‘He’s going home a happy horse’: Laura Collett and London 52 complete World Championships
Laura COLLETT (GBR) riding London 52 during the showjumping phase of the FEI World Team & Individual Eventing Championship at Pratoni Del Vivaro near Rocca Di Papa in Italy between 14-18th September 2022
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
Laura Collett and London 52 have finished their Pratoni campaign with a super round in the eventing World Championships showjumping, for one fence down.
The Badminton Horse Trials champions caught the oxer at fence five to finish on a total of 62.1.
“He jumped really well,” Laura said. “He felt like he had something in his ear coming round; his ear was to one side and he was shaking his head and just didn’t quite focus… but then he concentrated again.
“He jumped amazing and that fence he had down is really hard to read. I cantered up to it at the beginning and with the bushes in the back it just draws you past where the front rail is, which was clever, but I was delighted with how he jumped. He came out fresh as anything and that’s the main thing; he’s going home a happy horse.”
Laura said she thought Uliano Vezzani’s track is a “very clever one”.
“Being in a big arena like that, there are almost too many options on the distances because they’re big distances,” she said. “So you can almost change your mind a few too many times in there. If you’ve got a three-stride or four-stride, that’s what it is. Whereas when you know you’re on seven, eight, nine or 10 strides, so it gives you more options. But equally sometimes that’s been more confusing for the riders!
“But it’s a very square, big track. The ground is unbelievable in there and you’re very lucky to ride in such an amazing arena on such great ground.”
Asked what she would pass on to the other members of the team about the eventing World Championships showjumping course, Laura said “I think stick to the plan. I stuck to the plan and it seemed to work all right.
“You’ve got to really respect that white fence, maybe come outside [to it]. I was plenty inside the time and I went inside, so maybe outside and give them a bit more time to see [the fence]. But other than that, I’m not going to go and tell them what to do. They know they know what they’re doing, that lot!”
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