Emily King leads the British contingent holding third place in the CCI3* under-25 at the Equi-Trek Bramham Horse Trials after the dressage today (9 June).
Riding Jane Del Missier’s nine year old, Dargun, Emily posted a score of 43.8.
“He was really good but not as good as he can be,” admitted 21-year-old Emily. “On Wednesday he was fresh and forward, but yesterday it was quite muggy and so he felt a bit quiet due to the temperature.”
Emily’s test wasn’t completely mistake-free.
“Dargun did a flying-change on the centre line just before our final halt,” explained Emily. “The judge at B gave us 8.5 whereas the other two gave us fours. He has a very bouncy canter and his lateral trot work was very good. He’s a beautiful horse and a real sweetheart.”
The striking chestnut is making his CCI3* debut at Bramham.
“The ground is amazing on the cross-country at the moment — hopefully it won’t rain too much before we go round,” said Emily. “It’s a big and bold course and Dargun has never galloped this far before so we’ll see how we get on.”
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No less than eight of the 27 under-25 competitors are French, and the top two spots are held by this nation.
Thibault Fournier is in the lead riding the 11-year-old Siniani De Lathus on a score of 40.
“I’m very pleased with my horse — he was much better than he has been before as he concentrated more,” explained the 22-year-old biology undergraduate. “The judges always like him and there weren’t any big mistakes.”
Second place belongs to Aurélien Leroy and Seashore Spring who scored 43.4.
“I’m very happy, but a bit disappointed with my mark — he is a good dressage horse,” said the 24-year-old who runs a large eventing and showjumping yard. “There were two tiny mistakes — one in a flying-change and the other in a walk transition, but other than that it was good.”
The CCI3* cross-country action gets underway at 9.30am tomorrow, with the under-25 riders starting at 12.38pm.
Don’t miss the full report from Bramham in next week’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine (out 15 June)
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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.
