Every year, at nearly every major event I report on, there’s Tiana Coudray – plugging away, producing her horses, a smile on her face and head groom and business partner Annabelle James by her side. Regardless of the result, regardless of the hurdles that come her way, she keeps on showing up, and always, always does so looking like she can’t quite believe her luck that this is her life; that she gets to spend every day putting in the grunt work of making horses tick and making a business run.
But it’s that latter point that’s so often been her primary heartbreak: to make a business work, without substantial financial backing, she so often finds herself having to sell horses she really believes in – and more importantly, really and truly loves – to make sure the bills are paid, the feed room is stocked, and another season can be undertaken. One such case in point is here this week – Harry Meade’s ride Cavalier Crystal, with whom Tiana won the 2015 Burghley Young Event Horse Five-Year-Old Final, and who she always knew would become the kind of five-star horse who’d pull out clear inside the time after clear inside the time over the toughest courses in the world. Now, bittersweet, she gets to watch that dream come true – but it’s another rider in the irons. Such is life; such is business. But it never gets any easier.
The now-sixteen-year-old Cancaras Girl is one horse who’s never left her stable, despite being bought as an impulse purchase from a Facebook ad, and always intended as a lower-level resale project.
The universe sometimes has a funny way of setting things right. Cancaras Girl – or Nana at home, because she’s like a sweet old lady in her rocking chair – never sold, because she struggled with the first phase and wasn’t a naturally flashy horse. Today, she became the day one leader at Badminton after delivering her personal best across all FEI levels of 28.1.
Even then, Tiana reckons they left a few marks on the table.
“It’s absolutely her best in terms of her strength and the quality of her work,” she concedes, “but to be honest, there were quite a few little mistakes, which is, in a way, disappointing – but it’s also even more exciting, because it should be that much better again. She does keep getting better: year after year, month after month, she gets stronger, she gets more presence.”
Three years ago, she remembers, Nana “was phenomenal and did a career best [a 29.8] here. And I was just so proud of her. But I think she had so much more about her in there today, even with the mistakes.”
A highlight in the pair’s test was the mare’s flying changes, which came up like clockwork and earned her plenty of 8s and even a 9.
“I’m lucky — they’ve always been her highlight,” says Tiana. “So it was a real positive when we got her to Advanced and then to five-star, where she’s got four in a test. Dare I say, we actually sort of messed up our first one a bit today – she locked on to the cross-country jump and came off the aids. So that’s one of the places where potentially she could have another nine. It’s really exciting, and I’m really glad that they rewarded what we felt was was happening.”
Of the diminutive little mare, who makes her sixth five-star start this week, she says, “we call her Nana because she’s just this sort of demure, sweet little girl — she doesn’t need another horse in the world; she barely needs her people, and that’s only to serve her. She’s very sort of happy in herself. Nothing’s a fuss, nothing’s a drama. She’s just a pleasure to have. She shows up here, and she’s the same horse in the stable here as she is at home. She’s as fussy as you like: we do have to really work to keep feed she likes and to tend to her every need, but she doesn’t do drama — she’s just a really good girl.”
No man, nor horse nor woman nor five-star competitor of any variety is an island, and the long journey to rebuild Nana from a lower-level showjumper in Scotland to a five-star event horse has been helped along by a lot of people – and an awful lot of love and patience.
“We’ve had huge help, and we have a phenomenal team behind us – physios, vets, trainers, just developing that strength,” says Tiana, who’s been based in the UK since coming over for the London Olympics back in 2012 with then-top horse Ringwood Magister. “She really pleases me because she proves that correct training does develop a horse. She wasn’t a flashy mover, and no, she didn’t do a good test as a young horse. But if you keep training and keep training, the theory of it is, it’s supposed to make them stronger and more supple and more athletic, and she really proves that. I have huge help behind me to do that, but it’s just been chipping away and chipping away and letting her develop in her own time.”
A lot of time and plenty of effort to get to this: the overnight leader at Badminton today, no matter what happens from here on out.
