New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell is seeking a fourth Mars Badminton completion, this time aboard Cooley Lafitte, a horse who napped and was reluctant to leave the startbox when he started eventing.
Jesse said their partnership has been built on trust, and he changed the horse’s preparation for their dressage test today, only mounting when he heard the audience clapping at the end of previous rider, Kylie Roddy’s test.
“I haven’t really ridden him at all today, he’s just been doing a lot of lunging,” said Jesse. “It was a challenge for me. I was like, oh, gosh, I wonder if I still know how to do a flying change, or any of those sorts of things, but he’s a really well-trained horse.
“We threw [the usual warm-up routine] out of the box and ended up keeping him up here [by the main arena], just milling around doing little bits of pieces of work. He gets upset going past all the food stands and big screens and people running at him and stuff.
“I heard clapping for Kylie, and I hopped on and trotted around, and then in we went.”
Flying changes a highlight
Jesse and Cooley Lafitte were 15th here in 2024, the same year they were 21st at Burghley. They also finished 20th at Pau CCI5* last season.
The flying changes were a particular highlight in today’s test, which scored 38 penalties.
“It took him a long time to get them, but now he’s he knows them and he’s confident,” said Jesse. “It would have been nice if he could have got some walk too, but I didn’t want to push that too hard.”
Referring to Saturday’s cross-country test, Jesse said: “It’s very big and in front of you, and there to be jumped. I’m excited about riding it.
“I’m not sure what the time will be like; it feels a bit smoother than in past years and I like the changes.”
Main image by Tim Wilkinson
