Mary King has revealed why she withdrew Kings Temptress after the dressage phase at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials last week.
On her Facebook page, she wrote: “Gosh, bad timing. After all the excitement of getting to Badminton and doing the dressage phase, dear Tess went lame behind so I had to withdraw her just before the cross-country.
“Richard Stringer, my vet, has found the problem which hopefully we will be able to manage with treatment and special shoes. All being well I will reroute her to Bramham CCI3* in June.”
Mary, who was the last rider to be accepted from the Badminton waitlist, posted a score of 47.1 in the first phase, which left her in 22nd place.
She said at the time: “I was thrilled with her test; she did everything I asked and it was great to be back in that arena. I’ve had a look at the cross-country course and I really like it. I can’t wait to get out there and give it a crack.”
The homebred Kings Temptress, who is out of Mary’s foundation mare Kings Mistress by Primitive Rising, won Kentucky in 2011 and finished third at Burghley in the same year. But she and Mary were on the wait list for Badminton as the mare had had time off last year due to a tendon injury and was therefore low on FEI points.
A good double clear in her final preparation event at Belton CIC3* in April suggested the mare was back on form.
Mary added: “There are such highs and lows with horses for all concerned. Derek Baden, her owner, and the syndicate of six people who help with the running costs, were all devastated, but so understanding.”
