Australia’s Sam Griffiths has taken the lead at the end of day one of the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, with a dressage score of 40.2pen (4 September).
Really confident
Sam, who won his first Badminton earlier this year,was riding the seasoned campaigner Happy Times. The pair has completed Burghley three times before and Sam said the 15-year-old was feeling ‘as good as ever’.
“We’ve been in the arena here a few times now so we knew what to expect,” Sam told H&C. “He had a good preparation and he warmed up really well, so I went in knowing I’d done everything we could and felt really confident.
“We were both in a good mental state and relaxed, so we just went in and enjoyed it. We made a few little mistakes, but it felt natural.”
Gets anxious
Just behind him on 40.8pen is fellow Aussie Andrew Hoy, who won Burghley in back in 1979 and again in 2004. This year he’s riding Rutherglen, an 11-year-old Hanoverian he produced himself. Andrew has been working with Laura Tomlinson who he says has been a ‘great help’ with their dressage.
“He can produce very good tests, but tries very hard and if he feels he’s made a mistake and you keep on repeating the question he can take it quite personally and gets anxious.
“I totally over did the preparation at Luhmuhlen so it’s nice to come here and secure a good performance for the horse mentally, so he realises it’s another day at the office and nothing special.”
Really excited
New Zealand’s Allison Springer is lying third on 41.2pen with Arthur. The rider said it was her ‘best test by far’ at Burghley.
“It’s the most relaxed he’s been although I made couple of little mistakes which one of the judges missed too!” she said. “It’s nice to be done with the dressage so I can focus on the cross-country. It’s big, that goes without saying. The Trout Hatchery is a huge jump back into the water. But I know my horse is capable and I’m really excited to get out there.”
The highest placed Brit is Piggy French in fourth place with Westwood Mariner (45.8pen), while Izzy Taylor and KBIS Briarlands Matilda are in sixth with 48.3pen.
Bit like Marmite
“Dressage would be this horse’s weakest phase, so I was thrilled with his test,” said Piggy, whose score divided the judges. “He is a bit like Marmite; some judges like him and some don’t. He can be quite short in his neck because of his conformation, which can affect the marks.”
When asked about Saturday’s cross-country both Sam and Andrew agreed it’s big and tough – although they said they expect nothing else from Burghley.
“It takes a special horse to ride around Burghley, but hopefully I’m sitting on one,” said Sam.
How to ride Burghley
Andrew, who worked for course builder Mark Phillips when he first came to England, claims to have the solution to riding clear over what is commonly regarded as one of the world’s toughest cross-country courses.
“There are three things you’ve got to do when riding around Burghley: you’ve got to be forward, you’ve got to be on a good distance and you need a good rhythm – and then you’ll be fine,” he said.
See? Simple.