The reigning world champion and the 15-year-old horse, owned by Janette Chinn and The Sue Davies Fund, scored 29, the first pair to break the 30-barrier at this early stage.
Yasmin came down the first centreline with a huge smile on her face and steered Rehy DJ through a solid, consistent test. The bay was a little unsteady in his head and through the contact at times, but pulled off clean flying changes and an accurate performance.
“We’ve been working super hard with Chris Bartle and Sarah Higgins on the flat, said Yasmin. “They’ve been instrumental in my dressage training and just trying to gain those small margins – an extra half percent here or there and then you’re down into where you want to be.
“It’s just trying to be as accurate as possible. I’m not riding a big, flashy horse, so to be accurate and try to maximise each mark for each movement is where we aim to be with ‘Piglet’.”
Blenheim European Championships dressage: Yasmin Ingham and Piglet’s “special partnership”
Yasmin has a longstanding partnership with “Piglet” – the pair were fourth at the 2018 young rider Europeans and have since finished third twice at five-star. This is the first time he has been to a senior championship. Yasmin rode Banzai Du Loir to win individual gold at the World Championships in 2022 and team gold at the Europeans in 2023.
She said: “I’ve had Piglet for many years now, and I feel incredibly lucky to have such a special partnership with him. He’s just been an absolute stalwart, so it feels very special to be given the opportunity to ride for the team here at Blenheim. Hopefully we’ll give it our absolute best and we can come out on top on Sunday.”
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Yasmin said there is a great team spirit in the British camp and that Blenheim holds good memories for her.
“This was where I had my first major win as a senior on Banzai Du Loir in 2021 and our trajectory then went upwards from there, so it’s an incredibly special place. It’s an iconic venue,” she said.
“I remember when I was very, very small, watching Zara Tindall win the European Championships here so it’s definitely one that I’d love for one of us British lot to win, to maintain that British European title. I’m delighted to be here and with such a fantastic team as well, led by [performance manager] Dickie Waygood and [coach] Chris Bartle.”
Talking about being the pathfinder for the British team, Yasmin added: “It’s a huge pressure to go out and get that all-important clear round inside of time, but I feel like we’re well prepped for it. I’ve been a few championships now, so I feel like I know the drill.
“I went out earlier in Pratoni [at the 2022 World Championships] as an individual, and that didn’t seem to bother me, so I think we’ll just go out and ride as planned – stick to the system, as Chris would say. We’ll go out with one plan in mind and that’s clear inside the time.
“I believe that each rider has their own system and they know their horse best, but I will be there afterwards to provide any information that they might want to hear.”
Piggy March and Halo are the next pair to go for the British team, which runs in partnership with Agria. They will perform between the white boards at 2.58pm this afternoon.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
