What Burghley's top ten tells you about the last phase and the old horse

The facts

Winner

Gemma Stevens and Chilli Knight, 16, finishing on their dressage score of 29.6

Winning margin

13.4 penalties

Second

Katie Magee and Treworra, 12, her first five-star podium, after 2.4 time penalties across country

Oldest horse in the field

Toblerone, 19, ridden by Nadja Minder; led the dressage on 29.5 and finished fifth

Biggest climb

Harry Meade and Cavalier Crystal, 31st after dressage to tenth

Stevens has spent 25 years chasing a win at this level of British eventing, and her record in the final phase at Badminton had not been kind: 20 showjumping penalties in 2024, and a cross-country retirement with the same horse this spring. What changed at Burghley was an instruction, not a technique. British eventing performance manager Dickie Waygood told her to ride the round as though she were at her local Hickstead rather than in front of a five-star crowd. She jumped clear, and said afterwards she had not realised she had three fences in hand.

That is a portable idea. Most of us do not lose poles because our horse cannot jump the height. We lose them because we ride the occasion instead of the fence. Whether it is your first affiliated class or the last day of Pony Club camp, picking a familiar arena to imagine yourself in is free and takes no schooling.

Further down the leaderboard, Nadja Minder's Toblerone was the oldest horse in the field at 19 and led after the dressage. He collected 13.2 time penalties on cross-country day and one showjumping fence, and finished fifth. Minder would not rule out another five-star, and made the point that the decision should rest on how the horse feels rather than the number on his passport. That is the argument worth borrowing when a well-meaning person at your yard tells you a horse of a certain age should be retired, or kept going.

The rest of the top ten is a reminder that a dressage sheet is not a verdict. Katie Magee went from 19th after the first phase to second. Harry Meade came from 31st to tenth. Tom Jackson fell in the Trout Hatchery with one horse and finished fourth with another. If your weekend starts badly, the weekend is not over.

What this means for you

If you tense up in the last phase

You have a named, tested trick: ride it as if you are at a venue you know well. Choose that venue now, before the day, not in the collecting ring.

If you own a horse in his late teens

Age alone is not a retirement notice, and it is not a licence to carry on either. The test is how he feels in work, week to week.

If you have a bad dressage score on Friday

Placings at every level move substantially over the following two days. Ride the rest of the competition on its own terms.

If you are taking a young or inexperienced horse somewhere big

Yasmin Ingham took a 10-year-old to his first five-star and said you need real confidence in the partnership first. Same question applies to a first hunter trial or a first ODE.

I think at Burghley, everyone rode amazingly and was so happy for Gemma Stevens to win.

What to do

1. Pick the arena you will picture when you next feel sick with nerves, and write it on your entry confirmation

   Before your next competition

2. Ask your vet or physio for a plain assessment of your veteran's current workload, rather than deciding on his birthday

   At his next routine visit

3. Book a schooling round or clear round jumping at your least intimidating local venue, so the familiar place is genuinely familiar

   Within the next month

4. If your horse's recent record in one phase is poor, work out whether the problem is training or nerves before spending money on either

   Before your next entry closes