by Nancy Jaffer | Sep 5, 2026
How fast things change in horse sport.
Just last month, Gemma Stevens was mourning having wound up as the drop score for Britain’s gold medal eventing team at the FEI World Championships in Aachen, Germany, after being eliminated for three refusals with Flash Cooley.
On home ground Saturday, it was a far different story, as she took the lead aboard Chilli Knight at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials. Going into Sunday’s stadium jumping, she stands on her dressage score of 29.6 penalties after finishing cross-country three seconds inside the optimum time of 11 minutes, 20 seconds over the route laid out by American Derek Di Grazia.
After her world championships experience, where her “dreams were completely crushed,” she said, “it is really hard to pick yourself up. But I just thought ‘Do you know what? I am coming here with this little boy — get on with it.’ ”
Reflecting on her round aboard the horse she calls Alfie, Gemma added: “It felt like a rollercoaster. It [the course] just felt like you were constantly climbing or going downhill, turning the corner to another humungous fence. It was so relentless.
“I kept being down on my minutes, and I was like ‘Oh, no, I am never going to get the time’. Then I managed to claw it back, and then I was down on the next one, and then I clawed it back again, and I went round the whole course like that.”
Gemma and Alfie below the Lion Bridge. (Defender Burghley photo)
Second after dressage concluded on Friday, she now has a great shot at the winner’s prize of £120,000 ($162,000). Gemma got a figurative leg up to that position from Piggy March, who won Burghley four years ago on Vanir Kamira.
The help was in the form of a voice message from Piggy, who advised in no uncertain terms, “get out there and get on with it.”
Gemma didn’t need to be told twice.
“I do always get out there and want to get on with it, and that is what you have to do,” she summed up.
The finale will pose a challenge from world number one, Tim Price of New Zealand. He had been touted as a possible winner with Falco, but retired that horse after a refusal at the hanging log in the Trout Hatchery, the nineteenth of 28 obstacles.
Instead, he stands second with the less-decorated Global Quest, an Irish sport horse stallion who stepped up to the big time in a big way.
“There was a lot of learning to be done here,” said Tim, calling his mount “an authentic 5-star horse.”
He is riding Global Quest in honor of the late Georgie Campbell, who developed the horse and then died after a fall while riding him at the Bicton Horse Trials in Britain in May 2024.
Sixth after dressage, Tim was promoted to second on 36.9 penalties, his dressage score plus 4.8 for time cross-country, after taking a long route at the Leaf Pit obstacle. His total means Gemma can afford to have a rail down and a few time penalties in the jumping phase with her stallion, a son of the great eventing sire, Chilli Morning.
The top American in the standings is Caroline Pamukcu, who is fifth with her world championships mount, HSH Blake. Like Gemma, Caroline had a major disappointment at the championships. She suffered a fall early on cross-country when Blake stumbled and they were eliminated. But as is often the case with this determined rider, she came back strong.
Caroline added eight time penalties to her dressage score of 32. Without the time overage, she would be second.
With her other mount, HSH Tolan King, Caroline was in the unenviable position of being first to go on cross-country. But her horse jumped the string and left the track at the Trout Hatchery, so she retired.
Next-best for the U.S. was Jennie Brannigan with FE Lifestyle, making the big leap from seventeenth after dressage to twelfth, carrying 11.2 time penalties for a total of 47.2. Right behind her was Kentucky 5-star winner Will Coleman, this time with Very Dignified, dropping from ninth after dressage to thirteenth with 14 time penalties and a total of 47.2.
Nadja Minder, the Swiss overnight leader from dressage with the graceful and aptly named chocolate-colored Toblerone, moved down to sixth place with 13.2 time penalties. The horse is the oldest in the field at age 19.
“He is such a five-star warrior now, and he helped me out so many times,” she said, reflecting on her performance.
“I wish I had given him a better ride, but it is what it is. You know, he just pricks his ears, looks for the flags, front feet up, back feet up, and on we go. He is incredible. I don’t want to say it’s his last run here because he has been so good in the build-up and everything. He is definitely the horse that has shaped my career.”
She and Robin Godel, the other Swiss competitor, are being coached by Andrew Nicholson, the intrepid New Zealander who first won Burghley in 1995.
