Thomas relishing return to Defender Burghley Horse Trials

By Ben Hart

Emma Thomas is struggling to contain her excitement for this year’s Defender Burghley Horse Trials a year on from a dazzling debut display which changed her life.

Thomas, 25, finished 18th at the 5* event in just her second year of full-time eventing on board Icarus X, with the pair set to link up again next week in Stamford.

Thomas continued her upward trajectory when winning the under-25s championship at the Bramham 4* event earlier this summer, marking the latest checkpoint in a whirlwind journey to the top level of the sport.

“Burghley completely changed my life,” said Thomas. “I've had to scale up my business quite dramatically, because when that level of interest comes in, you need to go with it.

“The horse was very inexperienced to go there and he almost blew his brains a little bit. So over the summer, I had to strip everything away and almost start again.

“I feel like it's built back up so much better this time and it's really exciting. He had a brilliant prep run at Blair [Castle International] when he was eighth in the 4* so I really feel like we're hitting the ground running, but my life has completely changed.”

Burghley will always hold a special place in Thomas’ heart, not just for the financial benefits stemming from her result last year but also the mental shift the event precipitated.

“My confidence levels afterwards were just completely different,” she said. “Before Burghley last year, I struggled a little bit with imposter syndrome and felt that it was all a fluke that I ever did well.

“Off the back of Burghley I thought I must be a little bit good at this and actually it just allowed me to see myself as more of a competitor.

“The way I perceive myself in the sport has completely changed.

“From a business point of view, I had four or five horses before Burghley last year. I didn't really have any owners, just because I hadn’t managed to attract any.

“The yard I was renting, I only had five boxes, and immediately after Burghley, I had lots of people interested in either buying shares of horses that I already had or sending horses for training or competing.

“I had to move my business twice just to keep up with the expansion, so that's been quite hectic over the winter. I now have probably triple the amount of clients that I did before, so that's triple the amount of paying customers, it's incredible.”

Confidence can be a powerful motivator and after a successful summer for Great Britain’s equestrian teams at Paris 2024, Thomas isn’t ruling out a future Olympic push.

“I never expected to be an event rider. I just never thought I'd get anywhere close,” added Thomas.

“Watching the Olympics this summer, it's quite a long way away but it's not that far out of reach, that’s how I feel now.

“That's the aim, that's the gold standard, so that's what we have to aim for now, because I really want to get there.”

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