Toblerone, the 19-year-old mount of Swiss rider Nadja Minder (pictured top), is approaching the twilight of an extraordinary career. But he didn’t show any signs of age when posting a superb dressage score of 29.5 at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials today (3 September), and this pair lead the way after day one of the first phase.

“It’s very emotional,” admitted Nadja, 26. “I mean, I don’t know how many tests we have left together – probably none – I don’t know.”

There is, however, no sense of sadness when Nadja talks about riding Toblerone – just an overwhelming appreciation for a horse she knows she can always rely on.

“He’s just so cool,” she said. “He would never let me down. He is just there and delivers on the day. When I’m walking cross-country, with him in mind, I just have no real worries.”

Their understanding has developed to such a degree that Nadja no longer feels the need to really practise the movements before a test.

“I don’t need to because he knows me so well, and I know how to ride him because we know each other inside out.”

Instead, her job is to get him moving, thinking positively and confident in his own ability.

“I just need to get him moving before the test. Make him believe in his abilities,” she explained, identifying this as something Toblerone struggled with when she first took over the ride.

“He was just maybe tightening a little bit because he didn’t believe in himself.”

That confidence has been carefully built over time, with help from Nadja’s mentor and coach Piggy March. The results were evident today, where Nadja was particularly pleased with Toblerone’s trot extensions and changes.

“The trot extensions were great, because when he’s on grass, he just floats along. And the changes are so easy on him. I actually predominantly only ride on grass at home as I only have a 40x20m arena, and I think riding on grass really helps with a horse’s balance.”

Nadja has been riding Toblerone since 2020, when she took him on as a 13-year-old, and he had only started eventing in 2018.

“He started late – he did his first two-star when he was 11,” said Nadja.

The gelding’s relatively light workload has, Nadja believes, contributed to his remarkable longevity.

“He is a horse that doesn’t use himself up very much,” she said. “He’s not a flashy mover, so I think that helps definitely.”

There is also the way he has been allowed to live away from competition. At home, Nadja’s horses are managed in a deliberately natural way, with plenty of time outside.

“I turn them out in groups,” she explained. “So he’s in a group of 10 horses.”

For Nadja, this is an important part of keeping an older competition horse mentally and physically well.

“They go out on the field together, and that has worked very well for the management and the longevity of a horse, because we take a lot of care in making sure the horses move most of the day, like they would do when they’re living in the wild – they’re moving, stepping, walking.”

The approach has worked well for Toblerone and the other horses, although Nadja acknowledges that turning competition horses out in groups inevitably carries some element of risk.

“Maybe it’s a risk,” she conceded. “But I think when they’re getting fresh in their brains and you turn them out in a small paddock, they maybe then pick up worse injuries.”

Much of the day-to-day care falls to Nadja’s mother, Therese, who is also her groom.

“We are like the trio that goes everywhere with Toblerone, me and her.”

Gemma Stevens: ‘His heart is always trying its best’

Gemma Stevens was delighted with her performance in the first phase with Chilli Knight. They scored 29.6 and sit in second.

“I was just trying to aim to get in the 20s,” she said. “Dressage isn’t Chilli Knight’s forté – he can’t trot.”

Yet what the horse lacks in natural movement, he more than makes up for in attitude.

“The one thing he makes up for, and the fact that he can’t trot, is the fact that his heart is always trying his best,” Gemma said.

After a difficult performance at Badminton when this combination scored 34, Gemma had deliberately tried something different in the warm-up.

“We razzed him up a bit before he went in, which is not a normal thing for a five-star event horse, but it really worked,” she explained.

Max Warburton: ’I’m absolutely thrilled’

Max Warburton was similarly pleased with his dressage performance aboard the attractive grey, Deerparic Revelry, describing his test as “a real clear round”. They scored 31.2 and sit in third.

“He tried very hard,” said Max. “He was quiet in his brain – the same as he was in the warm-up – so I’m absolutely thrilled.

“He’s 12 now and he’s got enough experience under his belt that he’s come here for a competitive run.”

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