a bit of a challenge, but I didn’t expect the walk. But anyway, it is what it is.

“It’s a decent cross-country track out there and I don’t think it’s a dressage competition. I hope that I’ll be close enough that I should have an influence.”

Andy is juggling being Dutch team coach with riding here this week.

“I’m riding to try and get the team qualification for Paris,” he said. “The guys have been so cool and helpful and tell me to make sure I have enough time for myself. So I’ve got no complaints. I do feel like I’ve got a lot to think about – maybe that’s a good thing.”

Giovanni Ugolotti now holds third for Italy with Karin and Kristina Rausing’s Swirly Temptress, having scored 30.6.

“We’re very, very pleased – it’s a shame about the mistake in the rein-back, I think that was quite costly – but overall I think the mare did a very good job,” he said. “She stayed with me, she was very rideable and I’m very happy.”

Early leader Malin Hansen-Hotopp is now fourth for Germany in the European Eventing Championships dressage standings.

End of day update: Kitty King now holds third place, Andy Heffernan fourth, Giovanni Ugolotti eighth and Malin Hansen-Hotopp 10th. Full results here.

Medal counts, stable names and quirks – what you need to know about the British squad for the Eventing Europeans

Pippa Roome — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 06:02:12 +0000

The British riders who will head to the eventing European Championships were announced earlier this month. Now that the dust has settled, what do you think of the squad?

We’ve pulled together a few key – and fun – facts so you’re in the know ahead of next month’s big event.

As a reminder, the selected British riders and horses for the eventing European Championships are:

Ros Canter with Lordships GraffaloLaura Collett with London 52Yasmin Ingham with Banzai Du LoirTom Jackson with Capels Hollow DriftKitty King with Vendredi BiatsTom McEwen with JL Dublin

Interesting facts about the British eventing squad

All the pairs on the squad are either five-star winners or runners-up. Ros and Lordships Graffalo won Badminton Horse Trials this year and were second last year, Laura and London 52 have taken Pau Horse Trials 2020, Badminton 2022 and Luhmühlen Horse Trials 2023, Yasmin and Banzai Du Loir were second at the Kentucky Three-Day Event 2022, Tom Jackson and Capels Hollow Drift landed the runner-up spot at Burghley Horse Trials last year, Kitty and Vendredi Biats were second at Luhmühlen in June and Tom McEwen and JL Dublin claimed the second step of the podium at Kentucky this season.

All the horses except Capels Hollow Drift have previous championship experience, though JL Dublin’s was with former rider Nicola Wilson, rather than Tom McEwen. He did win double gold on that occasion, though!

Talking of medals, this squad have an impressive haul, with 12 senior championship gongs between them (five for Ros, three for Tom, two for Kitty, one for Yasmin and one for Laura).

What we’re building up to saying is, in short, this squad is good. Not just good. Excellent, in fact. They will start as favourites for team gold and all have a chance of an individual medal.

Tom Jackson is likely to lag a little behind the other in the first phase – we’d hope for low to mid 20s scores from the other five and high 20s for him. But if Tom McEwen and Andrew Hoy’s individual silver and bronze in Tokyo taught us anything, it’s that finishing on a 28 or 29 can still give you a medal chance in today’s sport. Of course, the Olympic format does offer an extra opportunity for leaderboard climbing because it has two showjumping rounds for individual gongs, whereas there is just one final-phase round at the Europeans.

Want to know all the horses stable names? Of course you do! Lordships Graffalo is Walter, London 52 is Dan, Banzai Du Loir is just Banzai – or sometimes Banana, Capels Hollow Drift is Walshy, Vendredi Biats is Froggy and JL Dublin is Dubs.

Like all top horses, these chaps have their quirks. Walter occasionally licks cars… Banzai always likes to get down in the mud and roll at competitions… Froggy spent a lot of time ditching his riders in his early career.

All these horses have been pictured on the front cover of H&H, with 21 appearances between them. For the record…

Lordships Graffalo’s headshot appeared marking him as one to watch on 22 June 2022 and he’s featured for his Badminton win (11 May 2023) and alongside Ros in an issue including a feature on how they won there (1 June 2023).
London 52 made his cover debut when he won Pau (29 October 2020) and we followed up with an interview, with him and Laura on the cover on 19 November 2020. Another picture from Pau appeared on the next spring’s show guide cover (25 Feb 2021). The pair were featured alongside their team-mates after Olympic gold in Tokyo (5 August 2021) and in the compilation picture on the Olympic souvenir issue (19 August 2021). Their Badminton win was next up (12 May 2022), then early this year a headshot when Dan featured in our Spotlight series (26 January 2023) and in the spring he was pictured on the gallops accompanying an Access All Areas feature on Laura’s Badminton preparations (30 March 2023). Their recent Luhmühlen win also made the cut (22 June 2023).
Yas and Banzai have three cover appearances – their Blenheim win (23 September 2021), their Kentucky second (5 May 2022) and their worlds individual gold (22 September 2022).
Capels Hollow Drift and Tom were interviewed with a cover in 29 September 2022 issue after their Burghley success and Walshy’s headshot is also on the cover of this week’s magazine (13 July 2023) as he features in Spotlight to tie in with selection.
Vendredi Biats was another to make the cover alongside a Spotlight appearance, in an earlier iteration of this series called We Can’t Wait To See…, during the sport-starved Covid year of 2020 (14 May).
JL Dublin graced the cover when he won the CCI4*-L at Bicton (Bramham replacement fixture) with Nicola (17 June 2021), again when he won European individual gold that year (30 September 2021) and then alongside Nicola for a follow-up interview (6 January 2022).

We can’t wait to support all the British riders at the eventing European Championships next month. H&H’s expert reporters will be bringing you all the headlines in the run up to the championship (9-13 August), as well as big name interviews, analysis of the action, videos and beautiful photography throughout every day of competition in Haras du Pin, France. A HorseandHound.co.uk unlimited website subscription gives you instant access, wherever you are, to all of our coverage with no limit on how much you can read, from as little as £1 a week. Sign up now

World champions, Badminton stars and medallists on British squad for European Eventing Championships

Becky Murray — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 12:50:01 +0000

The reigning world champion and this year’s Badminton winner are among those named in the British team for the European Eventing Championships at Haras du Pin, France, 9-13 August.

Today (7 July) British Equestrian and the British Eventing selectors have confirmed the six horse and rider combinations that will form the list of definite entries.

The selected combinations for the British team for the European Eventing Championships, in alphabetical order, are:

The 2023 Badminton winners, Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Ros Canter with 11-year-old gelding Lordships Graffalo

Owner: Michele Saul

Breeder: Lordships Stud Writtle College (GBR)

Breeding: by Grafenstolz, out of a mare by Rock King

Groom: Sarah Charnley

Laura Collett and London 52 at the eventing World Championships. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Laura Collett with 14-year-old gelding London 52

Owners: Keith Scott, Karen Bartlett and Laura

Breeder: Ocke Riewerts (GER)

Breeding: by Landos, out of mare by Quinar

Groom: Tilly Hughes

Yasmin Ingham and Banzai Du Loir at Kentucky 2022. (Image credit: amy@akdragoophoto.com)

Yasmin Ingham with 12-year-old gelding Banzai Du Loir

Owners: The Sue Davies Fund and Janette Chinn

Breeder: Pierre Gouye (FRA)

Breeding: by Nouma D’Auzay, out of a mare by Livarot

Groom: Alison Bell

Tom Jackson and Capels Hollow Drift finish second at Burghley 2022. (Image credit: Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials)

Tom Jackson with 12-year-old gelding Capels Hollow Drift

Owners: Patricia Davenport, Millie Simmie and Sarah Webb

Breeder: Jeanette Glynn (GBR)

Breeding: by Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan, out of a mare by Lucky Gift

Groom: Chloe Whitelam

Kitty King and Vendredi Biats competing at Burghley 2022. (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Kitty King with 14-year-old gelding Vendredi Biats

Owners: Diana Bown, the late Sally Eyre, Samantha Wilson and Sally Lloyd-Baker

Breeder: Phillipe Briviois (FRA)

Breeding: by Winningmood, out of a mare by Camelia De Ruelles

Groom: Chloe Fry

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin take second at Kentucky 2023. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

Tom McEwen with 12-year-old gelding JL Dublin

Owners: James and Jo Lambert and Deirdre Johnston

Breeder: Volker Göttsche-Götze (GER)

Breeding: by Diarado, out of a mare by Cantano

Groom: Adam Short

The team of four and two individuals may not be confirmed until the declaration of starters.

The reserve combinations, in alphabetical order, are:

Ros Canter with 14-year-old mare Pencos Crown JewelOwners: Kate James and Annie MakinBreeder: Pennie Wallce (GBR)Breeding: by Jumbo, out of a mare by Rock King

David Doel with 12-year-old gelding Galileo Nieuwmoed

Owner: Gillian Jonas

Breeder: J. W. and A. P. Jurrius (NED)

Breeding: by Carambole, out of a mare by Harcos

Pippa Funnell with 10-year-old gelding MCS Maverick

Owner: Sarah Ross

Breeder: Mrs M Watson (GBR)

Breeding: by Mill Law

Yasmin Ingham with 13-year-old gelding Rehy DJOwners: The Sue Davies Fund and Janette ChinnBreeder: Noel Russell (IRL)Breeding: by Tinarana’s Inspector, out of a mare by Big Shot Hope

Piggy March with 10-year-old gelding Brookfield Cavalier Cruise

Owners: John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn

Breeder: Martin Ryan (IRL)

Breeding: by Cavalier Carnival, out of mare by Atlantic Cruise

Piggy March with 11-year-old gelding Coolparks SarcoOwners: James and Jo LambertBreeder: Michael Burke (IRL)Breeding: by Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan out of a mare by Clarion Hotel Coolcorran Cool Diamond

Tom McEwen with 10-year-old mare Luna MistOwner: Martin BelshamBreeding: by Alvescot Paper Moon, out of a mare by Wickstead Didger I Doo

Tom McEwen with 16-year-old gelding Toledo De KerserOwners: Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Coppell and Tom’s mother Alison McEwenBreeder: Kerstin Drevet (FRA)Breeding: by Diamant De Semilly, out of a mare by Papillon Rouge

Gemma Stevens with 11-year-old gelding Flash Cooley

Owner: Pru Dawes

Breeder: Jim O’Neill (IRL)

Breeding: by CSF Mr Kroon, out of a mare by OBOS Quality

Oliver Townend with 16-year-old gelding Ballaghmor Class

Owners: Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan

Breeder: Noel Hicky (IRL)

Breeding: by Courage II

Oliver Townend with 15-year-old gelding Swallow SpringsOwners: Paul and Diana RidgeonBreeder: Maria Keating (IRL)Breeding: by Chillout, out of a mare by Cult Hero

Bubby Upton with 13-year-old gelding Magic Roundabout

Owners: Bubby’s mother Rachel and The Zebedee Syndicate

Breeder: Sharon Stone (GBR)

Breeding: by Samraan

Three riders seek to make championship debuts as British longlist for eventing Europeans revealed

Pippa Roome — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 11:06:17 +0000

Eighteen horse and rider combinations have been named as the British entries for the eventing European Championships at Haras du Pin, France (9-13 August). The selected squad of six combinations – a team of four and two individuals – will be announced in July.

The list consists of 12 riders, four of whom (Ros Canter, Yasmin Ingham, Piggy March and Oliver Townend) have two potential rides listed and one of whom, Tom McEwen, has three. David Doel, Tom Jackson and Bubby Upton are all seeking to make their senior squad championship debuts, while the other riders all have previous championship experience.

