British riders have put in more strong performances at Bicton this afternoon...
Sarah Bullimore and Corouet (pictured), with whom she listed a reserve on the Olympic longlist, put in a great dressage test at Bicton International Horse Trials supported by Chedington, this afternoon (10 June), scoring 30.2, to put them in second at the moment behind Laura Collett and Dacapo on 29.7.
“He was good — we had a couple of silly little mistakes, but actually he was much more rideable and his good bits were really mega good,” Sarah said of her own and husband Brett Bullimore’s 10-year-old. “It’s just a shame about the silly little mistake going into the right canter half-pass — I probably didn’t hold him enough on the outside rein and we just sort of swept into it — we’d come across so beautifully in the left half-pass and we changed over, and then he was like, ‘oh, canter’, but he was so quick to correct it, so that was just such a silly thing to throw marks away on. But as I say his good bits were so good in the grand scheme of things.”
Sarah said she was delighted to be named as a reserve on the Olympic nomination list.
“It’s lovely to be thought of and to be on the list is even more special because we bred him, so we’ve had him all of the way through. Just to be mentioned is fabulous. It definitely bodes well potentially for the Europeans too — that would be the realistic aim for him at the moment. It’s probably a year too early for him to go to an Olympics.”
Ben Hobday and Shadow Man II (pictured below) have also gone into third place at this point in the CCI4*-L competition, scoring 30.8.
“I’m really pleased — he was very obedient, but I’m a little bit disappointed in myself for the last flying-change as we’ve been working really hard on everything, especially with Chris Bartle,” said Ben after his test. “We’re constantly trying to try to improve that little bit every time so I always feel naturally a little bit disappointed, because it’s never perfect.”
Credit: Peter Nixon
Read the full report from Bicton in the 17 June issue of Horse & Hound magazine and keep checking back to horseandhound.co.uk for further updates and insight
You may also be interested in…
How to watch Bicton CCI5* Horse Trials: your essential guide
Fence by fence: check out photos of every fence on the Bicton CCI4*-L cross-country course *H&H Plus*
Bicton Horse Trials dressage times released: find out when Olympic longlisted horses start
The Bicton Horse Trials dressage times are out – check out when your favourite riders and horses start in the
Laura Collett smashes first phase on Olympic hopeful at Bicton *H&H Plus*