A small but mighty dressage leader, a personal best from Zara Tindall’s ride, plus 8 more stories you need to read from Burghley

The first day of dressage action is now complete at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2022 and what a fabulous day of top-class action it was. Here is a quick round-up of the key stories from Thursday 1 September

Sarah Bullimore and the diminutive Corouet stormed into the lead with their Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials dressage test. The pair scored an impressive 22.5 this afternoon (1 September).

• Find out what Sarah had to say and why she is battling an injury

Piggy March and Vanir Kamira are breathing down Sarah’s neck after they posted a score of 22.6 to sit in second place overnight.

• Read what Piggy had to say about the 17-year-old Vanir Kamira and why she thinks she is improving with age

Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On were second into the arena this morning and together they scored 26.2 to sit in third at this stage of the competition.

• Find out how Pippa assessed her test

Class Affair – the ride of Zara Tindall – scored a personal best at five-star level. The judges rewarded their good work with a 28.4, and they are in fourth place after day one of Burghley Horse Trials dressage.

• Read Zara’s post-dressage thoughts, including how she has managed to improve Class Affair on the flat

Meanwhile, although not troubling the leaders after her test, Phoebe Buckley took the time to explain to us the backstory of her ride here this week, Tiger Mail, the son of her former top horse Little Tiger.

• Find out why Phoebe said this gelding was “almost conceived” at Burghley

US rider Woods Baughman enjoyed a great start to his first attempt at Burghley, but his horse, C’est La Vie 135 didn’t have a very straightforward journey across the Atlantic.

• Find out why Woods described his horse’s journey as “pretty rough”

We also found out more about Kerryn Edmans and her life as a groom – she is looking after 19-year-old Classic Moet for Jonelle Price this week.

• Find out why Kerryn Edmans is “treasuring every moment” at Burghley this week

Some of our top riders have had time to walk and reflect on the cross-country course they’ll be facing here on Saturday.

• Read about what these riders are thinking about this year’s cross-country track

You can also watch our video with one of this year’s Burghley competitors, Emma Hyslop-Webb, who was quite emotional as she talked about her preparation for this event.

• Find out why Emma was emotional as she chatted to us

Finally, don’t miss our daily Burghley Horse & Hound Podcasts, supported by Baileys Performance Balancer, where we round-up each day’s action and look forward to what’s coming up next.

• Listen to all the episodes

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Check out our full form guide for analysis of all the Burghley Horse Trials riders and horses who will tackle the five-star competition in this week’s magazine (issue dated 8 September). 

Gemma Redrup

H&H features, racing and point-to-point editor

Gemma is an experienced journalist, having been part of the H&H team since 2014, who is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at in August 2018. Gemma’s reporting talents have taken her to numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.