The nominated British entries for the eventing European Championships are:

Ros Canter with 11-year-old gelding Lordships GraffaloOwner: Michele SaulBreeder: Lordships Stud Writtle College (GBR)Breeding: by Grafenstolz, out of a mare by Rock King

Ros Canter with 14-year-old mare Pencos Crown JewelOwners: Kate James and Annie MakinBreeder: Pennie Wallce (GBR)Breeding: by Jumbo, out of a mare by Rock King

Laura Collett with 14-year-old gelding London 52

Owners: Keith Scott, Karen Bartlett and Laura

Breeder: Ocke Riewerts (GER)

Breeding: by Landos, out of mare by Quinar

David Doel with 12-year-old gelding Galileo NieuwmoedOwner: Gillian JonasBreeder: J. W. and A. P. Jurrius (NED)Breeding: by Carambole, out of a mare by Harcos

Pippa Funnell with 10-year-old gelding MCS Maverick

Owner: Sarah Ross

Breeder: Mrs M Watson (GBR)

Breeding: by Mill Law

Yasmin Ingham with 12-year-old gelding Banzai Du LoirOwners: The Sue Davies Fund and Janette ChinnBreeder: Pierre Gouye (FRA)Breeding: by Nouma D’Auzay, out of a mare by Livarot

Yasmin Ingham with 13-year-old gelding Rehy DJOwners: The Sue Davies Fund and Janette ChinnBreeder: Noel Russell (IRL)Breeding: by Tinarana’s Inspector, out of a mare by Big Shot Hope

Tom Jackson with 12-year-old gelding Capels Hollow DriftOwners: Patricia Davenport, Millie Simmie and Sarah WebbBreeder: Jeanette Glynn (GBR)Breeding: by Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan, out of a mare by Lucky Gift

Kitty King with 14-year-old gelding Vendredi Biats

Owners: Diana Bown, the late Sally Eyre, Samantha Wilson and Sally Lloyd-Baker

Breeder: Phillipe Briviois (FRA)

Breeding: by Winningmood, out of a mare by Camelia De Ruelles

Piggy March with 10-year-old gelding Brookfield Cavalier CruiseOwners: John and Chloe Perry and Alison SwinburnBreeder: Martin Ryan (IRL)Breeding: by Cavalier Carnival, out of mare by Atlantic Cruise

Piggy March with 11-year-old gelding Coolparks SarcoOwners: James and Jo LambertBreeder: Michael Burke (IRL)Breeding: by Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan out of a mare by Clarion Hotel Coolcorran Cool Diamond

Tom McEwen with 12-year-old gelding JL DublinOwners: James and Jo Lambert and Deirdre JohnstonBreeder: Volker Göttsche-Götze (GER)Breeding: by Diarado, out of a mare by Cantano

Tom McEwen with 10-year-old mare Luna MistOwner: Martin BelshamBreeding: by Alvescot Paper Moon, out of a mare by Wickstead Didger I Doo

Tom McEwen with 16-year-old gelding Toledo De KerserOwners: Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Coppell and Tom’s mother Alison McEwenBreeder: Kerstin Drevet (FRA)Breeding: by Diamant De Semilly, out of a mare by Papillon Rouge

Gemma Stevens with 11-year-old gelding Flash Cooley

Owner: Pru Dawes

Breeder: Jim O’Neill (IRL)

Breeding: by CSF Mr Kroon, out of a mare by OBOS Quality

Oliver Townend with 16-year-old gelding Ballaghmor ClassOwners: Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val RyanBreeder: Noel Hicky (IRL)Breeding: by Courage II

Oliver Townend with 15-year-old gelding Swallow SpringsOwners: Paul and Diana RidgeonBreeder: Maria Keating (IRL)Breeding: by Chillout, out of a mare by Cult Hero

Bubby Upton with 13-year-old gelding Magic RoundaboutOwners: Bubby’s mother Rachel and The Zebedee SyndicateBreeder: Sharon Stone (GBR)Breeding: by Samraan

The names of the grooms have not been confirmed but will be included with the final squad announcement.

‘Relief’ as super grey puts gremlins to bed with stellar cross-country performance amid Luhmühlen leaderboard shake-up

Lucy Elder — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 16:24:55 +0000

Brits hold the top three places after cross-country with Mike Etherington-Smith’s influential course delivering a thorough shake-up of the Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials leaderboard.

Laura Collett and London 52 added nothing to their first-phase score to continue their lead (20.3) and head into tomorrow’s showjumping with a fence in hand. But below Laura, the Luhmühlen Horse Trials scoreboard has a different flavour to yesterday.

Watch interviews with leading riders at Luhmühlen Horse Trials in the video below

Quick, clear rounds have been rewarded with sizeable leaps up the standings, while those at the business end after dressage had mixed fortunes on cross-country day.

Kitty King and Vendredi Biats (26.8) moved up from third overnight to provisional second with a superb round inside the time, starting steady and settling into a nice rhythm, before building speed.

“He was foot perfect,” said Kitty, buzzing delight after the finish. “He had a bit of a trip in the main arena and I thought, ‘Oh God, not before these angles!’ but he picked himself up and locked on and was super straight everywhere. Other than being quite strong at the end he was absolutely lovely to ride.”

The 14-year-old gelding, owned by Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson, made the beefy direct route of a hanging log to corner at the LeMieux Lagune (fence 13abcd) look like a schooling exercise. The influential accuracy questions at the second water (fence 17: Meßmer Teich) and in the main arena (fence 20abc: Longines Kombination) posed no problems, with “Froggy’s” little grey ears pinned on the task at hand.

“It’s just a relief to be honest after Burghley and Badminton. I know he’s a good horse – I know he’s a five-star horse. He didn’t do anything wrong to have that pin at Burghley, it’s just one of those things, and then obviously to have an early fall at Badminton, it starts making you doubt yourself and what you’re doing as a rider.”

Pippa Funnell and the Clarkes’ 2019 Burghley winner MGH Grafton Street, second after dressage, enjoyed a steady clear, adding 15.6 time-faults to their score to drop them to 16th. Emily King and Valmy Biats, owned by his breeder Philippe Brivois and the Event Horse Owners Syndicate, who were third after the first phase, were unlucky to pick up 20 penalties for a run-out at the skinny arrowhead at 17a in an otherwise fluid round.

This means world champion Yasmin Ingham has climbed into the top three with Rehy DJ (“Piglet”), owned by the Sue Davies Fund, on 27.5. This is the 13-year-old gelding’s second five-star start and his first cross-country clear at this level.

“I think he was the definition of flying pig today!” said Yasmin. “He took it all on and was a total pro. He helped me out quite a few times, I was a little bit off some of the fences and up came his knees. It’s such a pleasure to ride a horse that’s so careful and really aware of where he’s jumping.”

Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country: how the day panned out

A total of 12 of the 39 starters finished inside the optimum time of 11 minutes. There were 23 jumping clears and a fair spread of faults over the 28 fences, with no horse falls and Matthew Flynn the only rider to part company in the five-star.

The US combination of Boyd Martin and the syndicate-owned Luke 140 have jumped from ninth to fourth with their fault-free round. Harry Meade and Tenareze will also head into the showjumping on their dressage score, finishing three seconds inside the optimum time across country to move from 11th to fifth in the provisional standings.

“I was totally thrilled with him and he gave me a lovely ride. He gets a little bit strong, so my plan was just to start out a little bit gently and try not to touch him,” said Harry, riding for David Bernstein, Nigella Hall and Sophie Caruth, adding he was particularly pleased with the way the horse tackled the LeMieux Laguna.

“It was a really good strong question. I made sure I came out pretty wider than most so that I could then ride forward over the first log in a nice positive way, a little bit like hunting, then the corner is straight in front.”

New Zealand’s Muzi Pottinger and her family-owned long-term campaigner Just Kidding, a zippy little thoroughbred who moves through the air like an arrow, have risen from 12th to provisional sixth on 31.1.

Muzi Pottinger and Just Kidding at Luhmühlen Horse Trials. (Image credit: Libby Law)

Oliver Townend and Tregilder, owned by the Hazledines and Mitchell Fox Group, added 1.2 cross-country time-penalties to their dressage mark, giving them a two-phase total of 31.1 to retain seventh place.

“He’s a huge tall horse, so I feel sometimes I have to balance him a little more than I’d ideally like to, but he’s honest as honest could be and he tried his heart out there,” said Oliver. “The three seconds are mine. I could have gone quicker, but I just again want to save and save, and possibly saved for two strides too many somewhere around there. But he’s home and safe and we’re thrilled with him.”

A clear round inside the time with Paul and Diana Ridgeon’s Swallow Springs means Oliver also holds eighth place (31.7). His pathfinder, Mr Ridgeon’s five-star debutant Cooley Rosalent, picked up 20 penalties for a run-out at 17a.

Boyd, the only other rider with three horses in the five-star, holds ninth with Federman B (32.4). Last year’s Swiss winners Felix Vogg and Colero climbed 10 places with a cracking round to complete the top 10 on 33.3.

Tom Jackson’s exciting prospect Farndon franked his name as one to watch at top level with a clear round inside the time on his five-star debut.

“He hasn’t always been the easiest in this phase, not because he’s not brave or straight – just because of his rideability,” said Tom, who heads into the showjumping in 12th on 34.9 with Anne and Iain Slater’s gelding. “We’ve been working quite hard on that over the past couple of years since we’ve had him. It all came together today. He’s been steadily improving all the time and I feel like today he really showed his class and I’m very excited for the future.”

Elsewhere in the British camp, Fiona Kashel slept in her number 13 number bib overnight, before securing her first cross-country clear at five-star aboard Creevagh Silver De Haar. The pair are in 18th, one place ahead of David Doel and Ferro Point, who rose from 37th to 19th with a faultless cross-country round at Luhmühlen Horse Trials. Will Rawlin recorded his first five-star cross-country completion, finishing with 20 jumping penalties and 4.4 time-penalties to sit 23rd.

Imogen Murray pulled up Roheryn Ruby after fence 17, because the mare sustained an injury on landing.

“She’d jumped all the fences I was more worried about with so much confidence and was absolutely flying. She came through the water so well, but I felt an off step as we came out,” said Imogen.

“The vet team at the event and the Team GBR vets have been fantastic and so supportive. She’s quite happy in her stable and we’ll continue treatment when we get home.”

‘He loved slopping around and splashing about in there’: Kitty King takes over the Badminton lead early on damp day two

Polly Bryan — Sat, 06 May 2023 08:15:55 +0000

Britain’s Kitty King stormed into the lead early on the second day of the Badminton Horse Trials dressage, at the event presented by Mars Equestrian.

Kitty piloted the delightful 14-year-old grey gelding Vendredi Biats through a polished performance, despite the persistent rain, to earn 22.3 and displace Oliver Townend from the top of the Badminton Horse Trials dressage leaderboard.

Watch Kitty King reflect on her dressage test with Vendredi Biats

As soon as Kitty cantered down the centre line with the Diana Brown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Samantha Wilson and the late Sally Eyre’s gelding, it was clear this pair meant business. Their scoresheet was littered with eights, and they pulled in nines for their smart rein-back and expressive flying changes – both movements that rarely yield such marks – as well as a 10 for their beautiful halt at C.

Badminton final scores

“He was super. He couldn’t have gone any better,” exclaimed Kitty afterwards. “He’s great in sloppy ground – although he’s lovely and white thanks to my amazing groom Chloe, he loves to slop around and was having great time splashing about in there.

“He stayed really with me and is just so consistent now. He comes into his own at the three-days – at one-days he can be a bit ‘normal’, but then he goes into big arena and he’s really with you.”

Vendredi Biats may look the picture of elegance and submission in the arena, but Kitty explained that “he likes to stick his head up in the air most of the time”.

“The way he came out of the arena, with his head in the air and his ears up my nose – that’s his natural way,” she said. “We spend out lives working on trying to keep him round and through. We do lots of serpentines with a 10m circle at the top of every loop.”

Just prior to Kitty’s test, Tom McEwen had already worried yesterday’s top two – Gemma Stevens and Oliver – by producing a highly competitive test with the the 16-year-old Toledo De Kerser.

Tom had the Diamant De Semilly son, who is owned by Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Inns and Tom’s mother Ali, bang on the money, with bold extensions and pleasing self-carriage. They too drew plenty of big marks out of the judges – and achieved what Tom described as a “walk personal best” – and finished on 23.6, just 0.3pen behind Gemma and Jalopeno.

“He’s not one for early mornings and smaller crowds but it’s amazing at 8am to see how dedicated everyone is!” said Tom, thanking the impressive number of spectators who had turned out in the rain. “Toledo loves performing, so I was worried for him in case people weren’t there – for him an empty stadium is the worst thing that could possibly happen.”

Tom was satisfied with where his mark put him among the top contenders ahead of the cross-country.

“All you’ve got to be is there or thereabouts to get into the top mix,” he said. “I’m delighted.”

Watch Tom talk about his test

Aaron Millar and KEC Deakon also impressed with 28.8, as the first combination into the arena on day two of the Badminton Horse Trials dressage. Aaron credits training with grand prix dressage rider Dannie Morgan for their good form on the flat, explaining that Heidi Bates’ 13-year-old Chacoa son can be something of an introvert.

“Dannie is amazing in the way that he trains – he knows my horses inside out and he knows me, so he can start getting me to be more brave,” Aaron explained. “Dannie is definitely the key to this horse. Today he really knuckled down and tried.”

Watch Aaron reflect on his test

How to watch Badminton Horse Trials

If you are interested in watching Badminton Horse Trials live from the comfort of your home, wherever you are in the world, you will need to subscribe to Badminton TV. To sign up, visit watch.badminton-horse.tv – click the “Sign Up” link in the top right corner of your screen, then follow the instructions. An annual subscription to Badminton TV costs £19.99 and gives you 365 days of access to all of the content in the Badminton TV library, the ability to watch the action live, and the option to replay all of this year’s action later.

