World champion Ros Canter has claimed the number one spot in the eventing world rankings.
Ros, takes the crown from Oliver Townend, ending his 12-month reign.
She is the first woman to top the eventing world rankings since Mary King held the top spot in 2011.
“It is very exciting for me as not many people can say they’ve been world number one,” said Ros.
“I didn’t think it would ever happen, in the main because I’ve not had a string of horses at the top level. However, we have been improving. We have gone from fairly average results to very competitive in recent years.”
Four men have dominated the rankings over the past seven years — Andrew Nicholson, William Fox-Pitt, Michael Jung and Oliver Townend.
The rankings are released monthly and work on a rolling 12-month basis, taking riders’ top six resutls.
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Ros, from Lincolnshire, was on the gold medal-winning team at the 2017 Europeans, going on to win team and individual gold at the 2018 World Equestrian Games (WEG).
She is expecting her first child in July, so has chosen to take a break from competition.
The 33-year-old told H&H in January that she is hoping to return for the end of the 2019 season and has her sights set on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Burghley 2018 winner Tim Price has risen one spot in the rankings list, moving from third to second, while last week’s Kentucky victor Oliver drops to third.
Find out who is topping the leaderboard after the first morning session of dressage at Badminton
Brits continue to dominate, filling five of the top six spots.
Ros’s gold medal-winning team-mate Piggy French has leapt from eighth to fourth in the world, while Tom McEwen and Gemma Tattersall, who were also on the team, slide one place each respectively to lie fifth and sixth.
Sam Watson springs into the top 10 — the Irishman was in 11th last month and now moves to seventh ahead of Jonelle Price.
US riders Lauren Kieffer and Boyd Martin also make significant jumps from 17th and 16th to ninth and 10th respectively.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
