Clear round, 16.8 time faults, no apology

The facts

Rider

Jack Pinkney, based in Hampshire, on his first Burghley

Horse

Claragh Olala, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse

Cross-country, Saturday 5 September 2026

Clear jumping round with 16.8 time penalties

Earlier form

11th at Bramham in summer 2026; top-15 four-star finishes at Millstreet and Scone Palace in 2025

Next Burghley

2 to 5 September 2027

Pinkney had wanted a career in rugby union. He played for Stroud and at county level, mostly as a centre or wing, sometimes as a flanker. The switch to horses came through mucking out and learning to ride at a team-chasing yard, and he credits Chris Bevan with starting him off. It is a reminder that the route into the sport is not only ponies from the age of four. Yards that need hands take people who arrive with nothing but willingness.

His Burghley cross-country round on Saturday 5 September 2026 was clear over the fences and 16.8 time penalties down on the clock. He said afterwards that he knew he was losing time and rode fence to fence rather than thinking about the finish. He also said he had been caught out at the end of courses before, and had learned from it. Getting the horse home was the stated goal, ahead of being competitive.

That is the decision most riders duck. You can chase the optimum and hope, or you can name the objective before you start and ride to it. On a first run at a new level, on a new track, or on a horse that has had a break, choosing completion is not a lack of ambition. It is a plan, and it makes every choice on course simpler.

Pinkney also noted the horse felt as though he was holding something back, the same feeling he had at Bramham, where the pair jumped double clear. Whether or not that reading was right, the habit is a good one: register how the horse felt underneath you while it is fresh, not a week later.

What this means for you

Adults who came to riding late

A working route in still exists. Team chasing and eventing yards need people who will muck out, and time on the yard buys riding.

Anyone stepping up a level

Time penalties for a safe completion are a legitimate result. Decide which you are riding for before you leave the start box, and tell whoever is helping you.

Riders who fade in the last minute

The end of a course is where lapses happen. Riding fence to fence, rather than counting down to home, is a deliberate technique, not a platitude.

Spectators

The 2026 event is finished. The next Defender Burghley Horse Trials runs from 2 to 5 September 2027.

What to do

1. Before your next cross-country run, write down one goal: time, or clear and home. Say it out loud to your groom or helper so you are held to it.

   Before your next entry closes

2. Walk the last third of your next course twice. That is where riders and horses tire and lose focus.

   On the day

3. Note in your diary how the horse felt on the second half of the round, within an hour of finishing, while it is still accurate.

4. If you want a way into a working yard, ask locally about team chasing and eventing yards that take help over the winter.

   Autumn 2026

5. Put 2 to 5 September 2027 in the calendar if Burghley is on your list to watch.

   Now