Wills Oakden did a superb job as pathfinder on the Badminton Horse Trials cross-country, at the event presented by Mars Equestrian. With such soft going after the previous day’s deluges, stamina was always going to be a major concern. Although Wills’ ride Oughterard Cooley visibly tired towards the end on the sapping ground, he kept galloping and jumping to complete with 28 time-faults.
Wills helped his horse out after he slipped into the first element at the first water, the Mars Equestrian Sustainability Bay, when he reacted quickly.
Watch Wills reflect on his round
“Today it’s about using your skills and horsemanship and thinking about the horses and getting them home as well as you can,” he says. “Using them when you think you possibly can and giving them a breather when you need to, and if you treat the day like that, you know there’s success to be had out there. My horse dug deeper than he’s ever had to before and I’m so proud of him.”
Pippa Funnell was held midway round and Majas Hope looked to have plenty of spring in his step as he set off again. She tackled the direct route at The Lake, and finished with 24.8 time-faults despite losing a shoe.
“I enjoyed it!” said Pippa. “He’s the best horse in the world to sit on in this phase and I’ve got so much confidence in him, he knows his job. I was down on the clock right at three minutes because I know when it’s wet like this, if you stick to your minute markers early on you get tired horses, so I thought I’d let him get into a rhythm early on and not worry about the clock and ride what I feel.
“You have to ride a bit differently because of the pins [frangible devices]; a few places you definitely have to take one more pull.”
Watch Pippa talk after her round
Vitali looked full of running to finish with the fastest time so far of 24 time-faults for Tim Price, which has moved him up from 11th to the top of the leaderboard at this early stage.
“It’s very testing conditions, more so than I envisaged – you can see the hoofprints and it’s deeper than I imagined,” he said. “He’s a weird wily chap, but out on course his athleticism comes into play. In this day and age it’s not just jumping massive fences, there’s the technical element, so it’s nice to have something quick-witted. But it will be a different ball game later on in the day.”
Leading contender pulled up
Two of the first three horses did not get round, after Fiona Kashel fell off WSF Carthago four fences from home at the Jubilee Clump Brush (fence 26) when the horse ran-out, looking tired, and went into the ditch. There was a hold on course after this.
Oliver Townend was pulled up by the ground jury after his third-placed ride Swallow Springs straddled a couple of fences.
Other non-completions at this early stage include Izzy Taylor on Happy Days, who skewed after trying to run out at an element of the KBIS Brush Boxes (fence 13abcd), broke her martingale and was then eliminated for jumping the b element twice. Kirsty Chabert retired Opposition Loire after a couple of run-outs. Anna-Katharina Vogel’s DPS Quintana P had a tired fall over the Pedigree Dog Kennel, but was able to walk the horse off the course.
Dan Jocelyn was the first rider to go the direct route at The Lake, and the frangible did its job when Cooley One Too Many dragged his legs through the fence. He was held on course, and had to restart just before Voltaire Design Huntsman’s Close at 25, where he took the long route. He admitted the hold was a help as he has been considering pulling up his horse due to fatigue.
“The hold gave me a window [to recover] and I nursed him over two long routes,” Dan said. “What a cheer when I came in.”
Smart rounds over Badminton Horse Trials cross-country
Ros Canter’s mare Pencos Crown Jewel looked full of running all the way round. They took a stride out in the first water but stayed in good balance and made light work of their mistake, finishing with 26 time-faults to add to their 17th-placed dressage of 29.2.
“The conditions are tough and she gave it her all, she’s an absolute weapon,” said Ros. “The ground is deep, but the horses are jumping well, it’s weighing up how much you give at the beginning and save for the end. I came home thinking I should have pushed a little harder.”
Watch Ros talk about this special mare
Harry Meade used all his experience to hunt Away Cruising round clear for 37.2 time-faults.
“He has a very good heart,” said Harry. “My philosophy was that I would take my watch off, and my plan was to treat it like a long endurance day. I just thought I’d hack him at pace, and try not to set him up more than I needed to, try not to twist him about. He has little feet and has always found soft going quite hard. I thought I would try not to be greedy, and I had to draw on all those years of confidence in the bank.”
Harry found the large oxers towards the end of the course, the Beaufort Brush Box (fence 24) and Wiltshire Brewers Drays (fence 28ab), were too demanding for that stage on the track.
“I didn’t like to ride some of those last fences,” he said. “They don’t brush through a 5ft oxer. When they get tired their brain goes, so I took some wide turns, as I could see a horse giving up and not locking on. I didn’t like the big oxers at the end, those big showjumping questions just empty horses. But I tried to ride sensibly from the start, and the main thing is I got home and he’s a happy horse.”
Tom Jackson also resorted to plan B in respect of the ground on Capels Hollow Drift, 14th after dressage. They jumped clear with 30.4 time-faults.
“He really did dig deep today in the ground conditions,” he said. “The feedback was that the horses were tired from The Lake, but he kicked on. He just felt tired after Huntsman’s [fence 25ab]. I was walking the course this morning with laser focus [on the minute markers], but you had to forget plan A and ride the horse, see what happens.”
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