The first horse inspection at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials today (30 August) saw one combination held by the ground jury before reinspection.
Roo Fox and Fleet Street, who jumped clear across country at Burghley in 2014, were held after their first trot in front of the ground jury of Martin Plewa, Harry Payne and Katarzyna Konarska. But when the combination presented for a second time after being in the holding box, they were accepted.
Other notable withdrawals within the past couple of days include Mark Todd’s second ride, NZB Campino and Vittoria Panizzon’s Borough Pennyz.
There were a few excited and fresh horses at the first inspection, including Zara Tindall’s ride, High Kingdom. The 16-year-old, owned by Gleadhill House Stud Ltd, looked like he was enjoying the big occasion after his last major appearance where he was third at Kentucky this spring.
Louisa Milne Home’s large grey, King Eider, also took some persuading to behave while trotting up. It took Louisa a couple of attempts to get her 17-year-old four-star campaigner to stay on the trot-up trip itself.
Lynn Symansky from the USA also had a job to handle Donner, a horse that has taken her to countless four-stars and the World Equestrian Games.
The HiHo-sponsored best-dressed prizes went to Clare Abbott from Ireland and Mark Todd.
Dressage action kicks off at 10am tomorrow, when the first of 61 starters, Tina Cook and Star Witness get things underway.
Don’t miss our exclusive form guide for Burghley Horse Trials in the 31 August issue of Horse & Hound magazine
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Former web features editor, point-to-point editor and digital racing editor
Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.