“You can’t put words to it,” says Tiana, her eyes brimming with tears. “A few years ago when she went into third overnight on Thursday night, I was floods of tears because I couldn’t believe that this little horse had done that. I’m going to cry again! To go in the lead at Badminton is a pipe dream; to be at Badminton is a dream. I had a little tear putting her on the lorry for her third Badminton, thinking that was pretty darn special, seeing as she was only supposed to be a project we were going to sell. There’s no words for it — it’s the sort of stuff you dream of as a kid.”
And what does Nana mean to her? It’s this question that uncorks her – the girl who’s just always loved her horses, and has had to say goodbye to so many of them, and so often, her dreams along with them.
“I’ve had some very special horses, and I hope further in my career I’ll continue to have some really special horses. But I had a long period of not having a top horse and having to sell all my good horses, and I had kind of resigned myself that I might not get back to top level again. And you know, she’s the one that got me back here, and so she will forever be possibly the most special horse, for keeping my career going.”
“I probably would have been slightly pissed off or disappointed if I wasn’t [in the press conference tonight],” laughs Will Rawlin, who met his own expectations with a 29.3 aboard Ballycoog Breaker Boy for second place overnight.
That betters his 30.6 here last year and doesn’t quite beat his 28.8 at Burghley – but the overall picture of the pair’s work looks even better established this year and Will, for his part, now rides with the air of someone who has all the time in the world to enjoy each movement.
“I feel ‘William’ and I are at the stage now where we can start contesting those top positions,” says Will, never once acknowledging the fact that having the same name as his horse is a logistical nightmare for journalists everywhere.
“I’ve been absolutely over the moon with how he’s been working over the last couple of days here – I really feel, even from Burghley last year, we’ve stepped it up again,” he continues. “There’s still even more in there: I thought that he came down the centre line and sort of slightly grabbed hold of the bit. I was like, ‘hey, just relax, breathe’.”
“He’s very sensitive horse, and he can feel me, so if I keep myself relaxed, then I’d like to think it follows through to him,” he continues. “And there are a few things in there, like my first shoulder-in was a bit diabolical, and my last change, but overall, I just felt the picture and the feeling that I had underneath me was fantastic.”
Where’s the eyes emoji when you need it, amiright?
Interviewing Will today was something of a fraught experience: just a couple of meters behind us, his enormous army of supporters was celebrating his excellent test at top volume, making communicating with him through anything other than interpretive dance well-nigh impossible.
“I’m hugely lucky,” he says (we think). “I’ve got something called the WRE Experience [a micro-syndicate style group of eventing enthusiasts], and I’ve got an amazing group of people that come and support us. We’re only forty or fifty minutes up the road, so we’ve got the home team here too, and my sister flew in from Sydney two days ago. So yeah, I’m very grateful, very lucky to have the team that I’ve got here with me.”
Morning leaders Bubby Upton and Cola III remain on the podium in third place on their score of 29.8, while Georgie Goss and Feloupe move from morning second to overnight fourth on their 30.8.
Two years ago, Irish amateur and one-horse rider Lucy Latta became the eventing world’s new favourite character when she blitzed to a surprise second place finish in her five-star debut here aboard RCA Patron Saint.
Now she’s back with a bang, and ready to show off everything she and her longtime partner have learned in the two seasons since – starting with a nearly five-point improvement on the 36.8 they began on in 2024. Today, they finish the day in a smart fifth place provisionally, and on a score of 31.9 that well eclipses their two previous tests at the level.
“I’m delighted,” beams Lucy. “He gave me everything he had in there. He was really rideable, and he handled the atmosphere really well, so I’m really pleased.”
One big change she’s made since her last trip here is the switch from a snaffle bridle in this phase to a double.
“He’s quite a big horse, and then I’m quite a small person, and sometimes he can get a bit worried in the atmosphere, so that just helps to keep him soft,” she explains. “But he really held his cool today. This is his third five star now, so he’s getting more comfortable and familiar with these big arenas – he was super cool.”
When it all comes together, she continues, “he’s really capable and has some lovely changes in him. It’s just about the quality of the canter for him, and towards the end of the test, I slightly lost him a little bit, so the change was off the aid and a little bit late. But he was super for the rest of them, and very rideable. So I’m thrilled.”
