Bubby Upton confirmed that both she and her horse Its Cooley Time are “fine, all good” after being eliminated for a rider fall in the Agria Blenheim European Championships cross-country phase.
This year’s Bramham winners were competing as individuals for the British squad, which runs in partnership with Agria, and were up with the leaders in eighth after dressage on a score of 28.9.
The 10-year-old grey, owned by Bubby and the Five Time Syndicate, were cruising round until the Agria Water Crossing at fence 19. Here, horses had to gallop through the lake and out over a sharply angled brush, where Its Cooley Time stumbled to his knees on landing after a slightly awkward jump, giving Bubby no chance of staying in the saddle. There were no other penalties at this fence.
“I was probably a bit deep [into the fence] and then he jumped it really well, but obviously landed with not enough momentum, and pecked on landing,” explained Bubby. “It was a real shame, because he was giving me an incredible feel and I was full of confidence and excited to tackle the rest of the course.”
“I’m gutted for him”: Bubby Upton on Blenheim European Championships fall
Bubby was straight back up on her feet, and led Its Cooley Time off the course.
“The most important thing, obviously, is that he’s absolutely fine – and I’m fine,” she said. “We live to fight another day. I’m just gutted for him because he was just flying, and made it feel so easy. I guess it doesn’t always go your way.”
It was a tumultuous day for the British riders, with four of the six-strong squad having rider falls. Bubby went late in the day, the 43rd rider out on course, by which time only Tom McEwen had jumped clear for Britain.
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“I watched the first out, the Swiss rider [Nadja Minder] and she did an incredible job, and she did everything I was planning on doing,” Bubby explained of how she spent the day leading up to her round. “I probably should have just watched the first one and walked away, but you’re there to support your team, so I watched the rest of the [Brits].
“You try not to take notice of it and I had my own plan. It was all going swimmingly. I have no doubt he would have eaten up the rest of the track as well. Such a shame that it happened at a bit of an insignificant fence.”
This was Bubby’s first senior championships but there is no doubt many more lie ahead. In the meantime, it’s her compatriot Laura Collett who is bidding for gold in tomorrow’s showjumping phase (Sunday, 21 September), with Tom sitting handy in bronze position behind Germany’s Michael Jung.
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