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Keep up to date with all of the breaking news, behind the scenes insight and the best of the action throughout Badminton Horse Trials with no limit on how much you can read from as little as £1 per week with a Horse & Hound unlimited website subscription. Sign up now. Plus enjoy our full 22-page magazine report on Badminton, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from Nick Burton and Mark Phillips, in Horse & Hound magazine (on sale 11 May).

‘He spends a lot of time under the shower’: Kitty King’s groom Chloe Fry on her Badminton charge

Martha Terry — Fri, 05 May 2023 06:35:20 +0000

Kitty King’s groom Chloe Fry is set for a washer woman’s weekend at Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian, as she bids to keep Vendredi Biats brilliant white coat immaculately clean.

“He spends a lot of time under the shower,” says Chloe, who is at the Gloucestershire event for the third time with the grey gelding. “I’ll bath him first thing in the morning, to get rid of the stable stains. And then if he gets hot working with Kitty, I’ll wash him again.

“From winter onwards, I wash his tail all the time, every day. I’m a perfectionist, and I want him to look perfect.”

The French-bred gelding, known as Froggy, is now 14 years old. He kept remnants of his dark grey coat into his early teens, but he is now snowy white.

Badminton final scores

“This is the first year I’ve had to use white thread to plait his mane and tail,” says Chloe. “He used to have a black mane and tail and black legs – now they’re completely white I’ve had to step up my game! But at least he’s a silvery grey, which helps.”

“He says, ‘Oi, I want a scratch!’”

Froggy has settled well into his Badminton stable, which is just to the right of the clock tower.

“He can see other horses, which he likes, and he knows exactly where he is and he’s very happy about it,” says Chloe of her charge, who was seventh here last year. “At home he has Charmer the Shetland to keep him company in the field, but he’s fine without him. And Charmer loves it when he’s away – as Froggy nips him and stops him eating the lush grass.”

Froggy is definitely a character – “he’s beautiful and he knows it”.

“He’s very cheeky and unties himself regularly,” Chloe says. “He’ll nip you too, but always with his ears pricked. And then he’ll put his top lip up like he’s smiling.

“His favourite thing is a good old scratch. I found out he loves his shoulder being scratched once when I was brushing him and he started smiling. When I stopped, he nudged me and now he follows me round the stable, walking into me, saying ‘Oi, I want a scratch!’. He loves it.”

“I watch through my fingers,” says Kitty King’s groom

As for the main event, Chloe has mixed emotions once her job is done preparing him.

“I always feel so privileged that I’m here to look after him and Kitty, but I do get very nervous watching him. I feel pride, especially like at Burghley when he went into the lead after dressage. I force myself to watch – the dressage is fine, the showjumping I can watch through my fingers, but I can only half watch the cross-country. It’s easier to watch it back when it’s over!”

Vendredi Biats has been top 10 in his past two five-stars and two European Championships, and already has a win on his card this season. Not just a pretty face.

Kitty King and Vendredi Biats at the Badminton trot-up (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

11 pairs to watch at Badminton Horse Trials: will one of these riders win this week’s five-star?

Pippa Roome — Wed, 03 May 2023 07:32:22 +0000

Who are the favourites among the Badminton Horse Trials riders and horses at this week’s competition, presented by Mars Equestrian?

Here are 11 pairs you should keep a close eye on as the Gloucestershire five-star gets underway…

Badminton Horse Trials riders and horses: the top 13 contenders

List in number order, with info presented as follows:

Number. Rider name

Rider age, nationality

Badminton final scores

Horse name, horse age, horse colour, horse gender, horse sire x horse damsire, horse owner(s)

Form assessment

5. Oliver Townend

40, GBR

Swallow Springs, 15 gr g, Chillout x Cult Hero, Paul & Diana Ridgeon

Shropshire-based Oliver won Badminton in 2009 on Flint Curtis and this horse represents his best chance of repeating that victory this year, assuming he can put a fall at Burghley Horse Trials last year behind him. Oliver took on the ride in the autumn of 2021, after he’d been fifth at Badminton and third at Burghley with Andrew Nicholson, and they were third here last year.

11. Tim Price

44, NZL

Vitali, 13 b g, Contender x Heraldik xx, Alexander & Joseph Giannamore & rider

This horse, who was Tim’s Tokyo Olympic ride, finished 10th at Luhmühlen Horse Trials and third at Burghley last year. He had three showjumps down on both occasions, so it’s likely he’d need to improve in that phase for a top placing here, but he can be super-competitive in the first two phases. Dorset-based Tim’s best Badminton result is third in 2017 on Xavier Faer.

18. Tom Jackson

30, GBR

Capels Hollow Drift, 12 gr g, Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan x Lucky Gift, Patricia Davenport, Milly Simmie & Sarah Webb

This horse started 2022 as a relatively inexperienced Badminton hopeful and had a stellar year, following 16th here with second at Burghley. They won’t lead the dressage but should be handily placed to capitalise on good jumping performances and improve on last year’s placing. Surrey-based Tom is a three-time junior and young rider team medallist.

30. Gemma Stevens

38, GBR

Jalapeno, 15 ch m, Chilli Morning x Shaab, Christopher Stone

Jalapeno was produced to four-star by Belgium’s Karin Donckers, with Gemma taking over in 2019. Their many good four-star results include two wins and they have completed Pau’s cross-country with 20 jumping penalties, so could be very competitive. West Sussex-based Gemma won the Bicton five-star in 2021. Her best result here is third on Arctic Soul in 2016.

48. Tom McEwen

31, GBR

Toledo De Kerser, 16 b g, Diamant De Semilly x Papillon Rouge, Fred & Penny Barker, Jane Inns & rider’s mother Ali

Olympic team gold and individual silver medallists, who had a rocky start to 2022 when they fell here. They ended the year with 12th at the World Championships – not bad, but they know they’re capable of more. Five-star winners at Pau 2019, they’ve been in the top 11 here three times and could go all the way if back at their best. Tom lives in Gloucestershire.

49. Kitty King

40, GBR

Vendredi Biats, 14 gr g, Winningmood x Camelia De Ruelles, Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Samantha Wilson, & the late Sally Eyre

Kitty has a serious chance of her first five-star title here. She and Vendredi Biats are European team gold medallists (twice individual top 10 at Europeans), were seventh here last year and then sixth at Burghley, where they led the dressage and had a very unfortunate frangible penalty across country. They’ve also been in the top 10 at four-star 13 times.

71. Ros Canter

37, GBR

Lordships Graffalo, 11 b g, Birkhof’s Grafenstolz x Rock King, Michele Saul

This pair were second here last year on Lordships Graffalo’s five-star debut and went on to finish fourth individually at the World Championships, so they are very much contenders for the top spot this time. Nothing much seems to faze “Walter” or his rider. Ros has also been third here on Allstar B – can she complete the set of podium positions this time?

75. Oliver Townend

40, GBR

Ballaghmor Class, 16 gr g, Courage x unlisted, Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop & Val Ryan

The grand old man of Oliver’s entries and a true all-time great – Olympic team gold medallist (and fifth individually), double five-star winner and the holder of five other top-five placings at the level. The final phase is his potential Achilles’ heel – he had four down at the worlds last year – so Monday will be exciting if he runs as he should be right up there until then.

78. Laura Collett

33, GBR

Dacapo, 14 d br g, Diarado x Canturo, Diana Chappell, Gillian Morris-Adams, Alison & Michael Smedley and Carolyn Taylor

Laura was last year’s winner on London 52 and says this horse is as talented, but so opinionated you have to make him think it’s his idea. He was retired across country on his only previous five-star start, at Pau 2021, but was in the top five on all four of his four-star runs last year, including winning Millfield CCI4*-L, and recently won at Burnham Market so could be very competitive.

84. Pippa Funnell

54, GBR

Billy Walk On, 14 b g, Billy Mexico x Golden Bash, Barbara & Nicholas Walkinshaw

Badminton hasn’t yet been the happiest hunting ground for Billy Walk On, who has been pulled up twice here across country, but he was second in the one-off five-star at Bicton in 2021 and eighth at Burghley last year with a double jumping clear. Pippa is rarely competitive at one-day events, but she can spring a surprise at the big ones.

85. Tim Price

44, NZL

Coup De Coeur Dudevin, 11 b g, Top Gun Semilly x Leprince Des Bois, Jean-Louis Stauffer

Originally produced by Chris Burton, this horse was then ridden by Tim’s wife Jonelle, with Tim taking over last year. The pair were second at Millstreet CCI4*-L and then won Maryland on the horse’s five-star debut. He’s still inexperienced, but no five-star winner should be ruled out of contention and world number one Tim is on the form of his life.

For similar details on every Badminton Horse Trials rider and horse, plus score sheets to fill in as the week progresses, buy this week’s magazine, out Thursday 4 May or pick up a free copy from the organisers’s office or on site box office at Badminton.

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Keep up to date with all of the breaking news, behind the scenes insight and the best of the action throughout Badminton Horse Trials with no limit on how much you can read from as little as £1 per week with a Horse & Hound unlimited website subscription. Sign up now. Plus enjoy our full 22-page magazine report on Badminton, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from Nick Burton and Mark Phillips, in Horse & Hound magazine (on sale 11 May).

Double young rider medallist and Badminton top-10 horse put down: ‘I owe my career to him’

Pippa Roome — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 16:23:48 +0000

Five Boys, who started the career of British Olympic event rider Kitty King, has been put down at the age of 30.

“I am eternally grateful to this little man for coming into my life some 21 years ago,” said Kitty. “I owe my career to him and he really kick-started everything.”

Ex-hurder Five Boys spent his later years with Hollie Cowley.

“She gave him the most wonderful retirement and care in his later years and it purely down to her care and devotion that he’s had such a long, happy life,” said Kitty.

The 15.3hh son of King Luthier was in training with Ron Hodges and originally retrained by Marnie Campbell, who is now a great friend of Kitty’s, and her yard physio. Ex-hurdler Five Boys, known as “Molly”, was owned by David and Jane Tolley during his eventing career.

He went from BE100 to winning Necarne CCI* (now CCI2-L) in his first season eventing with Kitty in 2001. The following year the pair won the under-21 CCI2 (now CCI3*-L) at Punchestown, were placed in the top 10 in their first advanced and took home team silver from the young rider Europeans in Wiendorf, Austria, finishing 11th individually.

In 2003 the pair became British national under-25 champions when they finished second in the age-restricted class at Bramham to the USA’s Will Coleman and Fox In Flight. Later in the season, they helped the Brits to young rider team gold in Bialy Bor, Poland, finishing fourth individually.

“By 2005 he was helping me achieve my childhood dream of completing Badminton Horse Trials – he not only completed it, but smashed it by finishing seventh and winning a whole host of prizes, including best under-25, best first-timer and best local rider. It was more than I’d ever dare dream of and to top it all off we were selected to be part of the senior European squad at Blenheim that autumn,” said Kitty.

Sadly the pair did not complete the senior Europeans and Five Boys did not reach the dizzy heights of that first Badminton again, but he will be remembered as an outstanding campaigner in the age-restricted classes, who also achieved an incredible result at five-star, and gave Kitty – now a multi-championship rider and European team gold and silver medallist – a superb start in the sport.

After he retired from the top level, Five Boys competed at grassroots and riding club level with Hollie Cowley, jumping numerous double clears and winning the Blenheim arena eventing in 2015. He retired from ridden work in 2017.

“Since then has been completely treasured and spoilt rotten by Hollie – he couldn’t have wished for a better retirement with Hollie and both Molly and I owe her an awful lot,” said Kitty. “Hollie and I will both be left with a huge hole in our hearts, but it’s time to let him go. Run and jump for fun up there, my dear old friend.”

Dressage leader Kitty King drops down ranks after Burghley cross-country: ‘I’m gutted for the horse’

Pippa Roome — Sat, 03 Sep 2022 14:56:11 +0000

Piggy March and Trevor Dickens’ Vanir Kamira will be the overnight leaders after the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials cross-country day.

Dressage leader Kitty King had a great round up to the Fairfax & Favor Boot Racks at fence 19ab, but her ride Vendredi Biats didn’t read the first of the blue and white oxers there properly, seeming only to sight the front rail.

The grey looked as if he was going to put down in the middle of the oxer and although he managed to stay on his feet – unlike some others at this fence – he broke the frangible device on the back rail, incurring 11 penalties.

“I’m just gutted for the horse – he was absolutely class the whole way and gave me a great ride,” said Kitty. “He’s such a careful horse and just didn’t read it. He jumped the first part and put down, then tried to take off again in the middle. He just completely misread it and it’s such a shame – he doesn’t deserve it and neither do my owners and team, but that’s the sport.

“He’s a careful horse so I was worried that might have frightened him a bit and that he might have done it because he was tired. I had to pick him up round the corner to the Cottesmore Leap and he jumped that fine, then I let him freewheel down the hill and assessed that I still had plenty of horse so I picked him up to gallop home.”