Lucy, who’s recently taken a career sabbatical from her marketing job at boozy seltzer peddler White Claw – “it’s probably only for a short time, but this guy is fifteen now, and I wanted to take a bit of time to enjoy him and enjoy a few more five-stars” – is enjoying a relatively straightforward run into her third five-star start.
“He’s in really good nick,” she says. “He’s come through this kind of training block for this five star really, really well. Last year was a tricky year – he had a colic as we arrived at Burghley, so that was horrible. And then he got a bad cut just before Badminton last year [which forced us to withdraw], so he had a bit of a rotten eight or ten months. But since then, it’s been — touch wood — very smooth sailing. He feels really good, muscle-wise, everything-wise, mentally, he’s great, and I’m happy.”
Morning campaigners Sarah Bullimore and Corimiro move to sixth overnight on their score of 32.1, and fellow pre-lunch-breakers (we’ll workshop this) Tom Jackson and United 36 are seventh overnight on 32.2.
China’s Alex Hua Tian slots into provisional eighth with the sixteen-year-old former Polly Stockton ride Chicko, with whom he placed in the top six at Pau in both 2025 and 2024, and with whom he started – though didn’t finish – here last year.
That wasn’t through any fault of either horse or rider, mind you: midway through the course, Alex dislocated his shoulder, and despite gamely trying to shove it back into its socket without dismounting, he had to put his hand up a few fences later.
“Last year was a bit of a surprise, because that shoulder hadn’t been out for ages, and I’d had the other one operated on,” he says. “I was probably not quite ready post-op, wasn’t quite strong enough, whereas I feel so much better this year coming into it.”
The last year has looked like “a lot of physio – I changed physios over the winter, and put a lot of work into it. I think I will have to get my left shoulder operated on at some point, but I’m really trying very hard to put that off as long as I can, hopefully until after the LA Olympics, because with the other one it was probably six months before I was riding properly after the operation.”
Yikes! Yuck! No thanks! There were no problems for the pair at Pau in October, though, and certainly no issues today when they put a 32.8 on the scoreboard: yes, technically their PW (Personal Worst, cute!) at the level, but actually a very nice, if slightly conservative test.
“I’m really thrilled with Chico,” says Alex. “He’s such a tryer. He isn’t the most talented in this phase, but he really goes in and tries to do his job – sometimes a little bit too hard. And today I really felt like he was with me; he was trying hard, he was relaxed enough.”
So, he continues, “I’m a little bit annoyed with myself. I could have maybe taken a few more risks and had his ears a bit more up and just gone for it, but I’m happy.”
Crowd favourites Kylie Roddy and SRS Kan Do were, like many of their fellow competitors, a mark or two worse off than usual – but their mistake-free 32.9 still keeps them in a competitive ninth place overnight.
“I was really pleased with him,” says Kylie of the now 16-year-old Irish-bred gelding, who she rides for the Fox family. “I just tried to over-straighten the shoulder on the last centre line. Anyway, it is the way it is. But everywhere else, he tried really hard. To be honest, he was listening to me the whole way through – I let him down.”
This is George’s ninth five-star, and his fourth crack at this event – a competition that’s previously been plagued by little bits of bad luck, including the loss of both front shoes on course in 2022, which forced Kylie to retire in the middle of a smart clear round. At the age of sixteen, and with plenty of experience under his belt now, he’s certainly not settling into a same-old, same-old sort of rhythm.
“It’s really difficult, isn’t it? Each year they come here, they kind of know what they’re coming for. So he was wild at Kelsall Hill — he knew what was happening. I had to get off and take my spurs off in the warm-up for the dressage. But then actually, when you’re at one of these [three-days], we can get enough riding into them. That’s where they start to become more and more ridable with the athleticism. We can do all of the things that the horses need to provide to be top level athletes. So he feels great – he feels better than ever.”
British Open Champions Katie Magee and Treworra, who were fifth at the lunchbreak, now round out the top ten at the close of play on their score of 33.3.
