‘She has given me my best days of my life competing’: defending champions throw down the gauntlet after Badminton Horse Trials cross-country

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Badminton Horse Trials cross-country
Piggy March riding Vanir Kamira for GREAT BRITAIN during the cross country phase of the Badminton Horse Trails presented by Mars Equestrian, held at Badminton House in the village of Badminton near Malmesbury in Gloucestershire in the UK, on the 7th May 2021
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Piggy March and reigning Badminton champion Vanir Kamira have gone into an early lead at the Badminton Horse Trials cross-country, an event which is supported by Mars Equestrian. They were just one second over the 11min 44sec optimum time, adding 0.4 of a time-penalty to their 25.7 dressage.

“It was good, but it’s hard work – it felt hard work all the way to the end and is very intense,” said Piggy, who spent longer in the warm-up than she would usually owing to the hold on course following Nicola Wilson’s fall with JL Dublin. “She’d been out in the collecting ring for a long time – she’s never usually out there for longer than 20 minutes before she starts, and even though I was off her and she did switch off, it’s still not what we used to and she just didn’t travel very well for the first two minutes to Huntsman’s Close [fence 6ABC].

Gemma Redrup
Gemma Redrup
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.