Kitty and Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson’s horse finished 15 seconds over the time and will sit in 11th or better overnight, depending on what happens with the final few combinations.

Tim Price has the second best score in the clubhouse, with Vitali, but Oliver Townend (Swallow Springs), Tom McEwen (CHF Cooliser) and Ros Canter (Pencos Crown Jewel) can all go between Piggy and Tim on the leaderboard if they have fast clear rounds in the final throes of this Burghley Horse Trials cross-country day.

Vanir Kamira – who went round one second over the time earlier – would become the 14th horse to win both Badminton Horse Trials and Burghley if she completes the double tomorrow, after her Badminton victory in 2019.

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Piggy March puts in brilliant Burghley round on 17-year-old Vanir Kamira: ‘She was really up for it’

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Keep up with all of the breaking news, behind the scenes insight and the best of the action throughout Burghley Horse Trials with no limit on how much you can read from as little as £1 per week with a Horse & Hound unlimited website subscription. Sign up now. Plus enjoy our full 20-page magazine report on Burghley, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from Nick Burton and Mark Phillips, in next week’s magazine (8 September).

‘You should have taken me’: H&H talks to European gold medallist and other top 10 riders after Burghley dressage

Lucy Elder — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 21:28:55 +0000

Horse & Hound’s Lucy Elder rounds up the action on day two of dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, speaking to leader Kitty King about her ‘point to prove’ as well as Tim Price, Tom McEwen and highest-placed first-timer at this stage, Bubby Upton. *Please be patient to allow the video below to load*

Kitty King came to Burghley Horse Trials with a point to prove – a point she made loud and clear by storming into the lead with the best ever international test of her career with her European team gold medallist Vendredi Biats.

Kitty had pinned her sights on World Eventing Championship selection with the 13-year-old grey, with “Froggy’s” season and preparations planned with Pratoni in mind. But the pair are not on the five-strong squad and were named instead among the reserve combinations.

“My plan, to put it bluntly, was to stick two fingers up at the selectors to say, ‘you should have taken me’. We’ve got a point to prove and will be putting our best foot forward [on the cross-country] tomorrow,” Kitty told H&H in the video above.

Their harmonious test was peppered with nines, ending with a perfect 10 from Andrew Bennie at C for one of their collective marks, earning the pair a career-best score of 21.2.

Tears came – a mix of relief and emotion – as Kitty completed the test of her life. The long walk out of Burghley’s main arena gave time enough for her provisional score to be relayed across the loudspeaker, flashing up on the big screen to applause from the crowd. Kitty clutched her hand to her face as a fresh wave filled her eyes.

“It’s been tricky as I was really hoping to go to Pratoni, so I would have done a different final run than if I had been aiming for Burghley,” said Kitty, who rides Froggy for owners Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson.

“Instead he ran round Hartpury really quickly, so I hope that hasn’t made him too keen. He needs to be listening to me when I tell him to slow down, and not arguing with me.”

She added: “[Tomorrow] will be a tough day, but we will give it our best shot.”

Former winner Tim Price and his Burghley first-timer Vitali, first to go on Friday morning, offered an instant refresh of the standings – nudging ahead of overnight leaders Sarah Bullimore and Corouet.

“Because the horse is capable it’s on me to bring it out of him, he could do a nine everywhere,” said Tim. “But I’m not a dressage rider; I just gallop around jumps quite well sometimes.”

Modesty on a five-star scale from the world number two, who ends the first phase in provisional second with the Giannamores’ gelding on a score of 21.3. Sarah and Corouet remain on the podium, sitting provisional third after dressage on 22.5.

Day two delivered a significant shake up to the top 10. Oliver Townend is in touch of the leaders with both of today’s rides, taking provisional fifth with the Ridgeons’ Swallow Springs (23.6), who was third here with Andrew Nicholson in 2018. Oliver is also provisional ninth with the Hazeldines and Mitchell Fox Group’s Tregilder on 27.5.

Reigning Burghley Horse Trials champion Pippa Funnell also has two horses in the top 10, with her first day ride Billy Walk On now in provisional eighth (26.2) and her second horse Majas Hope in 10th on 28.2.

Ros Canter and the delightful Pencos Crown Jewel, owned by Annie Makin and Kate James, dazzled. Their score of 24.2 for provisional sixth is Ros’ best Burghley dressage score and is as much testament to her skill as a rider as the mare’s attitude.

“I’m quite protective of little Jasmine so I just want her to enjoy it,” said Ros, explaining the mare isn’t naturally built for dressage. “If she comes back happy, that will do for me, but my plan A is to go for it – it’s the only way to tackle a five-star.”

The 2021 Pau runner-up CHF Cooliser, ridden by Tom McEwen, completes the trio of mares in Burghley’s top 10 after dressage. The 12-year-old Womanizer daughter, owned by Vicky Bates and David Myers, shaved four percent off her previous five-star personal best in this phase to sit seventh on 25.6.

“She’s completely quirky, so tomorrow everyone will be wondering what I’m up to as I’m walking alongside her and jumping on in the start box,” said Tom, likening Derek di Grazia’s cross-country course as “Tokyo on steroids”.

“She loves it, she looks for flags for fun, but with that comes a few chestnut mare aspects, which you’ve just got to love. I’m really looking forward to finding out what she’s like around a track like this.”

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Kitty King (GBR) riding Vendredi Biats during the dressage phase of the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, in the park land surrounding Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire in the UK between 31st August - 4th September 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

‘I have a point to prove’: Kitty King produces the best test of her career to lead at Burghley

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Vendredi Biats – from a ‘disappointing’ first viewing to triple medallist with Kitty King

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Burghley Horse Trials cross-country times: when the leading contenders are due to run

Keep up with all of the breaking news, behind the scenes insight and the best of the action throughout Burghley Horse Trials with no limit on how much you can read from as little as £1 per week with a Horse & Hound unlimited website subscription. Sign up now. Plus enjoy our full 20-page magazine report on Burghley, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from Nick Burton and Mark Phillips, in next week’s magazine (8 September).

A leader with a point to prove, two top-10 contenders for Pippa Funnell and a heartwarming result for Nicola Wilson’s team: 8 stories not to miss from Burghley

Martha Terry — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 16:03:58 +0000

The second and final day of dressage is now complete at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2022 and it was another day of high-quality action. Here is a quick round-up of the key stories you won't want to miss from Friday 2 September

Kitty King produced a career personal best with Vendredi Biats to take the lead towards the end of the dressage action at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.

Find out what’s spurring Kitty on for a top result

Tim Price was first into the arena on the second day of dressage, riding the second of his three rides, Vitali, who overtook Sarah Bullimore’s overnight lead and lies second at the end of the dressage phase.

Read what Tim had to say about his personal best five-star test

The final session of dressage was full of high-quality contenders who shook up the leaderboard, but no one could ease ahead of Kitty King.

Discover who scored personal bests, and which popular rider has steered two horses into the top 10.

Taking a risk paid off for Bubby Upton, who put the pressure on the leaders with 28.3 score.

Find out how Bubby shook up her warm-up routine

Burghley debutant Susie Berry continues her “crazy breakthrough year” by breaking through the 30-barrier on Ringwood LB.

Listen to Susie talk about the thrill of riding cross-country

Meanwhile Francis Whittington has a talented but enigmatic performer on his hands.

Find out why DHI Purple Rain is like riding “overcooked spaghetti”

Away from the five-star class, stars of the future lined up for the Burghley Young Event Horse final, where a horse bred by Nicola Wilson’s mum Mary Tweddle won the five-year-old section.

Read how Robyn Gray’s ride provided a boost to Nicola’s team

And Tom McEwen’s groom is midst a busy week looking after CHF Cooliser.

Meet Adam Short and find out why grooming is about far more than neat plaits

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‘I have a point to prove’: Kitty King produces the best test of her career to lead at Burghley

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‘A gold star for effort’: little mare defies expectations to challenge Burghley leaders

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Home-bred gives Nicola Wilson’s yard huge boost with Burghley young event horse final win

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Keep up with all of the breaking news, behind the scenes insight and the best of the action throughout Burghley Horse Trials with no limit on how much you can read from as little as £1 per week with a Horse & Hound unlimited website subscription. Sign up now. Plus enjoy our full 20-page magazine report on Burghley, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from Nick Burton and Mark Phillips, in next week’s magazine (8 September).

Check out our full form guide for analysis of all the Burghley Horse Trials riders and horses who will tackle the five-star competition in this week’s magazine (issue dated 8 September).

‘I have a point to prove’: Kitty King produces the best test of her career to lead at Burghley

Martha Terry — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 14:08:11 +0000

Kitty King came into the ring with her game face on and emerged in tears after storming into the lead after dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials today (2 September). Partnering her European team gold medallist Vendredi Biats, she produced a fabulously consistent test to score 21.2, just 0.1 of a penalty in front of Tim Price and Vitali.

The 13-year-old was seventh at Badminton this year and came here as one of the favourites after they just missed out on selection for the eventing World Championships in Pratoni later this month.

“It’s a relief really!” said Kitty after producing the best score of her life at any level. “It’s great to do it at Burghley as I’ve got a point to prove this week, so let’s hope I can keep it up for the next two days. I really wanted to go to the championships, but it’s great to be at Burghley.”

Burghley Horse Trials dressage: Kitty scores perfect 10

Vendredi Biats’ test started very well, with plenty of eights from the outset, and that set the tone for the entire performance. Their marks rarely dipped below 7.5, resulting in a top score of 83.52% from the judge at C, Andrew Bennie.

Particular highlights were the extended trot and canter, and rein back, which earned nines. She also scored a perfect 10 for one of her collective marks. But the whole picture was harmonious and a delight to watch, with grey’s forward, uphill movement making the movements look easy. Burghley’s mown lines show up any lack of straightness, but they pair were pinpoint accurate throughout and the judges rewarded them.

As Burghley was her hoped-for plan B, Kitty’s preparation is causing her some concern for the Winningmood gelding, owned by Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson.

“It’s been tricky as I was really hoping to go to Pratoni, so I would have done a different final run than if I had been aiming for Burghley,” she said. “Instead he ran round Hartpury really quickly, so I hope that hasn’t made him too keen. He needs to be listening to me when I tell him to slow down, and not arguing with me.

“It’s a great track,” she added. “It’s like a CIC up to the Trout Hatchery [fence 10] with lots of fences and combinations coming up thick and fast. We need to ride the line and the pace, and give the horses time to recover when they can freewheel. It will be a tough day, but we will give it our best shot.”

This is Kitty’s first trip to Burghley since 2011 with High Havoc.

“I’m looking for a completion as I’ve never managed to complete yet,” she said. “I’m hoping it’s third time lucky.”

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Injured rider takes Burghley lead on tiny ‘superstar with the attitude of a 22hh horse’

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‘Like riding spaghetti’: Francis Whittington perseveres with talented enigma at Burghley

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Keep up with all of the breaking news, behind the scenes insight and the best of the action throughout Burghley Horse Trials with no limit on how much you can read from as little as £1 per week with a Horse & Hound unlimited website subscription. Sign up now. Plus enjoy our full 20-page magazine report on Burghley, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from Nick Burton and Mark Phillips, in next week’s magazine (8 September).

10 pairs to watch at Burghley Horse Trials this week – is one of these Britain’s autumn five-star winner?

Pippa Roome — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 12:02:54 +0000

Want to sound knowledgeable when your friends ask you who out of the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials riders will be the winner? Check out our list of potential victors for this week’s five-star (1-4 September)…

Burghley Horse Trials riders and horses: the top 10 contenders

(List in number order)

2. Oliver Townend, 39, GBR

Ballaghmor Class, 15-year-old grey gelding, Courage II x unlisted, owners: Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop & Val Ryan

Ballaghmor Class’s five-star record is unsurpassed among horses currently competing – eight top-five finishes at the level from the same number of starts, including two wins and an Olympic team gold. Should be off to the worlds rather than here, but if he did run, it would be surprising if he wasn’t in the top five.

4. Pippa Funnell, 53, GBR

Billy Walk On, 13-year-old bay gelding, Billy Mexico x Golden Bash, owners: Barbara & Nicholas Walkinshaw

Recently second at Barbury CCI4*-S and third in the British open, Billy Walk On looks to be building back from retiring at Badminton. He was second in the five-star at Bicton last year and could be the dressage leader here and even go on to win if he’s on the best of his slightly inconsistent form. Pippa has won here twice.

22. Piggy March, 42, GBR

Vanir Kamira, 17-year-old bay mare, Camiro De Haar Z x Dixi, owner: Trevor Dickens

Piggy and “Tilly”, the 2019 Badminton winners, have six top-five finishes at five-star. Their three starts at Burghley have yielded two seconds and a fifth, and the mare’s fourth at Badminton in May proves age is not holding her back. She recently won at Hartpury CCI4*-S and loves a big occasion, so don’t rule her out.