British-based US rider Cosby Green and her remaining ride, the eighteen-year-old Jos UFO de Quidam – intended second ride Highly Suspicious was withdrawn earlier this week – find themselves in sixteenth place at the end of day one after a workmanlike test earned them a 34.9 this morning.
That bright and early start, before the crowds start to appear, worked out perfectly for the evergreen chestnut, who finished in the top ten on his five-star debut at Luhmühlen last year but isn’t always the most straightforward ride in this phase.
“I think I lucked out on the Thursday morning draw,” says Cosby with a grin. “But [even then], it’s just something so special to be in that arena. There’s just no place like it. It just gives you the chills trotting in.”
Her fellow British-based compatriot Cassie Sanger, who piloted Redfield Fyre to a 37.5 and provisional 21st, is also doing her best to soak in the magic of competing here – even more so because it’s her debut at this venue.
“It’s hard when I’m on my horse; I try and kind of keep my head down and focus and not start gazing around too much, but I am also trying to enjoy every step,” she says. “I came two years ago to watch when I came over on the European Development Tour with the US. That year, I went to Bramham, but after coming to watch, I’ve kind of had my heart set on coming here ever since.”
Cassie, who’s based with Ros Canter in Lincolnshire, delivered a test today that showed moments of increased elevation and push considerably beyond what the horse has necessarily previously been able to produce.
“I’m thrilled with him,” she beams. “I’ve been working really hard with Ros, and with Ian and Amy Woodhead, on the flat with him, and the quality of his work in the trot work and even the canter has improved so much. The collection isn’t easy for him, but he’s just gotten so much better and so much stronger. In a five-star test like this, with four changes that are still coming along, you can only do so much, but he just tried really hard for me, and I feel like the quality is really going to start to come through.”
Riding at Badminton for the first time – or any time at all, frankly – is the sort of thing that keeps competitors awake at night and overthinking things for weeks in the lead-up, but Cassie hasn’t had that luxury: she’s wrapping up her junior year of a Journalism degree at the University of Richmond in Virginia, and as the clocked ticked down to departure day for the big event, so too did the deadline for her final work of the year.
“I actually just submitted all my finals on Monday night before I got here,” she laughs. “I was really needing to get them done before I came here – I was like, ‘I probably shouldn’t be focusing on too many things!’”
Flying back and forth regularly to work on her degree in the US and her riding career in the UK wasn’t always meant to be the long-term plan, she tells us: “When I first came over to Ros I got the Wilton Fair Grant [from the USEA Foundation], so that’s what enabled me to come over. Then I was really supposed to leave last December, because Richmond does a Study Abroad programme, and I was able to do it online that semester, which allowed me to be over here in that period. [But when it came to an end] I just could not give up this opportunity with Ros, and she wanted me to stay, and I wanted to stay, and so we’ve made it work. She’s helped me then be able to travel back and forth to school. It’s a lot of moving parts!”
It’s doubtless a tough balance to strike, but Cassie views it as a blessing rather than a hindrance.
“My parents are my biggest supporters, and they didn’t make me go to university – it was kind of a choice I made,” she says. “I think you do need a rounded life in this sport, because everyone knows the highs and lows are daily, you can have a great day one day and the next can be awful. My friends and my support crew at school just keep me grounded and give me a different perspective on it all.”
And so we come to the end of day one of dressage at the 2026 MARS Badminton Horse Trials – a sweetener ahead of a busy few days in the pipeline. We’ll return at 10.00 a.m. tomorrow (5.00 a.m. EST), and once again, Harry Meade will get us underway – this time, with the delicious Annaghmore Valoner, with whom he’s twice been fourth at Burghley (and won Bramham’s CCI4*-L two years ago, but who’s counting). We’ll also get an early showing from reigning champions Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo, who take to the stage at 10.48 a.m. (5.48 a.m. EST). You can peruse the rest of the running order here and get your viewing sessions blocked out nice and early, and then scoot on over to Badminton TV to ensure you’re ready to go for another day in paradise. We’ll be back with more reporting from the ground – until then, Go Eventing.
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