Olympic gold medallist Ros Canter leads the charge at Burghley Horse Trials

By Lucy Wilde at Burghley

Ros Canter is determined not to let the ghosts of Burghley past get the better of her as she continues to revel in a fairytale summer, having won gold in the Team Eventing at the Paris Olympics just last month.

The former World Champion did just that when she scored the second best ever dressage score at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials, putting her firmly at the top of the rankings as the one to beat.

Her stellar 2023 season with Izilot Dhi was not without its trials though. The duo won the French 5* at Pau on the stallion’s debut appearance, but Canter was forced to pull the stallion up short at this year’s Badminton Horse Trials after nerves seemed to get the better of him.

Despite this, she’s certain both jockey and horse can rise to the occasion this time out.

“I’ve had a lot of demons, especially when it comes to cross-country riding,” Canter said.

“I don’t know if it’s nerves necessarily but my confidence has got the better of me many times when I was younger and I’ve had to work really hard at that phase and I still do.

“The older I get, the harder I have to work to get that real fighting spirit about it so I’ve got new aims this week and new things I want to work on and practice.”

As far as getting the first event under her belt goes, the Hallington-born jockey seems to have found a way to settle her nerves, perhaps with the benefit of competing on home soil playing to her advantage.

“I’m thrilled with our dressage performance. I’ve been practicing since Luhmühlen having him [Izilot Dhi] a little bit more in self-carriage, he’s always been quite spooky, so I’ve gone with the safety option of having him very secure.

“I’ve also been trying to let him dance like he can. That’s been my aim, to be up another level, and I think we achieved that today but there is another gear in there.

“There’s definitely more to come but he was fantastic and I’m very excited.”

Having competed on the world’s biggest sporting stage, the Olympics, this year, Canter knows a thing or two about the unpredictability of equestrian eventing, but knows how to hold her nerve when it counts.

“I stick off social media on times like this and try not to look at what other people are saying,” she said, explaining how she reverts to tried and tested methods to dispel any pre-competition anxiety.

“These are my horses, they’re the horses I know, and they’re fantastic. They’re not particularly easy so it’s a two-way partnership, we’ve both got to get things right, but when you’re going out there to be competitive things can look seamless or unravel quickly, so we’ll just be giving it our best shot.”

While producing a performance she can be proud of is high on the 28-year-old’s priority list, Canter is also making sure she soaks up the warmth of the Burghley buzz.

“The atmosphere here is so lovely. It’s very horse friendly - the area where the horses live is very peaceful and very safe, they could be at home. The whole atmosphere is peaceful but exciting at the same time.”

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