27. Jonelle Price, 41, NZL

Classic Moet, 19-year-old black mare, Classic x Bohemond, owners: Trisha & Sophie Rickards & rider

The 2018 Badminton winner was 11th there this spring, sticking two fingers up at her age – she’s the joint-oldest horse here. That was her ninth five-star top-20 placing – plus she has two at World Championships. She probably won’t top her best result here (third), but her fans would love to see her in the placings again.

30. Sarah Bullimore, 49, GBR

Corouet, 11-year-old chestnut gelding, Balou Du Rouet x Lovis Corinth, rider, owners: her husband Brett and the Kew Jumping Syndicate

Sarah and this talented home-bred won individual bronze at last year’s Europeans. Corouet was second after dressage on his five-star debut at Kentucky, but lacked rideability cross-country and had a run-out. He’s been placed at four-star since and could impress. Sarah was fourth here (2018, 2019) on Reve Du Rouet.

37. Tim Price, 43, NZL

Vitali, 12-year-old bay gelding, Contender x Heraldik, owners: rider, Alexander & Joseph Giannamore

This horse only joined Tim – the 2018 Burghley winner – in 2021, but he won a CCI4*-L in Poland in April that year and was Tim’s Tokyo Olympic ride, finishing 24th. This year he’s been 10th at Luhmühlen five-star and won the British Open. Showjumping is his Achilles’ heel, but he could be very competitive if he can fix that.

48. William Fox-Pitt, 53, GBR

Oratorio, 13-year-old brown gelding, Oslo Biats x Topanoora, owners: Oratorio Syndicate

William holds the record for most Burghley wins (six), and this horse is a true Burghley type who could give him a seventh. Oratorio makes his debut here, having been 13th at Badminton 2019 and 14th there this spring after an unlucky 2021 which included a fall at Kentucky and a nosebleed at Bicton five-star.

60. Kitty King, 40, GBR

Vendredi Biats, 13-year-old grey gelding, Winningmood x Camelia De Ruelles, owners: Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Sally Eyre & Samantha Wilson

Kitty and “Froggy” have been in the top 10 at two European Championships, collecting team gold last year, and were seventh at this year’s Badminton. They’ve proved their form with two top-10s at CCI4*-S since and could be in line for a big result. Kitty has started here twice but, surprisingly, seeks a first completion.

62. Ros Canter, 36, GBR

Pencos Crown Jewel, 13-year-old bay mare, Jumbo x Rock King, owners: Kate James & Annie Makin

This mare is “Little Miss Consistent” and was fourth on her five-star debut at Bicton last year and second at Bramham CCI4*-L in June. She’s not as flashy as her half-brother, Badminton runner-up Lordships Graffalo, but expect to see her in the top 10 – or better. Ros has been round Burghley twice on Allstar B.

67. Oliver Townend, 39, GBR

Swallow Springs, 14-year-old grey gelding, Chillout x Cult Hero, owners: Paul & Diana Ridgeon

Oliver landed the ride when Andrew Nicholson retired and the pair were third at Badminton in May. They’ve since achieved the horse’s fourth CCI4*-S win. Swallow Springs has been third at Burghley with Andrew and stands a decent chance of giving Oliver a third win here if he starts. He is Oliver’s reserve for the worlds.

Check out our full form guide for analysis of all the Burghley Horse Trials riders and horses in this week’s magazine (issue dated 8 September).

British team named for World Eventing Championships: squad debutante joins familiar faces

Becky Murray — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 09:52:05 +0000

The gold medal-winning Tokyo squad are among those named in the British team for the World Eventing Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, (14-18 September).

Today (19 August) British Equestrian and the British Eventing selectors have confirmed the five horse and rider combinations that will form the list of definite entries.

The selected combinations for the British team at the World Eventing Championships, in alphabetical order, are:

Ros Canter with 10-year-old gelding Lordships Graffalo

Owner: Michele Saul

Breeder: Lordships Stud Writtle College (GBR)

Breeding: by Grafenstolz, out of a mare by Rock King

Groom: Sarah Charnley

Laura Collett with 13-year-old gelding London 52

Owner: Laura, Karen Bartlett and Keith Scott

Breeder: Ocke Riewerts (GER)

Breeding: by Landos, out of a mare by Quinar

Groom: Tilly Hughes

Yasmin Ingham with 11-year-old gelding Banzai Du Loir

Owner: Janette Chinn and Sue Davies

Breeder: Pierre Gouye (FRA)

Breeding: by Nouma D’Auzay, out of a mare by Livarot

Groom: Alison Bell

Tom McEwen with 15-year-old gelding Toledo de Kerser

Owner: Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Coppell and Tom’s mother Alison McEwen

Breeder: Kerstin Drevet (FRA)

Breeding: by Diamant De Semilly, out of a mare by Papillon Rouge

Groom: Francesca Gorni

Oliver Townend with 15-year-old gelding Ballaghmor Class

Owner: Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan

Breeder: Noel Hicky (IRL)

Breeding: by Courage II

Groom: Charlotte Holifield

Oliver has also been selected with 14-year-old gelding Swallow Springs as a direct reserve.

Owner: Paul and Diana RidgeonBreeder: Maria Keating (IRL)Breeding: by Chillout, out of a mare by Cult Hero

The team of four and one individual may not be confirmed until the declaration of starters.

Yasmin makes her senior championship debut, while all the other riders have previous championship experience and at least one medal to their names.

The reserve combinations, listed in alphabetical order are:

Sarah Bullimore with 11-year-old gelding Corouet

Owner: Sarah, her husband Brett, and the Kew Jumping Syndicate

Breeder: Sarah Buillimore (GBR)

Breeding: by Balou du Rouet, out of Lilly Corinne by Lovis Corinth

Ros Canter with 13-year-old mare Pencos Crown JewelOwner: Kate James and Annie MakinBreeder: Pennie Wallace (GBR)Breeding: by Jumbo, out of a mare by Rock King

Kirsty Chabert with 13-year-old mare Classic IVOwner: Kirsty’s father John Johnston and Carole SomersBreeder: Peter Charles (GBR)Breeding: by Calvaro FC

William Fox-Pitt with 13-year-old gelding Little Fire

Owner: William and Jennifer Dowling

Breeder: Dr. Volker Steinkraus (GER)

Breeding: by Graf Top, out of a mare by Heraldik

Kitty King with 13-year-old gelding Vendredi Biats

Owner: Diana Bown, Sally Eyre, Samantha Wilson and Sally Lloyd-Baker

Breeder: Phillipe Brivois (FRA)

Breeding: by Winningmood, out of a mare by Camelia De Ruelle

World-class British entries announced for 2022 eventing World Championships

Eleanor Jones — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 12:26:09 +0000

The eventing World Championships nominated entries (14-18 September) have been announced.

British Equestrian and the British Eventing selectors have confirmed the 15 horse and rider combinations from which the squad travelling to Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, will be drawn.

In alphabetical order, the combinations are:

Sarah Bullimore with 11-year-old gelding Corouet

Owner: Sarah, her husband Brett, and the Kew Jumping Syndicate

Breeder: Sarah Buillimore (GBR)

Breeding: by Balou du Rouet, out of Lilly Corinne by Lovis Corinth

Ros Canter with 17-year-old gelding Allstar B

Owner: Ros and Caroline Moore

Breeder: FAJ Van der Burg (NED)

Breeding: by Ephebe For Ever, out of a mare by Erkstein

Ros Canter with 10-year-old gelding Lordships Graffalo

Owner: Michele Saul

Breeder: Lordships Stud Writtle College (GBR)

Breeding: by Grafenstolz, out of a mare by Rock King

Ros Canter with 13-year-old mare Pencos Crown Jewel

Owner: Kate James and Annie Mackin

Breeder: Pennie Wallace (GBR)

Breeding: by Jumbo, out of a mare by Rock King

Kirsty Chabert with 13-year-old mare Classic IV

Owner: John Johnston and Carole Somers

Breeder: Peter Charles (GBR)

Breeding: by Calvaro FC

Laura Collett with 13-yearold gelding London 52

Owner: Laura, Karen Bartlett and Keith Scott

Breeder: Ocke Riewerts (GER)

Breeding: by Landos, out of a mare by Quinar

William Fox- Pitt with 13-year-old gelding Little Fire

Owner: William and Jennifer Dowling

Breeder: Dr. Volker Steinkraus (GER)

Breeding: by Graf Top, out of a mare by Heraldik

Pippa Funnell with 15-year-old gelding Majas Hope

Owner: Pippa and Marek Sebestak

Breeder: Jack Murphy (IRL)

Breeding: by Porter Rhodes, out of a mare by Flagmount King

Yasmin Ingham with 11-year-old gelding Banzai Du Loir

Owner: Janette Chinn and Sue Davies

Breeder: Pierre Gouye (FRA)

Breeding: by Nouma D’Auzay, out of a mare by Livarot

Kitty King with 13-year-old gelding Vendredi Biats

Owner: Diana Bown, Sally Eyre, Samantha Wilson and Sally Lloyd-Baker

Breeder: Phillipe Brivois (FRA)

Breeding: by Winningmood, out of a mare by Camelia de Ruelle

Piggy March with 17-year-old mare Vanir Kamira

Owner: Trevor Dickens

Breeder: Kathryn Jackson (IRL)

Breeding: by Camira de Haar Z, out of a mare by Dixi

Tom McEwen with 15-year-old gelding Toledo de Kerser

Owner: Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Coppell and Alison McEwen

Breeder: Kerstin Drevet (FRA)

Breeding: by Diamant de Semilly, out of a mare by Papillon Rouge

Izzy Taylor with 11-year-old gelding Monkeying Around

Owner: Izzy and and Mark Sartori

Breeder: Christian Heinrich (GER)

Breeding: by Bertoli W, out of a mare by Donnerhall II

Oliver Townend with 15-year-old gelding Ballaghmor Class

Owner: Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan

Breeder: Noel Hicky (IRL)

Breeding: by Courage II

Oliver Townend with 14-year-old Swallow Springs

Owner: Paul and Diana Ridgeon

Breeder: Maria Keating (IRL)

Breeding: by Chillout, out of a mare by Cult Hero

As part of the Eventing World Championships entries, the following 10 reserve combinations have also been selected, listed in alphabetical order:

Kirsty Chabert with 11-year-old mare Opposition LoireOwner: Kirsty and the Daisy ChainBreeder: Mr J Johnston (GBR)Breeding: by Opposition Heracles, out of a mare by Carnival Drum

Laura Collett with 13-year-old gelding DacapoOwner: Diana Chappell, Gillian Morris-Adams, Alison and Michael Smedley and Carolyn TaylorBreeding: by Diarado, out of a mare by Canturo

David Doel with 11-year-old gelding Galileo Nieuwmoed

Owner: Gillian Jonas

Breeder: J W and A P Jurrius (NED)

Breeding: by Carambole, out of a mare by Harcos

William Fox- Pitt with 13-year-old gelding OratorioOwner: the Oratorio SyndicateBreeding: by Oslo Biats, out of a mare by Topanoora

Pippa Funnell with 12-year-old gelding MaybachOwner: S H E Eventing ABBreeder: Camilla Paradis (SWE)Breeding: by Jaguar Mail, out of a mare by Irco Mena

Tom Jackson with 11-year-old gelding Capels Hollow Drift

Owner: Patricia Davenport, Milly Simmie and Sarah Webb

Breeder: Jeanette Glynn (GBR)

Breeding: by Shannondale Sarco St Ghyvan, out of a mare by Lucky Gift

Richard Jones with 15-year-old gelding Alfies CloverOwner: Richard, Sandra Martin and Dinah SaundersBreeder: James Hickey (GBR)Breeding: by Tajrassi, out of a mare by Clover Hill

Selina Milnes with 13-year-old gelding IronOwner: William and Angela RuckerBreeding: by Aquilino, out of a mare by Donnerschlag

Tom McEwen with 11-year-old gelding Bob ChaplinOwner: Fred and Penny BarkerBreeding: by Cashell, out of a mare by Silver Jasper

Tom McEwen with 12-year-old chestnut mare CHF CooliserOwner: Vicky Bates and David MyersBreeder: Raymond Carroll (IRL)Breeding: by Womanizer, out of a mare by Ramiro B

The names of the grooms for each horse will be included in the final squad announcement.

Which rider fell off their bike? And who ran to the start box beside their horse? Nine things you might not know about last week’s Badminton

Pippa Roome — Wed, 11 May 2022 07:32:33 +0000

Still not had enough of Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian? We’ve got some fun facts from the week for you…

1. Kitty King, who finished seventh on Vendredi Biats, fell off her bicycle on Friday evening. She joked after her clear across country that that meant she’d got her falls out the way before her round on Saturday.