At this special venue, Andrew feels, “It is very much about the terrain at Burghley, the constant undulating gently up and down and having to ride between the fences as much as over the fences. You have got to ride a little bit on the seat of your pants from the start to finish.”
With the results of the day, he was proven to be spot-on in that assessment.
Sarah Bullimore and Corimiro, touted as the favorite combo before the event, had been given a 21 percent win chance by EquiRatings, with a 63 percent shot at making it into the top 10. However, they parted company at the last fence, as the rider flew off and the horse galloped through the finish line by himself. Sarah first rode at Burghley 30 years ago, but had never won the event.
Of the 46 who started cross-country, just 28 finished. The others either retired or were eliminated.
Click here for results
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 27, 2026
After Oliver Townend won the MARS Maryland 5-star Three-Day Event in 2024 with the magnificent Ballaghmor Class, the British rider said of the 17-year-old Irishbred gelding, “I wish he could carry on for another 10 years so we could retire together.”
When someone wondered if he would retire the horse from 5-star competition following his fourth win at that level, Oliver snapped, “Would you?” calling it “the most ridiculous question I’ve been asked all week.”
Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class at Maryland.
But that would turn out to be the last of the four 5-star wins from the clever, sensitive gray known as Thomas. At his final 5-star outing in 2025 at Germany’s Pau competition, the campaigner finished twenty-first. It was time to stop. His retirement was announced in January.
Now 19, Thomas will be the center of formal retirement ceremony Sunday at Britain’s 5-star Defender Burghley Horse Trials, an event he won in 2017 and 2023. His other 5-star victory was in the Defender Kentucky fixture in 2021, when because of Covid, the public was not in the stands, only photos of people.
Sadly, the stands were empty except for photographs of spectators at Kentucky in 2021.
That was, however, the year Oliver and Thomas hit another milestone, team gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Although Oliver is one of eventing’s biggest winners, he is most closely identified with Thomas, who has not been ridden by anyone else in competition.
Oliver Townend was grateful to his final 5-star victory with Thomas in Maryland.
By the Holsteiner Courage II out of an Irish mare, Kilderry Place, Thomas is owned by Karyn Shuter (U.S. Eventing high performance adviser), Angela Hislop and Val Ryan.
But his name is inseparable from Oliver’s, and the two will continue to carry on together as the best of friends.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 30, 2026
All but two of the 31 entries in Sunday’s $400,000 Longines Hampton Classic grand prix had some issues along the intriguing course set by designer Nick Granat for Sunday’s $400,000 Longines Hampton Classic grand prix. Until the last horse went at the Long Island show, world number one Kent Farrington had stood alone with a perfect trip on his 12-year-old super mare, Greya.
But 22 rides after that lone clear round, his friend and often-rival, McLain Ward, also turned in a perfect trip with a relatively new mount, Lestro vd Valckenborg. It set up a jump-off in which the crowd was treated to a duel of champions.
Kent, who had won the class twice previously, was fault-free in a time of 41.82 seconds after a strategic cut to the Brain Juice oxer, the seventh fence on the shortened course. McLain got a good angle on the obstacle before that, the wishing well vertical, but went a bit wider at the oxer, which may have been where he lost an instant to end up on 42.56 seconds and take second place.
Kent Farrington and Greya on their way to the win. (Photo by Kind Media)
He missed out on his eighth win in the class (he already holds the record for victories.) But McLain’s effort secured the Longines Leading Rider title, and offered good consolation, carrying a $20,000 check.
Third place went to the fastest of the 4-faulters in the first round, 2024 Olympic individual gold medalist Christian Kukuk of Germany on Akarad Tivoli Z. When you consider that familiar expression, “The cream rises to the top,” how much better does it get than Kent, McLain and Christian as that top three?
“I think Greya’s results speak for themselves,” commented Kent, who in April won the FEI World Cup Finals in Texas on the same horse, over a route laid out there by Nick Granat’s Hampton Classic assistant, Anderson Lima.
“I’m a big sports fan, and stats don’t lie. She is incredible,” Kent enthused.
“She’s a phenomenal athlete, and she really showed that today. Jump-offs like these are actually the most uncomfortable for me, because you’ve got a guy like McLain who can pull off something crazy at the end.
“It’s really exciting with how much risk you want to take. If I go all-out and have one down, I hand him the win, but if I don’t put enough pressure, he can take those extra risks and beat me. It’s really a measurement of how much risk to take. I tried to measure that well today, and luckily, it paid off. But it was still too close for my comfort.”
