Osberton Horse Trials 2026: The Season’s Final Chapter

The season signs off at Osberton

The British eventing season ends where it always does: at Aspen Cooling Osberton International (2), running 30 September to 4 October 2026 on the Osberton Estate near Worksop in Nottinghamshire. It is the last FEI fixture on the British calendar, and the Rathbones CCI3*-L that headlines it is the highest-level class of the week.

Osberton has built its reputation as eventing’s end-of-season party, and 2026 keeps the formula. The Rathbones CCI3*-L and Arena Saddles CCI2*-L trotted up on Wednesday, with dressage across Thursday and Friday, cross-country on Saturday 3 October and the final trot-up and show jumping on Sunday 4 October. Around them sit the Project Pony CCIP2*-L, the Animalintex CCI1*-Intro, the Agria Amateur 105, the Pony Club Nations Cup of Eventing and the Aspen Cooling Arena Eventing.

For those not on site, Horse & Country is livestreaming the cross-country, so the final long-format cross-country day of the British season can be watched live and on demand.

The Rathbones CCI3*-L: who to watch

The headline act is the Rathbones CCI3*-L, and the entry list runs to 84 combinations, with riders from Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Italy and South Africa. It is the biggest and most international field of the week, and it brings together three distinct storylines: established names bringing on the next generation of horses, up-and-coming riders looking for an end-of-season result, and a strong overseas contingent chasing qualifications before the winter.

Top of the bill is Rosalind Canter, who makes a rare Osberton appearance with Broadstone Lion Man. Ros and Lordships Graffalo made history at Badminton in May, winning the five-star for a third time, the first horse ever to do so. Broadstone Lion Man is a very different proposition: a horse she has produced from Novice, who led from pillar to post to win a CCI2*-L on his international debut and now steps up to his first three-star long format. If he goes the way his rider’s horses usually do, he will be on or near his dressage score on Sunday.

Emily King returns with HG Woods after finishing third in this class in 2025. She also rides Killountain Quality in the Arena Saddles CCI2*-L, so she has a busy Saturday ahead. Two Olympic medallists add depth to the British challenge: Jeanette Brakewell has two rides in One Night Only and Swhiskey, and Kristina Cook partners MGH Let’s Fly, co-owned with Elisabeth Murdoch.

The overseas entry is unusually strong for an end-of-season CCI3*-L. New Zealand’s Samantha Lissington brings two, Chakita and Cooley Corpello. Fellow Kiwi Tayla Mason, sixth at Badminton this spring with Centennial, rides EG Tiger Chilli. Australia’s Sammi Birch has Parkfield Artie Blou for The 5 Star Syndicate. Brazil’s Marcelo Tosi (MGH Cassira, Siena Agromix) and Rafael Losano (Fuiloda G, Hi Mr Henry) each ride two, Italy’s Vittoria Panizzon has Borough Tuppence, Sweden’s Therese Viklund rides Hardi D’Eole, and South Africa’s Drew Munro brings Darling Van Overis Z.

Among the home riders with multiple rides, Ben Way has three (Bazaars Barbs, Fernhill Derry Girl, Tara’s Tale), while Will Rawlin (Casta Diva, KS Only The Brave), Dani Stewart-Richardson (MBF Touch Your Toes, S.H.E Rowena Cade), Matthew Glentworth, Alexandra McAlpine and Ella Howard each ride two. Jago Jackson and Barrington Highlight K, runners-up at the spring Osberton in 2025, are a combination with good form at this venue. Young riders Anya Strilkowski (Cloud Dancer IV) and Daisy Bathe (Ifnotwhynot) also feature in a field that rewards a confident cross-country round as much as a polished test.

For context, last year’s Rathbones CCI3*-L went to New Zealand’s Ginny Thomasen and Katchafire, who finished on their dressage score of 25.8 after riders went head-to-head with Storm Amy. Ginny is not on this year’s three-star list, so there will be a new name on the trophy whatever happens.

The cross-country course

Saturday belongs to the cross-country, and the Rathbones CCI3*-L is first out of the start box at 8.15am, followed by the Arena Saddles CCI2*-L at 12.20pm and the Project Pony CCIP2*-L at 4.10pm. The courses open for walking from 2pm on Thursday, which gives riders two full days to plan their lines.

The track is designed by Stuart Buntine, Osberton’s organiser and BEDE Events director, working alongside Cam Robertson, and built by Chris Eaton, Will Seely and Will Outram. Osberton’s great asset is its ground: the light, sandy soil on the estate drains fast and rides well whatever the weather, which matters in the first week of October. Last year the Rathbones class was run in the teeth of Storm Amy and still produced a winner on her dressage score.

The course uses a mix of open parkland and woodland tracks, and the organisers’ stated aim is a flowing, galloping track built to championship standard. Water, banks and ditches feature across every class, and the autumn route is deliberately distinct from the spring fixture’s. Recent editions have added a new loop for more galloping stretches and a new route through the woods with a bank complex, so even riders who know Osberton well should walk it with fresh eyes.

What sets Osberton apart is its approach to safety. Stuart Buntine sits on the FEI’s risk management steering group and has been a driving force behind frangible fence technology in Britain, from MIM clips to the hollow deformable trakehners first used on Osberton’s international courses in 2024. BEDE’s push since 2025 has been to make its international tracks largely frangible, so expect fences that look traditional but are engineered to give way.

For the horses, this is a true long-format test at the end of a long season. Three-star long format asks for sustained galloping fitness, with the technical questions at the combinations and water stacked to punish a horse running out of petrol or a rider running out of concentration. In 2025 the track proved influential, reshuffling the placings below the leader, and with a field of 84 and a wide spread of experience, the time will be hard to catch for many. Combinations that come home clear and close to the optimum will be very well placed for Sunday’s show jumping, and the leaderboard after cross-country usually bears little resemblance to the one after dressage.

How to watch

Osberton has long been where British eventing takes stock before the winter, and this year’s three-star field gives it a proper finale. The Rathbones CCI3*-L trot-up and show jumping take place on Sunday 4 October, with the CCI3*-L jumping from 10am.

You can stream all the cross-country here via H&C+, with on-demand replays available afterwards, so you can follow Ros Canter, Emily King, Sam Lissington and the rest of the field from the first horse at 8.15am BST.