2. Vanir Kamira, Piggy March’s ride who won here in 2019 and was fourth this time, occupied the stable where Paddy, the hunter of event director Jane Tuckwell, usually lives the rest of the year.

3. Tom McEwen ran to the start box beside his second ride, CHF Cooliser, and only mounted once he was about to start.

“We do that all the time so we just carried on. I warmed up and then got off,” said Tom. “She got a bit quirky with start boxes always having the finish next to them. Too many times people were coming flat out past her and she went with them rather than in the direction she’s meant to be going in. It’s just an easier way and she’s completely chilled with it.”

Badminton final scores

The pair finished 27th.

4. The final rider on the Badminton Horse Trials cross-country course, Kylie Roddy – a British first-timer who impressed with 20th after dressage – pulled up at the Holland Cooper Vicarage Vee because her ride SRS Kan Do had lost a shoe. She hopes to re-route to the five-star in Germany, at Luhmühlen, in June.

5. The youngest rider, Alice Casburn, wore a necklace which said 2002, the year of her birth, on cross-country day. No, no, we don’t feel old at all…

6. First-timer Hector Payne, who finished in 42nd place on Dynasty broke his leg at Tweseldown in May last year and said it’s taken longer than he expected to get over it.

“I apologise if I’m tired at the end of the track but I’ve not been able to run as much as usual,” he said.

7. Fellow debutant James Rushbrooke bought his ride Milchem Eclipse with two other horses, but expected to sell him “because he was nice and easy”. He no longer has the two other horses, but he’s never even tried to sell Milchem Eclipse and the pair finished 43rd.

8. US-based Australian rider Dom Schramm sold patches on a cooler rug as part of his fundraising for his trip over to Badminton. In total, more than 380 people contributed to his fundraising effort. He and Bolytair B finished 49th.

9. Among Laura Collett’s congratulations were messages from 2016 Badminton winner Michael Jung and Grand National-winning jockey Rachael Blackmore. She woke up in a panic on Monday morning thinking it had all been a dream and the first message she saw was one sent at 5.30am by 2019 winner Piggy March, reassuring her it had all been real.

‘Not the smoothest, but he helped me out the whole way’: Kitty King keeps tabs on the leaders over Badminton cross-country track

Martha Terry — Sat, 07 May 2022 13:35:49 +0000

The Badminton Horse Trials cross-country continued to exert considerable influence on the dressage leaderboard at the Gloucestershire event presented by Mars Equestrian. Kitty King managed to consolidate her place at the business end despite time-faults.

Kitty had a rough ride through the first water on Vendredi Biats (Froggy), where the horse jumped in extremely boldly and she had to ride through on a long rein, but the grey stayed on his line. But their round was almost flawless otherwise, and although she incurred eight time-faults, he seemed to be galloping well within himself, just easing up over the final few fences. Their time was good enough to go into third place at this stage.

Kitty was particularly pleased with Froggy’s performance given that historically he has found the left rein harder.

“Unfortunately when I knew the track was on the left rein, I knew it was never going to be easy for him,” she said. “From a young horse he has struggled with turning left, and all the approaches to the tricky combinations were on a slight left turn – Huntsman’s, the water — and he likes to be on the right lead.

“We were a bit slow, but I had to calm down and think what we were doing – I felt I was making heavier weather of it than it needed to be. So I had to take a pull and think, let’s sort this out and get the balance. He helped me out all the way, that’s the way a partnership works. It wasn’t the smoothest ride I’ve ever had, but those left turns were a huge factor.”

Badminton final scores

Badminton Horse Trials cross-country: the hard-luck stories

Emily King was coming to the end of a superb round on Valmy Biats, having held 16th place with 28.5, when the horse came into the Savills Hay Feeders three fences from home with too much momentum. He took a flier at the B element rolltop and left a leg, propelling himself into the turf. Emily’s leg was briefly caught in the stirrup but mercifully both horse and rider did get to their feet to walk off the track.

Mollie Summerland’s courageous debut came to an end at the second water when her Luhmühlen winner Charly Van Ter Heiden petered out at the vast drop in. They were holding fourth place after dressage but across-country Charly looked overwhelmed by the intensity and dimensions and his jump was becoming increasingly high and laboured over the few previous fences. After two attempts at the drop she put up her hand to retire.

Read our full Badminton form guide in this week’s issue of Horse & Hound (issue dated 5 May 2022). Our bumper 20-page Badminton report will be in our 12 May issue and keep fully up-to-date with all the action during Badminton week via horseandhound.co.uk, where a host of features and reports will be published.

Kitty King puts in bold bid for the Badminton title with ‘brilliant’ dressage test

Martha Terry — Thu, 05 May 2022 14:54:08 +0000

Kitty King conjured a personal best performance from Vendredi Biats in the Badminton Horse Trials dressage phase, at the event presented by Mars Equestrian. The European team gold medallist looked tearful as she left the arena, knowing her partner had given his all.

“He was brilliant! He was quite tricky yesterday and kept breaking in all his medium trots, so I was a bit stressed, but he was much more with me this morning,” said Kitty. “I gave myself too much time to warm up today so did a lot of walk as he was so focused and practised our halts.”

This warm-up technique paid off. Their halts earned nines and 10 from Christian Landolt.

“I heard a gasp and thought I must have gone wrong – I’m not used to getting 10s!” she said.

Kitty eked out every mark from “Froggy”, as the grey is known at home, to score 24.8 and sit second. He was engaged and submissive, while showing plenty of impulsion, for a mistake-free test.

Badminton final scores

“His eyes can pop out of his head, and his stride can go short, so I was worried when they were clapping the previous rider,” Kitty added. “But I did a quick flexion and leg yield and he was straight back with me.”

Badminton horse trials dressage: Luhmühlen winner makes dream debut

Mollie Summerland and Charly Van Ter Heiden (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

The Luhmühlen winners Mollie Summerland and Charly Van Ter Heiden made an exciting Badminton debut. The pair produced a dream test with no major mistakes, the highlight being the extended canter, which earned a nine from Christian Landolt, the judge at C.

“I feel shell-shocked; I didn’t really expect that,” said Mollie. “I have never ridden in front of crowds like that and I’m just so proud of him. He deserves that result and I’m just glad I didn’t let him down.”

Having scored 29 at Luhmühlen, she trumped that with 24.9 to move briefly into second spot behind Tom McEwen and Toledo De Kerser – until Kitty King moved ahead of her – in the middle of the afternoon session on day one. The 13-year-old by Contendros Bube is a flashy mover with four white socks and showed off his cadenced yet fluid paces to impress the judges.

“I couldn’t believe my score when I came out as he was quite excited in the atmosphere outside so I couldn’t practise my flying changes,” she added. “He’s my best friend so to ride in that arena was such a privilege.”

Mollie admitted that the pressure since winning a five-star last summer has been tough.

“There’s a lot of expectation and I’ve found it hard to get the balance right and enjoy the sport,” said Mollie, 23, who chatted with her sports psychologist before the test. “I was introverted and emotional and worried yesterday, so I’m just so relieved today.”

German rider “disappointed” by sub-standard display

Germany’s sole starter Christoph Wahler looked set for an eye-catching debut after finishing runner-up to Mollie at Luhmühlen last year, riding the striking grey Carjatan S, by Clearway. The 13-year-old looked ready to burst outside the ring, but Christoph managed to settle him initially so that he understood his job between the boards and he showed off his expressive paces. He just about held it together for the first half of the test, while looking as if he really wanted to take on the cross-country fences in the main arena. However, the halt and rein-back seemed to frustrate him – scoring twos – which affected the subsequent flying changes.

“Really disappointing,” was Christoph’s verdict. “He had seemed really relaxed over the past few days, though he can be quite sharp. But I know what kind of test he can do when he is calm and relaxed and listening to me and today he was absolutely not. When he competed at Luhmühlen, there were no spectators so obviously the arena atmosphere got to him a little bit.”

So far, no one has been able to catch Tom McEwen, fourth into the arena on this first day of dressage. However, Kitty and Mollie are now breathing down his neck within 1.5 penalties to the leader.

Floaty skirts, tartan trousers, hats and a dirndl: which is your favourite outfit from the Badminton trot-up?

Pippa Roome — Wed, 04 May 2022 20:30:58 +0000

Who won the Badminton Horse Trials trot-up fashion stakes? As the event presented by Mars Equestrian got underway this afternoon, riders pulled all the stops out with their clothes at the first horse inspection.

Check out this selection of our favourite outfits…

Tom McEwen riding Toledo De Kerser for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 26th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Tom McEwen opts for a classic look as he presents his double Olympic medallist Toledo De Kerser, owned by Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Inns and Tom’s mother Ali.

Nicola Wilson riding Erano M for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 26th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Badminton final scores

Nicola Wilson puts on a pop of colour and accessorises with an ostrich-print Peachy Belt to show off Lady Milnes Coates and Rosemary Search’s Erano M.

William Fox-Pitt riding Oratorio for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 26th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

William Fox-Pitt dons blue trousers and a red tie to lead up the syndicate-owned Oratorio.

Pippa Funnell riding Billy Walk On for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 26th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Hats are in vogue: Pippa Funnell with Billy Walk On, owned by Barbara and Nicholas Walkinshaw. Pippa wears a Hicks & Brown Hemley fedora and Fairfax & Favor Regina boots.

Oliver Townend riding Swallow Springs for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 26th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

A dark suit, a pale horse – Oliver Townend and Paul and Diana Ridgeon’s Swallow Springs.

Piggy March riding Vanir Kamira for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 26th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Piggy March wears the Holland Cooper Regency coat with a metallic buckle on the back and a beige rollneck to trot up Trevor Dickens’ Vanir Kamira.

Tamra Smith riding Mai Baum for UNITED STATES during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 26th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

US rider Tamie Smith sports a patterned dress and over the knee boots to present Mai Baum, owned by Alexandra Ahearn, Ellen Ahearn and Eric Markell.

Rose Nesbitt riding EG Michealangelo for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 26th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Rose Nesbitt cut a dash in an orange jacket as she starts her first Badminton with her own EG Michaelangelo.

Amanda Pottinger riding Just Kidding for NEW ZEALAND during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Amanda Pottinger brings forward her family’s Just Kidding in a floaty patterned skirt.

Arianna Schivo riding Quefira de l'Ormeau for ITALY during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Italy’s Arianna Schivo wears uniform as she trotted up Quefira De L’Ormeau.

Ben Hobday riding Shadow Man for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

It’s a bow tie all the way for Ben Hobday as he takes to the strip with his own, his father Stephen and Jane Chambers’ Shadow Man.

Sofia Sjoborg riding DHI Mighty Dwight for SWEDEN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

The blue lining of Sofia Sjoborg’s patterned coat catches the eye as the Swedish first-timer leads up her own and her mother Juliet’s DHI Mighty Dwight.

Mollie Summerland riding Charly Van Ter Heiden for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Mollie Summerland kept to the black and white theme in head-to-toe Holland Cooper with her own Charly Van Ter Heiden.

Kitty King riding Vendredi Biats for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Kitty King sports the Hicks & Brown Suffolk fedora and a short jacket, styled with Fairfax & Favor Regina ankle boots and Hampton belt, as she came forward with Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson’s Vendredi Biats.

Hector Payne riding Dynasty for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Hector Payne’s tartan trousers catch the eye as he trots up Dynasty, owned by David and Margie Hall plus his grandparents Jeremy and Judith Skinner.

Felicity Collins riding RSH Contend OR for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Felicity Collins kicks off her first Badminton in a white dress and a pale blue coat from Welligogs with Fairfax & Favor Amira boots. She rides her mother Vicky and Avrina Milton’s RSH Contend Or.

Katrin Khoddam-Hazrati riding DSP Cosma for AUSTRIA during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Austria’s Katrin Khoddam-Hazrati opts for a dirndl as she comes forward with her own DSP Cosma.

Karl Slezak riding Fernhill Wishes for CANADA during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Canada’s Karl Slezak wins the male prize for best outfit, given by Hiho Silver, as he leads up Kirk Hoppner’s and his own Fernhill Wishes.

Laura Collett riding London 52 for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Meanwhile Laura Collett takes the female award from Hiho Silver. She wore a complete Holland Cooper outfit, which included the Knightsbridge blazer, silk scarf and reversible belt. She will ride London 52, owned by Keith Scott, Karen Bartlett and his rider.

Cedric Lyard riding Unum de'Or for FRANCE during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Red trousers are the order of the day for France’s Cedric Lyard, with Marie-Christine Duroy De Lauriere’s, Renaud De Lauriere’s and his own Unum De’Or.

Cyrielle Lefevre riding Armanjo Serosah for FRANCE during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Another French rider, Cyrielle Lefèvre, sports a tied patterned shirt and loose blue trousers to bring forward Charline Guerin’s Armanjo Serosah.

