The 2023 Osberton International Horse Trials came to a fittingly exciting conclusion today, with both the Investec CCI3*-L and Arena Saddles CCI2*-L classes facing an up-to-height, technical showjumping finale in the main arena.

Investec CCI3*-L

Emily King made good on the lead she claimed early in the week with Vicki and Stewart Irlam’s Jackpot, adding nothing across yesterday’s cross-country and today’s showjumping finale to her first-phase score of 25, earning the pair a wire-to-wire victory in this hotly contested class.

“I’m so pleased with him – he jumped brilliantly, and didn’t touch a thing. I wanted to take the inside lines so I didn’t have to be too quick and could just keep him back on his hocks, and he was just fab. I was so aware that I had no room for error if I wanted to stay in the top position; the only times he’s had a pole have been when he’s got a bit too open, so I really wanted to use those tighter lines to keep up on the time, which meant I could add a planned extra stride down to the double at the end,” explained Emily, who had just two-tenths of a penalty in hand – not enough for even a second of time in hand – as she entered the ring.

Clear rounds were few and far between – just eight competitors out of 62 showjumping starters delivered clears inside the time, but despite this significant level of influence, the top three after cross-country all managed to retain their podium positions.

Second place went the way of Vice European Champion Kitty King and the experienced Cristal Fontaine, who returned to competition this season after a couple of quiet years and made light work of his first long-format run since 2020, when he finished sixth in the Seven-Year-Old World Championship at Le Lion d’Angers.

“It’s been so nice to have him out at an international again. Because he only started back in July, we didn’t have time to get the runs into him for a CCI4*-L this autumn, and he’d not had a long-format run in a long time, so running the CCI3*-L here was a perfect way to build up his stamina again ready for a four-star in the spring,” said Kitty, who began her week on a 25.2 and added nothing to it across the two jumping phases. “It’s just an added bonus that he’s gone so well. He made cross-country feel so easy – he was so smooth, and I never even had to touch my reins. It’s a pleasure to ride them when they feel like that.”

Wiltshire-based US Olympian Tiana Coudray secured a final third place with the exciting Coeur de l’Esprit Z, who she’s produced from a very green six-year-old, and who confirmed his place as an enormously exciting prospect for the top levels in Tiana’s burgeoning string. He began his week on a score of 26.2, and though the inexperienced xxx-year-old tipped a rail and added 0.4 time penalties in the final phase, Tiana was delighted with his performance across the competition.

“He’s a class animal. This was a big ask for him this week, so we came here more to see how he’d do and give him some education – but he’s just come up spades in everything, so I’m really impressed with him. It’s his first CCI3*-L, and the first time he’s really had to be brave and commit,” said Tiana. “He felt like a proper Advanced horse, and that was really, really cool.”

Arena Saddles CCI2*-L

Showjumping proved just as exacting in the Arena Saddles CCI2*-L: of the 95 competitors who came forward for this final phase, just twelve would manage to keep their score card clean – and that influence was writ large upon the leaderboard.

Two-phase leaders Oliver Townend and Jess McKie’s Coolafancy had to settle for seventh place after two rails fell during their round, opening the door for overnight fourth-placed Piggy March and Brookfield William to take the victory with their classy clear.

Their week began with a competitive 27.1 in the dressage, and yesterday, the seven-year-old delivered his best-ever FEI cross-country run in just his second-ever long format event. He came home just one second over the optimum time, and added nothing to his two-phase score of 27.5 today en route to the win. This is his first international run with Piggy in the irons, who originally piloted him for owners Alison Swinburne and John and Chloe Perry of Brookfield Sport Horses as a five-year-old before handing the reins first to fellow Brookfield rider Tom McEwen, and latterly Ros Canter. Now, she’s delighted to welcome him back to her string.

“He’s always been a lovely horse and a lovely jumper, and he’s got great form with all of us; he’s a lovely, easy, straightforward horse,” said Piggy. “I never thought this wouldn’t be a plan with him – I know him well, even if I’ve only done two runs on him, and so it didn’t take long to pick up the reins and get going again. He’s a cute little horse – but equally, you never think you’ll go from fourth to the win on the final day!”

Oliver Townend claimed second place on Sir John Peace and Charlotte Cole’s Be Cooley, who also delivered a fault-free round to finish on his dressage score of 28.1. in his CCI2*-L debut.

“He’s a very nice, progressive horse, and we like him a lot. He’s a horse that keeps turning up and quietly improving, and I think he’s a very similar character to Cooley Masterclass – he’s very laid-back, or bone idle! He’s a fairly lazy workhorse at home, but he’s very nice and does his job at the competitions,” said Oliver.

New Zealand’s Dan Jocelyn rounded out the top three with The Atomic Syndicate’s Greannanstown Atomic, who finished on his 30.1 dressage score.

“He’s been fantastic this week. He’s really matured over the season, and it’s nice to approach next season ready for Intermediate – this is a nice way to finish the year,” said Dan. “He’s only had a rail down all season, and the conditions today really suited him. He’s a horse you have to ride forward, and those conditions made you ride forward. He really tried, and we can really say he’s learnt his trade now. He’s a horse we’re really looking forward to the future with.”

BEDE Director and course designer Stuart Buntine reflected on a successful week of sport at Osberton, which saw horses and riders of all levels benefit from a comprehensive education and fierce competition over four days: “It certainly hasn’t been a dressage competition! The great thing is, we’ve come home with a couple of hundred horses having run cross-country and no horse falls.”

Designing for the array of experience levels – from first-time riders at the levels to professionals with young horses – presents an interesting challenge for a designer, he continued.

“You never know if you’ve got the balance until you’ve finished the day, but I start by making sure the questions are at the correct level. I purposely wanted to up the ante in the three-star this year, because in the past, when we’ve had the young horse classes, we’ve had to be careful not to over-pressurise them – the distances were longer across the course. I’ve brought the whole thing back closer to the minimum this year, which has put the pressure on the riders, and after the galloping section at the beginning of the course, I was careful to keep the lid on their speed to make the time influential.”

“One of the key features of Osberton,” he explained, “is the woods, and so we’ve got the ability to control the pace with the bends through there. The other thing, which Chris Bartle has talked to me a lot about, is creating the third dimension: the undulations. What I tried to do this time is use undulations not as jumping efforts, but as additional efforts, where sometimes they even have to drop back to trot, which is another key element of cross-country riding. I was stuck in a hotel room watching YouTube videos from the ‘70s, and in those days, all we did was go up and down banks and over ditches – there was so much terrain, and horses really needed to find the fifth leg. What I’d love to try to do is bring that back, and encourage riders to ride with feel over terrain.”

Osberton International will return to the calendar in October 2024, with dates to be confirmed soon. Visit bede-events.co.uk for further information on dates and next year’s league competitions.

Image courtesy of Hannah Cole Photography/EquiConsulting

For full results visit Eventing Scores