McLain, who had won Friday’s qualifier on a different horse, said, “I’m thrilled with Lestro. He’s a young, up-and-coming horse. This was his biggest Grand Prix start of his career. Less than a year ago, we were jumping 1.45 meters, so his progress and the way he performed today were brilliant. This is a 5-star for a great deal of prize money at one of the best venues in the world; it should be hard.”
Yup. Six riders retired after the route got the better of them and their horses.
“Arguably the best horse-and-rider combination in the world right now was the only other clear,” McLain noted,, “and I found that quite motivating.
“I had nothing to lose in the jump-off in some ways, but at the same time, my horse is a little less experienced. I had a plan and in a couple of places didn’t pick up on the stride, which maybe would have brought things a little closer, but I’m thrilled to be second to that combination.”
Christian said about making his debut at the traditional end-of-summer competition, “I talked to a couple of people, including Kent, and they were already excited about coming here.
“So I made a plan to join them, and I’m super, super happy I did that. I was impressed by the atmosphere, by the sport, by everything around the event. To be honest, even if I’d jumped clear, I would have sat in the same position,” he pointed out.
He could not have won, he believes.
“There would be no chance. I’ve only had this horse for six months, and he’s quite green at this level. It’s just his second Grand Prix, so we are not as experienced in a jump-off like that. We had some fantastic sport today, and I think the crowd was thrilled. That’s what we aim for in shows like this; the excitement and the atmosphere are what make it such a special event.”
Click here for results
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 28, 2026
McLain Ward won the grand prix qualifier Friday at the Hampton Classic Horse Show, a competition where he has enjoyed many victories for decades.
He was aboard Robin Parsky’s First Lady with the fastest time in the jump-off of the $116,100 Douglas Elliman 5-star Grand Prix presented by Longines. The feat was memorable because he had to go first in the 12-horse tiebreaker, an unenviable position. But his 43.930-second effort was enough to edge Nayel Nassar on Orphea HQ in 43.950.
McLain Ward and First Lady (Kind Media Photo)
“It’s always nice to be in the winner’s circle here,” said McLain of one of his favorite destinations at the Long Island show. He just returned from a stint with the U.S. team at the World Championships in Aachen, Germany, where he rode High Star Hero.
Calling First Lady “a great partner,” McLain noted, “she’s a very quick horse and very reliable, so I didn’t mind going early in the jump-off.
“Being the first can be extra challenging if you haven’t seen (how others ride) the track, and I knew with the number behind me, there were some very fast ones. I did the best I could everywhere and hoped things would fall a little my way. There are certainly some moments in certain competitions when you want to be at the end, where it becomes a ‘take every risk’ situation, but a lot of the time, going early isn’t such a disadvantage when you know your horse well.”
There were 39 entries tested over the course designed by Nick Granat, as their riders sought berths in Sunday’s featured $400,000 Longines Hampton Classic Grand Prix.
First Lady is staying on the sidelines for that class. McLain instead will be aboard what he called, ” a relatively inexperienced horse here this year, Lestro VD Valckenborg, owned by a great supporter of ours, Marta Mattox from Texas.”
He commented that Lestro has “performed well at some big events already. He’s a big jumper, and I think he’s ready to perform here on Sunday. The Hampton Classic always has a challenging Grand Prix. It’s a 5-star level, the highest in our sport, and we have a pretty strong group of riders here this year. I think it’s going to be a good challenge.”
Click here for results
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 21, 2026
Seven-time Olympian Phillip Dutton, who helped U.S. eventing win team bronze last week at the FEI world championships, has been appointed as the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Development Program Advisor.
But the 62-year-old veteran emphasizes he won’t stop his own riding career.
Phillip Dutton in action.
In the advisory role, the Pennsylvanian will work with Eventing High Performance Manager and Chef d’Equipe Leslie Law, starting next month.
Leslie, an Olympic individual gold medalist who held the development position for more than a decade, said, “The selection of Phillip in this new role carries a level of excitement and promise for an even brighter future for our Development and Development 25 programs. I believe with the combined experience of myself, Karyn (Shuter), and Phillip, the U.S. will have an even stronger pipeline of combinations progressing up the levels.