Harry Meade riding Away Cruising for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Harry Meade wears a royal blue suit to bring forward Charlotte Opperman’s Away Cruising.

Alice Casburn riding Topspin for GREAT BRITAIN during the trot-up of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 04th May 2021 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

The youngest rider in the field, Alice Casburn, puts on a white dress and a blazer to show off her mother Caroline’s Topspin.

Pictures by Peter Nixon

Behind the scenes: take a tour around gold medallist Kitty King’s yard

Martha Terry — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 07:32:59 +0000

Horse & Hound takes a tour around Kitty King’s yard, The Old Bull Pen, in Wiltshire to meet some of her equine stars and check out her facilities. Kitty King was on the gold medal-winning team at the Europeans and is gearing up for an exciting top-flight campaign in 2022, starting with Badminton. Kitty King’s current top ride (main picture) is her Europeans team gold medallist Vendredi Biats (Froggy). Kitty calls the French-bred 13-year-old a “complete comedian”, but he’s exceptionally talented, having won Bramham and being placed in the top 10 at two European Championships.

Don’t miss our access all areas feature with Kitty in this week’s issue of Horse & Hound, which is out today (14 April).

RSH Monbeg Marshall at Kitty's yard, The Old Bull Pen in the village of Lower St. Quintin near Chippenham in Wiltshire in the UK, on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

A 5f carpet canter track encircles Kitty’s training field. She uses the track for slow endurance work, and schools and jumps in the grass field in the centre. Here she is putting novice campaigner RSH Monbeg Marshall through his paces.

Kitty King stables at her yard, The Old Bull Pen in the village of Lower St. Quintin near Chippenham in Wiltshire in the UK, on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Kitty’s horses are housed in an American barn with a wide central aisle. Vendredi Biats and Kitty’s Rio Olympic ride Ceylor LAN (Sprout) have the two largest corner stables.

Kitty King with Vendredi Biats at Kitty's yard, The Old Bull Pen in the village of Lower St. Quintin near Chippenham in Wiltshire in the UK, on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Vendredi Biats is worked in a chambon in the lunge pen, which has trotting poles set up. Froggy’s routine is to have a day off after competing, followed by a lungeing session the next day. When the horse first arrived, he was notorious for bucking his riders off, so Kitty started out always lungeing him first – and still does if she can “see that look on his face’”.

Cristal Fontaine enjoying being out and Social distancing himself from everyone else at Kitty's yard, The Old Bull Pen in the village of Lower St. Quintin near Chippenham in Wiltshire in the UK on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Cristal Fontaine, known as Louis, is another of Kitty’s top rides – again a French-bred grey. Although the 10-year-old is lovely to look at and talented to ride, Kitty describes him as Jekyll and Hyde as he guards his personal space on the ground and has been known to bite!

Kitty King with Ceylor LAN at her yard, The Old Bull Pen, Lower St. Quintin near Chippenham in Wiltshire in the UK, on the 5th April 2022Kitty King with Ceylor LAN at Kitty's yard, The Old Bull Pen in the village of Lower St. Quintin near Chippenham in Wiltshire in the UK, on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Kitty’s Rio Olympic ride, Ceylor LAN, is now 15 and is being campaigned at four-star short this season – “he’s done enough gym work in his time to get fit for five-stars, so it’s now about having fun with him”. This tall gelding occupies a huge dual-aspect stable.

Kitty King indoor school at Kitty's yard, The Old Bull Pen in the village of Lower St. Quintin near Chippenham in Wiltshire in the UK, on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

The large indoor school used to be a cattle barn. Kitty says it was more cost-effective to put down a surface there rather than build a brand new outdoor school. When possible Kitty works on grass out in the fields.

Kitty King leading the horses to the Field at Kitty's yard, The Old Bull Pen in the village of Lower St. Quintin near Chippenham in Wiltshire in the UK, on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Kitty turns out her horses as much as possible. During the season they are typically out at night, and brought in for grooming and ridden work. If a horse is gearing up for a major three-day, she will keep them in more so that she can monitor their feed intake.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Kitty with her two Bedlington/whippets, who watch her every move around the yard. Once she’s finished riding, she takes them for a walk around the farm.

Kitty King with MBF Redhouse Evoque during a jumping training session with Richard Waygood at Rectory Farm near Cirencester in the UK, on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Kitty travels to Rectory Farm Arena to train with eventing performance manager Dickie Waygood, courtesy of her place on the World Class programme. Here she is riding a highly rated five-year-old horse, MBF Redhouse Evoque who is just at the start of his eventing career. Kitty’s head girl Chloe Fry is seen in the background adjusting the jumps.

Kitty King with Equites Mail during a jumping training session with Richard Waygood at Rectory Farm near Cirencester in the UK, on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Aboard Vanessa Vernon’s home-bred Equites Mail, known as Sahara. The mare is a game jumper and won a novice the same week H&H visited Kitty.

Kitty King with "The Irish Thug" Ogue Verdi (?) during a jumping training session with Richard Waygood at Rectory Farm near Cirencester in the UK, on the 5th April 2022 (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Ogue Verdi, a seven-year-old who is due to step up to intermediate this season. The Irish-bred is a “bit of a lad”, so Kitty has been trying different bits on him, such as this Nathe pelham, which often suits sensitive horses who need a bit of control.

Once Kitty’s finished with the horses, she’s on the case with her own fitness. She does spin classes three times a week, as well as two Pilates sessions and personal training – despite claiming “I hate exercise, I’d much rather sit and eat ice cream!”.

Defending champions –and Zara Tindall –head up strong Badminton Horse Trials entries

Pippa Roome — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 12:23:45 +0000

Defending champions Piggy March and Vanir Kamira head up this year’s Badminton Horse Trials entries. The event, presented by Mars Equestrian, will run 4-8 May 2022.

Piggy and Trevor Dickens’ mare are the most recent winners of Badminton, having triumphed in 2019. The event was cancelled owing to Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021.

Piggy is also entered with John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn’s Brookfield Inocent, who took individual silver and team gold at last year’s European Eventing Championships in Avenches.

A raft of strong British contenders join Piggy on the Badminton Horse Trials entries list, including all three pairs from Britain’s Olympic gold medal-winning team – Laura Collett with Karen Bartlett, Keith Scott’s and her own London 52, Tom McEwen with Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Inns and his mother Ali’s Toledo De Kerser (who also won individual silver) and Oliver Townend with Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan’s Ballaghmor Class.

Tom is also entered with Vicky Bates and David Myers’ CHF Cooliser and Fred and Penny Barker’s Bob Chaplin, but will have to choose which two of his three entries he will start on nearer the time. Similarly Oliver Townend has five horses entered – with Angela Hislop’s Cooley Master Class, the Ridgeons’ Swallow Springs, the Hazeldines and Mitchell Fox Group’s Tregilder and Sophie Adams’ Ridire Dorcha all in the mix – and will only be able to start on two.

Badminton final scores

Five of the other horses from the 2021 British European Championships squad also come forward, with entries in from individual gold medallists Nicola Wilson on Deirdre Johnston and Jo and James Lambert’s JL Dublin, individual bronze medallists Sarah Bullimore and her own and husband Brett and the Kew Jumping Syndicate’s Corouet, and team gold medallists Kitty King and Vendredi Biats (owned by Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson) and Ros Canter with her own and Caroline Moore’s Allstar B.

Nicola also has Lady Milnes Coates and Rosemary Search’s Erano M on the list, Sarah is double-handed, with Chris and Sue Gillespie and the rider’s husband Brett’s Reve Du Rouet joining Corouet, and Ros Canter brings forward Michele Saul’s Lordships Graffalo alongside world champion Allstar B.

Izzy Taylor is not entered with Mark Sartori’s and her own Monkeying Around, who finished in the top 10 as an individual at the Europeans, but she has Sara and Tom Strong’s Artful Trinity 10th on the waiting list, so he should make the cut to start.

Former winners entered also include William Fox-Pitt (Jennifer Dowling’s and his own Little Fire and the syndicate-owned Oratorio) and Pippa Funnell (who will have two choose two of the Walkinshaws’ Billy Walk On, Marek Sebestak’s and her own Majas Hope and the Clarkes’ MGH Grafton Street).

Zara Tindall is slated for her first Badminton Horse Trials start since 2016 as she is entered with Gleadhill House Stud’s Class Affair.

The Brits won’t have it all their own way at Badminton, though. A strong international challenge is led by New Zealand’s husband and wife duo Tim Price and Jonelle Price, with Tim entered on his own and Trisha and Sophie Rickards’ Xavier Faer and the Prices’ and Sophie Hearnden’s Ringwood Sky Boy and Jonelle on her own and Therese Miller’s Grovine De Reve and her own and Trisha and Sophie Rickards’ Classic Moet, who won the event in 2018.

A sizeable US contingent will cross the Atlantic for the British spring classic, including Phillip Dutton with his Tokyo horse Z (owned by Phillip’s wife Evie, Ann Jones, Suzanne Lacy, Caroline Moran, Simon Roosevelt and Thomas Tierney), Ariel Grald and Anne Eldridge’s Leamore Master Plan, who were third at Luhmühlen last year, and Tamie Smith with the super dressage horse Mai Baum, owned by Alexandra Ahearn and her parents Ellen Ahearn and Eric Markell.

Only one German is entered to start at Badminton this year – last year’s Luhmühlen runners-up Christoph Wahler and his own and Lena Thoenies’s Carjatan S.

‘It’s nice to show some girl power to young Pony Club girls to give them confidence they can do it’: Kitty King on her eventing Euros experience

Gemma Redrup — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 14:53:13 +0000

Kitty King had an unlucky rail down in the final European Eventing Championships showjumping phase today (26 September) in Avenches, Switzerland. Riding Vendredi Biats, who is owned by Diana Brown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson, Kitty jumped a beautiful round, bar hitting the second fence.

“He felt really good in the warm-up and wasn’t touching anything, but we went and hit one inside the arena, but he’s had a fairly long, drawn out season and a bit of a mismatch year, so he’s performed brilliantly,” Kitty explained after her European Eventing Championships showjumping round, which dropped them from eighth after the cross-country down to eventual ninth.

“It’s just a real shame to have a fence down on the last day when he hasn’t had one all season – it’s one of those things and I’m just relieved it didn’t cost the team anything. He’s gone out and performed really well and I couldn’t really be prouder of him at all.”

Kitty explained that her first senior gold medal is “special”, having contributed to Britain’s team success this week.

“It’s great to do it with such a great team of girls and I think it’s hopefully really nice to show some girl power to all the young Pony Club girls, to give them a little bit of a boost,” she said. “Just to give them the confidence that we girls can can do just as good a job as the boys.

“It’s been a really fun week, everyone’s got on really well together, we’ve had a great time and great rapport with everyone, including the grooms. It’s been a lucky week, a lovely experience and I quite like Switzerland – I might have to come back on holiday!”

Britain primed for gold and a veteran horse who jumps ‘like a deer’: 9 stories you need to read from Saturday at the eventing Europeans

Martha Terry — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 16:58:48 +0000

It’s been a day of drama at the European Eventing Championships cross-country in Avenches, but it’s looking golden for the Brits ahead of the final phase tomorrow (26 September). Here’s the lowdown on nine big stories from today’s action…

1. Britain holds team and individual gold overnight after an almost flawless cross-country display from the girls and the tiniest setback for dressage leader Ingrid Klimke.

Find out how Britain took both top spots

2. British team rider Nicola Wilson crept up from third to take pole position individually.

Hear Nicola’s thoughts on her 10-year-old JL Dublin tackling his first team outing

3. Riders were worried how twisty Mike Etherington-Smith’s track looked, but the early riders showed both the track and the time were fair.

Read how the pathfinders rose to the challenge

4. Kitty King secured a stunning British team completion with the third clear round for the team with Vendredi Biats.

Find out how Vendredi Biats brushed off an early mistake

5. Britain’s pathfinder Piggy March was only the second rider inside the time, riding Brookfield Inocent, to take fourth.

Read about how her cross-country specialist made light of the track

6. British rider Sarah Bullimore had a dream round as an individual and slotted into fifth spot.

Find out how her home-bred Corouet skipped over fences “wider than he is long”.

7. Dressage runner-up Ros Canter dropped out of the reckoning with two late run-outs on the great Allstar B.

Read what Ros had to say about her world champion’s disappointing performance

8. Ireland hiked up the leaderboard from 11th to fifth with a stunning round from Padraig McCarthy.

Find out what Padraig had to say about his 17-year-old ride

9. Can’t wait to see how it all ends?

Check out what time the Brits are likely to showjump for the medals tomorrow

Britain tightens grip on gold as Kitty King continues team riders’ fabulous run at eventing Euros

Martha Terry — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 13:27:56 +0000

Kitty King and Vendredi Biats put in another impressive British round at the European Eventing Championships cross-country track to bolster the team’s grip on the top prize.

