“Who has a plan B as Badminton? Only me, probably,” said Belgium’s Lara de Liederke-Meier, who piloted Hooney D’Arville into 14th place this afternoon (11 May).
“I wanted to go to Kentucky, because I think it’s a little bit more [like the] Europeans [in its] way of building,” explained Lara, 37, who is aiming for a place at this September’s European Championships, which will take place at Blenheim Palace.
“Derek [di Grazia, cross-country designer at Kentucky], builds what my horse has been used to in the past.
“She’s a really careful horse and it’s so so big [at Badminton] and sometimes she can take a look. I would have maybe liked to do another five-star before coming here but she has surprised me a lot of times in the past.”
The 12-year-old home-bred mare was rerouted to the UK fixture for financial reasons.
“I tried crowdfunding, but even if you finish third [in Kentucky] then you still don’t break even after your transport costs,” said Lara.
“We won Luhmuhlen 5* last year, but I’m not arrogant enough to feel I could do it again. I thought [we’ll go to Badminton instead] for experience and to keep learning, so I hope she’s enjoyed it.”
Back on a homebred
Lara, who has a BSc in business administration and an MSc in business sciences, last came to Badminton in 2016.
“It feels really good to be back. I forgot how much the atmosphere is here, so special,” said Lara, a mother-of-two who is married to German event rider and Belgium’s eventing team trainer, Kai-Steffen Meier.
“I think it’s still the pinnacle of the sport. I’m really happy to bring her here.”
Hooney d’Arville’s dam, Nooney Blue, was Lara’s ride at the 2010 World Equestrian Games — the rider’s first senior team appearance — and they were successful at junior eventing level together.
Lara has represented Belgium at two Olympic Games — including Paris last year — four world championships and six senior Europeans.
The pair scored 31.7 in the dressage and added 13.6 time penalties on the cross country to finish inside the top 20.
Main image by Tim Wilkinson