“Consistency and excellence, both demonstrated and expected, are the qualities that will bring the U.S. to where we are aiming over the next two quadrennials,”
For his part, Phillip, an individual Olympic bronze medalist in 2016, said “I’m really excited to begin as USEF Eventing Development Program Advisor. I think the U.S. has a big and bright future ahead, with some very talented up-and-coming athletes and horses.
“I’m looking forward to working with this group to help develop strong team combinations for our programs and country. While I still hope to contribute to the programs with my own riding career, this role offers a great opportunity to build on the success of the Development and Development 25 programs and give back to the next generation of eventing in the U.S.,” said Phillip, who rode for Australia at the beginning of his career.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 26, 2026
Remember your favorite horse show from the past, the one that ran for a weekend, or perhaps a day or two longer, located just a short trailer ride from your barn? For people in the area, it was a special event and often a first opportunity to watch horses competing.
Chances are, that show isn’t there anymore. Aside from the nostalgia factor, its absence means there’s one less place for riders to start showing close to home. Except that’s not just one place at this stage.
“In the old days,” U.S. Hunter Jumper Association President Britt McCormick said during an Open Discussion Town Hall this month, “We went to a different venue every week, and I think that’s what people have a fond memory of. But that’s just not the world we live in anymore.”
It isn’t, and the subject is a topic of very engaged discussion across the country about the future of the sport’s base. The upper end, where money is no object, is doing just fine.
Britt asked show manager Allen Rheinheimer for his perspective on the situation and got quite a response. Why did we make this a featured story? Because Allen’s observations deserve a wider audience than just those who tuned in to the Town Hall; so many in equestrian sport are looking for answers. But they aren’t easy to come by.
“I see these smaller shows, these boutique shows, that are across the board going away due to these large mega shows, where people can go and stay for several weeks at a time,” Allen commented.
Giving an example, he said, “We struggled at Lake Placid, a two-week U.S. Equestrian Federation Heritage Competition he manages in upstate New York.
“It was a dying horse show. We spent a tremendous amount of money to bring that show up to date.
“Now we’re over-subscribed, we’ve got the opposite effect of what was happening before. But when those small shows, the boutique shows, go away and everybody has to go to these big box shows, I think it’s going to be a very tough industry to be involved with, not having the variety. I think expenses will probably rise again, because those boutique shows will start going away.”
Already, “They have gone away quite a bit across the board. The whole East Coast has changed quite a bit. A lot of shows have dissolved over the years, the Midwest as well. It’s a problem.”
Exhibitors at smaller shows may have come to expect high-end footing, fancy jumps and some of the amenities that come with a higher-price point, but then they can’t afford their entries if a competition raises fees to cover such costs.
So what is the answer?
According to Allen, “We have to spark interest in this industry, somehow to give back to the consumer. What are we going to do for sparking interest back in this game that we play every day, and how do we give these people something back as a true finals?
“There’s a lot more industry players out there that need drive to continue on, I think we’re losing that drive in this industry. How do we do that? I’m not sure.”
Allen, production manager of the perennially sold-out Wrangler National Finals Rodeo held in Las Vegas each December, said, “I see how that works and how they have a large event at the end of the year that sparks a lot of interest to the drive of the grassroots. We don’t have that in our sport.
The National Finals Rodeo is always a sellout.
“Our indoor shows are gone. Basically, they’re not what they used to be. and that’s due to the cost of the industry as well. How do we handle that in moving forward?
“We all have to be together and figure out what does that for the group as a whole, not just as the organizers trying to make their shows affordable and unique enough that people want to come.”
Britt emphasized, “We as an association don’t want to compete with the organizers. But at the same time, we have to come up with those products that give people that carrot.”
So what about that carrot?
“All the different lower-level or equitation divisions that are created and all these young horses and all these year-end championships for them, I don’t know that’s the way to go,” Allen observed.
“I think we need to reduce some of that, because I think there’s too much of that now.”
He pointed out that at the Lexington National Horse Show, which he runs in Virginia, there is a full page of equitation classes that are offered.
“We’re getting away from the bigger picture of where we want these people to move to, and I think we’re just making it less attractive for people to move up. I know it’s easier to move down all the time and stay down there,” he commented.
“I think we need to make it more attractive to move up and I think that’s part of the problem you have now.”
So we know the problem. It’s a situation that requires a lot more thought, and a lot more work. Keep the discussion going.