Britain had already strengthened her gold medal hopes with flawless clears from the first two team riders, Piggy French and Nicola Wilson, who had held sixth and third respectively after dressage. Kitty’s fast clear, just two seconds outside the time, ensured that Britain have three scores in the bag ahead of tomorrow’s showjumping (26 September).

Kitty set out on a score of 24.1 on Vendredi Biats, a 12-year-old owned by Diana Bown, Sally Eyre, Samantha Wilson and Sally Lloyd-Baker. This was the drop score for Britain at this stage, despite being in eighth place after dressage, signalling just how powerful Britain’s team is at this championships.

The grey was bold and brave, but nimble where he needed to be, such as when fiddling to shorten his big stride at the Flower Box arrowheads at fence 10ab.

“I got us in a bit of a hole at the double of arrowheads but he got me out and he was pretty much foot-perfect everywhere,” said Kitty. “I didn’t give him the best ride through so he had to bunny-hop over and that slowed us down a bit. I wanted to make sure I got the next few right, to give him confidence again. That’s cross-country, it’s never perfect and we have to help each other out, and hopefully I helped him in other places.”

Kitty was reserve for the Olympics and referred to the pressure to perform: “With all the build-up to Tokyo, I was desperate to deliver and show we are good enough. He felt absolutely fantastic.”

European Eventing Championships cross-country: Jung rides the wave

Germany’s second rider Michael Jung put his team’s challenge back on track after compatriot Andreas Dibowski was slower than he had hoped. Michael put a fall from Fischerwild Wave on their last international run behind him to complete this phase on his seventh-placed dressage of 23.9. It was economical and neat (despite the horse’s boots flapping), and they finished easing up 11 seconds inside the time.

“I’m very happy with Fischerwild Wave – he’s a young horse but he is amazing and has a lot of talent in all three disciplines,” said Michael. “Today in the cross-country he showed how light and easy he is galloping, he has super endurance and a lot of scope. He just needs a bit more experience for the bigger and tougher courses, but he’s really fast. He can be funny just at the start box, but when you start he is super.

“At the beginning [of this track] you have to go forward, but then I saw I was super inside the time so I took a long route at 24. He is a very big horse [17hh], very sensitive, with a lot of blood, but he is focused and calm, not stressed.”

France, third after dressage, needed a finishing score after Gwendolen Fer’s fall, albeit with their number one Jean-Lou Bigot completing inside the time. Their third rider Stanislas De Zuchowicz delivered when he piloted another nine-year-old, Covadys De Triaval, clear for 14 time-faults. This was another confident and impressive round from a young horse at championship level.

“After Gwen’s fall, I had to finish,” said Stanislas. “The game wasn’t to try and chase the Germans and the English, which might lead to making a mistake, but to prevent those behind us from catching up. So Thierry [Touzaint, team trainer] said, ‘if you pick up 15 faults, it’s not too serious’.

“I lost a bit of time at the start, at the coffin, he was looking into the ditch, but he jumped perfectly throughout,” he added. “I did have a huge slip on a tight turn [on the flat], and I knew I couldn’t have a fall. Maxime [Livio] will have to be the same even though he is in the running for an individual medal – it’s about getting a safe round for the team first and foremost.”

At this stage, after three team riders have completed, just five have gone round inside the time – three of whom are British (Piggy March, Izzy Taylor and Nicola Wilson.

‘This is not the day to be cold-backed’: Kitty King reflects on mistake-free European Eventing Championships dressage performance

Gemma Redrup — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 10:53:19 +0000

Britain’s Kitty King has got her European Eventing Championships dressage campaign underway in Avenches, Switzerland, by scoring a very competitive mark of 24.1, which puts her into fourth place at this stage of the competition.

Riding the 12-year-old grey, Vendredi Biats (pictured at the first trot-up), Kitty is just .2 of a penalty behind Germany’s Michael Jung and fischerWild Wave, .8 of a penalty behind second-placed Piggy March and Brookfield Inocent and 3.2 penalties behind current leaders, Nicola Wilson and JL Dublin.

“I was really chuffed with him – he did a really nice centre line and halt, then around the top corner he just slightly dried up behind my leg, which then was slightly the theme for the whole test,” explained Kitty. “I was kind of like ‘come on, keep taking me forward’, but he tried really hard and and I think it was pretty mistake-free – he got most of his changes, which can be a bit spicy with sometimes as he can be a bit cold-backed, but we didn’t let the team down.”

Kitty said that Vendredi Biats was very fresh earlier this morning.

“He had a lunge this morning and he was bucking and rearing – he ended up having about 25 minutes cantering around and around as he just wouldn’t settle,” she explained. “But he’s come out much better this time, which is a relief because when I was watching him on the lunge I was thinking ‘this is not the day to be a cold-backed day’ – he was much better when I got on the second time, which was a relief!”

Kitty’s score is also great news for the British team, who have a commanding lead after three riders, with Ros Canter and Allstar B yet to perform their European Eventing Championships dressage test. They will start their test at 2.15pm (BST). The British team are currently on a score of 68.3, while Germany are in second on 81 and France are in third on 86.8. Individual rider for Britain, Sarah Bullimore, will ride her test at 11.37am (BST) aboard Corouet.

British squad named for European Eventing Championships: ‘Investing in the here and now and in the future’

Pippa Roome — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 14:33:49 +0000

The British team for the European Eventing Championships in Avenches, Switzerland (22-26 September), has been named.

The squad of six is:

Sarah Bullimore, 48, based in Keysoe, Bedfordshire, with the Kew Jumping Syndicate, her husband Brett’s and her own 10-year-old chestnut home-bred gelding Corouet (Balou du Rouet x Lovis Corinth; groom to be confirmed)
Ros Canter, 35, based in Hallington, Lincolnshire, with Caroline Moore’s and her own 16-year-old bay gelding Allstar B (Ephebe For Ever x Ekstein, breeder: FAJ Van der Burg, NED; groom: Sarah Charnley) and as a direct reserve, Michele Saul’s nine-year-old bay gelding Lordships Graffalo (Grafenstolz x Rock King, breeder: Lordships Stud Writtle College, GBR)
Kitty King, 39, based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, with Diana Bown, Sally Eyre, Samantha Wilson and Sally Lloyd-Baker’s 12-year-old grey gelding Vendredi Biats (Winningmood x Camelia de Ruelles, breeder: Phillipe Brivois, FRA; groom: Chloe Fry)
Piggy March, 40, based in Maidwell, Northamptonshire, with John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn’s 12-year-old bay gelding Brookfield Inocent (Inocent x Kings Servant, breeder: John Mulvey, IRL; groom: Amy Phillips)
Izzy Taylor, 38, based in Bicester, Oxfordshire, with Mark Sartori’s and her own 10-year-old bay gelding Monkeying Around (Bertoli W x Donnerhall II, breeder: Christian Heinrich, GER; groom: Rebecca Ross)
Nicola Wilson, 44, based in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, with Deirdre Johnston and James and Jo Lambert’s 10-year-old dark brown gelding JL Dublin (Diarados Cheeky Boy x Cantano, breeder: Volker Coettsche-Goetze, GER; groom: Ruth Asquith)

All the riders have previous senior championship experience, while four of the six named horses will make their championship debuts. Only double world gold medallist Allstar B – who was also Britain’s alternate horse at the recent Tokyo Olympics – and Vendredi Biats, who was best of the British horses at the 2019 European Championships, boast previous championship experience.

It will be announced at a later date which four pairs will compete on the team and which two as individuals.

British eventing performance manager Richard Waygood commented: “I’m very excited about this selection for the Europeans. It invests in the here and now and in the future by providing development opportunities for potential combinations for Paris and beyond.”

Selection decisions for the European Eventing Championships British team are subject to the athletes and horses maintaining fitness and performance, and this list may be amended at any stage.

Tom McEwen is victorious among Olympic longlist riders in CCI4-S at Bicton H&H Plus*

Gemma Redrup — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 16:27:14 +0000

Find out how this dramatic class at Bicton Horse Trials unfolded on cross-country day today...

Just 7.7 penalties separated the top 10 finishers in the CCI4*-S at Bicton Horse Trials, supported by Chedington, today (13 June).

But it was Tom McEwen, who had led after the showjumping phase aboard Fred Barker, Penny Barker, Jane Inns and Alison McEwen’s incredibly consistent Toledo De Kerser (pictured) who took the victory. The pair put in a super-slick cross-country round to finish bang on the optimum time of seven minutes to complete on their 23 dressage.

“He was just phenomenal. He was very keen and was a bit free,” Tom explained. “I never usually do two quick runs in a row with him – I could have done with a steady prep-run before as it settles his mind and body – I’d have loved to take him to Little Downham last week, but I ended up at Millstreet in Ireland with my other horses who were originally going to Luhmuhlen, so I couldn’t get the prep-run into Toledo. I obviously knew he could be right up there, but out of 100 or so competitors, it’s nice that he’s proved himself again.”

Kitty King finished second with Vendredi Biats. They finished two seconds inside the optimum time to complete on their 23.1 dressage.

“I’m delighted with him – ‘Froggy’ was brilliant,” said Kitty. “He was on a mission being quite strong down the hills — coming down to the last, I was like ‘please, get your hind legs underneath you’ and I think I need a steady run after this one to put the brakes back in. But he was really straight everywhere and I am really trusting him. I’ve not overly enjoyed the pressure this week but it’s fine – I’ve always seemed to have managed to do a little bit better than I expect when I’m under pressure, like at the Europeans, so maybe I should learn to enjoy it more!”

Ros Canter was third with Allstar B. They were four seconds over the optimum time, so added 1.6 time-faults to their 23 dressage.

“He’s amazing. I don’t warm him up anymore because he gets a little too excited, but he jumped as straight as a die at all of the skinny fences,” explained Ros. “I always think ‘God, am I going be able to turn him?’ because he’s a big old boat, but he’s so amazing to turn and he’s got a big stride so eats the ground up. I think he’s probably ready to go around again! He’s been picked up and put down so many times since I had a baby and then a year and a half of COVID that he was a bit lethargic about everything and we were a bit worried about him but then the fitter he’s got, the more he has come alive and more on it and he’s seriously on it at the moment – I don’t want him any more on it now!”

Laura Collett, who led the dressage on London 52 jumped clear inside the time around the cross-country to put four faults in the showjumping behind them, finishing in eventual fourth.

“He was unreal – he was just so on it. He was quite keen and just wanted to go faster, everywhere and I was like, ‘no, no, no’,” Laura said afterwards. “I thought about taking him to Little Downham last week to just have a quiet run, but then I thought I’d feel really stupid if he had done something silly.

“There has been pressure this week but I’ve been trying to focus on our performance – you can only control what you can control and I can control being here and doing a good job. All I know is that London has been phenomenal – if it’s good enough, it’s good enough and if it’s not well, you know, I’ve still got an amazing horse to have some fun on.

“Everyone’s in the same boat – the selectors are lucky in a way that they’ve got a ridiculous amount combinations to choose from that are all amazing. But on the other hand, they’ve got a tricky job now.”

Oliver Townend added 1.6 time-faults to his 24 dressage to finish in fifth riding Cooley Master Class.

“He’s a very good horse – he doesn’t need me around courses like this and on the top of the ground, he was just playing with it,” Oliver said. “He’ll definitely come on for the run as he got a little fat after Kentucky, but at the same time, I’m very happy with how he’s gone.”

Australia’s Chris Burton was sixth with Quality Purdey, finishing on their 26 dressage and Piggy March was another combination to finish inside the optimum time, taking eventual seventh with Brookfield Inocent.

“It went really well – I sort of held my breath through most of it just thinking ‘just go and jump the jumps and not do anything stupid’,” explained Piggy. “He’s amazing and so effortlessly fast and he does it pretty easily so I have to keep sort of slapping myself.

“The only thing is he’s got eyes everywhere – he notices a change of colour of grass, or if somebody moves, but that makes him the brilliant, because he doesn’t get tired and he’s so aware of where his feet are. He could have gone 20 seconds quicker if I had kicked him at any point – he does it not under any pressure, which is very spoiling.

“It’s just such a relief, but it’s so hard too – you have no idea what anyone’s thinking and I wouldn’t want to be a selector, but I’m just glad that he’s done what he does well and did it well – I haven’t let him down and he hasn’t had a moment that’s let him down or be the horse that he’s not – that’s the important thing today. He pulled up very well so at least you think you’ve done what you can do so you go home happy and then you’re in other people’s hands and what will be will be.”

Read the full report from Bicton in the 17 June issue of Horse & Hound magazine and keep checking back to horseandhound.co.uk for further updates and insight