An exciting day of cross-country is in full swing at the Mars Badminton Horse Trials, with Gemma Stevens the leader after the first few riders have ridden their rounds.
Gemma and Chilli Knight, lying 10th overnight, are 2.3 penalties ahead of Harry Meade and Superstition — and these are the only two riders to finish inside the optimum time (11 minutes and 40 seconds) so far.
“What a horse,” said Gemma. “It’s a long way round and it’s tough to get the time. I was flat to the boards, straight through everywhere. He’s got so much heart and he gave me the most amazing ride.”
The rider said the key to getting the time is “just being as quick as you can at every single fence, not taking too many pulls, going straight”.
“Last year we struggled with our brakes [because] we didn’t have the correct bit,” added Gemma. “I’ve changed that now and we had a fantastic round at Burghley, and we’ve come here full of confidence.”
Gemma will head out on her second horse, Jalapeno, who lies third after dressage, at 4.24pm.
“I think the time will be harder for her, but we will give it our best shot. All the straight ways and we’ll try our best,” she said.
‘It’s not a sprint’
Harry Meade hasn’t run Superstition across country at all since Burghley last September.
“That’s pretty unusual, but I reckoned I could do all the prep at home. I think people thought I’d entered him but wouldn’t run him,” said Harry, who stopped the clock bang on the optimum time .
“He felt great. I jumped about two showjumps outside at about 90cms to keep him relaxed.”
Harry added that a cross-country course like this one “is not sprint”.
“It’s about trying to keep them efficient, let them recover and never empty them,” he explained. “I tried to be as quick as I could and he was bang on the time.
“I was surprised how big it rode. The back rails were a long way away all the way around [and] it got the horses jumping in a way they might not always jump [reaching for the back rail].
“It then had an impact on how they jumped the ones that weren’t wide but were more technical.”
He added that the Mars Lake (fence 10abc) as a highlight.
“I loved jumping into the lake, that was cool. It reminds me of the big old fences in the 80s and 90s. I rode really positively in and kept on my line.”
‘I enjoyed the finish line’
Oliver Townend was second out on Ballaghmor Class came home with 4.8 time penalties to add to a score that put them ninth after dressage.
“He enjoyed the ride more than I did — I enjoyed the finish line” said Oliver with a smile.
“He’s a good little horse as we all know and he’s very keen these days and there’s not a lot to back him off, which sounds ridiculous at Badminton, but the skinny rails he’s not too worried about.
“The bigger the fence, the more beautiful he is to ride to it.”
Oliver praised the efforts made to prepare the ground after a long spell of dry weather.
“Beautiful ground — fair play to the Badminton team it rode very safe, level ground all the way and I don’t think I had a single slip.”
Oliver is due back out on course at 4.20pm with his overnight leader Cooley Rosalent. The rider cautioned that this horse lacks the experience at this level compared to her Olympic gold medal-winning stablemate.
“She’s a baby at the level and still very babyish with crowds, but she’s done it before so fingers crossed,” he said.
Positivity is best
Bubby Upton and Cola have moved up to fourth at this stage after a classy clear for six time-faults.
“I couldn’t have been more lucky to sit on a horse like that,” smiled Bubby. “I’ve had him for nine years and he’s a fighter through and through. It’s the best feeling ever when you come back to that roaring crowd.
“I know him inside out and positivity is definitely best with him. I’ve been learning on him at five-star, made a few mistakes along the way and let him down.
“He doesn’t deserve that so I’m glad I was able to show the world what a horse he is today.”
Main image by Badminton Horse Trials
