Britain’s Tom Bird, the youngest rider at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials, earned his second completion at CCI5*, with the highlight being a cross-country clear on his 2024 ride Cowling Hot Gossip. Last year, he made his debut aboard Rebel Rhyme, finishing 30th with a stop cross-country, and he heralds both these horses as “giving me a huge amount of experience”, even if he’s not yet able to trouble the leaders.
“Neither horse is the most flashy or athletic, but they’ve ticked a lot of boxes for me – Bramhams, Burghleys, Blairs – and at my stage I wouldn’t have swapped them for the world,” says Tom. “Hopefully as I start to get more talented horses, these two will have given me the experience and knowledge to crack on.”
Tom – along with his mum Frances and Helen Kerry – bought Cowling Hot Gossip (Jasper) “out of a field as an unbroken five-year-old”.
“We took a gamble on him, as we had no money to spend, and bought him for about £1,000 with the plan to give me experience up to novice,” says Tom, who is based in Warwickshire. “The results on paper might not look like we have had the best time, but we are over the moon. I am so pleased and proud. It’s been a bit of journey with him and we’re not there yet as today has shown. But he’s completed Burghley, the biggest track in the world.”
Tom Bird: “Heart” is key at Burghley Horse Trials
Tom finished last in the dressage with 66, but overtook half the field with his cross-country performance. Alas, showjumping is Jasper’s weakest phase at the moment – although they were fifth in the under-25 class at Bramham they have yet to jump clear at international level. Here, they racked up 28 faults plus some time.
“I didn’t know how he’d come out today after jumping cross-country like he did yesterday, but possibly I started too quiet and then got strung out,” says Tom. “It’s all learning. What both the horses I’ve brought to Burghley have in abundance is heart – they’ve absolutely fought for everything. Jasper scrapped yesterday and gave me everything. He’s never been round a track that long, or that testing. They need that fight, that grit, but equally to be competitive they need to be slightly more uphill and athletic than these two are built.”
Tom may be just 22 but he says, “I don’t feel that young!”
“We’ve done quite a few four-stars, been competing with these guys a lot – and that’s what’s so nice about our sport, everyone is so supportive, they make you feel like one of the group,” adds Tom, who admits to feeling chuffed when one of his childhood idols Paul Tapner congratulated him. “I do try to remind myself sometimes that I am still young and if it’s not perfect at this stage, I have time to iron out some of my mistakes in the future.”
Tom already knows what it takes to compete at five-star, with a 100% completion rate, and now he’s fine-tuning his calibre of horse. Watch out for the six-year-old Claddagh Ohio Sebastian, who is competing at Cornbury later this month.
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