Burghley local achieves lifetime dream of competing at Burghley after 24 year wait

By Lucy Wilde at Burghley

Competing at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials is no small thing for even the most seasoned competitors, but for Nicole Mills it marks an achievement she has been working towards for a lifetime.

The 41-year-old lives just three miles away from the famous Stamford venue and is hoping to prove herself and her gelding, Fearless W, worthy of a place on the big stage.

With the first event of three ticked off, the dressage, in which Mills posted a score of 32.6 after a calm and accurate test she was bursting with praise for her ‘fearless’ companion.

“I’m just delighted with him,” she said. “He doesn’t find the dressage particularly easy. He does his changes beautifully and I messed one up which is a bit annoying.

“But because I’m local there was a lot of clapping. I sort of wanted them to hold off until the end but he was a good boy and I’m very proud of him.”

Mills has been eventing for the best part of 24 years but has had to be patient for her chance in the limelight to finally come at the infamous Burghley grounds, but being brave is part of her DNA.

“Burghley is massive - I take my hat off to these guys who get horses here year in, year out - maybe it was a brave choice to come here for our first 5* but Fearless is a real jumper, super scopey," said Mills.

“I’ve just got to make sure I manage him correctly so he’s not super wild when he comes out the start box in the cross-country. I’ll be taking deep breaths around the first nine fences, that’s for sure.”

‘Big bad Burghley’ is often the phrase used to reference the cross-country phase of the all-round test event, with four miles of undulating terrain and 30 fences designed to test the riders to their absolute limit.

Mills feels no differently at the prospect of taking to the course, but isn’t letting herself be psyched out by its gravitas before she even reaches the startline.

“I ran the cross-country course last night and I found it quite hard. I thought I’ve got to put myself through what the horse is going to go through.

“It’s big, but I have nothing to compare it to because I’ve not ridden at a 5* before, or here, besides pony club. There’s a few long routes I plan on taking and I want to walk it another five times at least, probably not run.”

Defender Burghley Horse Trials (5-8 September 2024) has been a major international sporting and social event for over 50 years. It attracts the world's top equestrians and is attended by vast and enthusiastic crowds. For more information visit www.burghley-horse.co.uk