Burghley rider receives yellow card
Two riders have been reprimanded by the FEI for their riding during the cross-country at Burghley Horse Trials earlier this month (6 September).
New Zealand’s Megan Heath (pictured above) has been handed a yellow card for abuse of the horse due to excessive use of the whip on St Daniel. Megan had two refusals at fence four — the Lord Burghley Hurdles in the main arena — and was then eliminated for a third refusal at the seventh fence.
Megan moved to the UK to pursue her career back in 2005 and juggles a city job in London with competing.
Aoife Clark has been given a verbal warning for dangerous and inappropriate riding on Vaguely North.
Aoife survived a hairy moment on her return through the Discovery Valley before having a glance off at the Rolex Combination. The combination then fell at the Stamford crossing.
The FEI yellow card system has been under scrutiny this year after Mary King served a three-month ban for receiving two yellow cards for the same offence within a six-month period. Mary’s fans set up an online petition to try and have the ban removed.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Last month it also emerged that a 7hh miniature pony had been at the centre of a yellow card dispute. America’s Katie Frei was given the card after her horse’s travelling companion “Spartacus” escaped at an event in Kalispell, Montana.
This news story was first published in H&H magazine on 11 September 2014
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.