Hot to trot
Burghley is the first five-star start for British rider Kate Shapland (22) who is based at the Yorkshire Riding Centre as a freelance rider but hails from Somerset.
She left home after leaving school, in search of training and facilities. Since then she has been a groom, second rider, HGV driver and breaker, while working in yards such as Millie Dumas, Caroline Harris, Christopher Burton and Sydney Dufresne.
She rides Uris Cavalier, (AKA Little Libby) owned by herself and Judith Shapland, a 14-year-old mare by Uranium du Houssoit out of Smoothstep Cavalier. She stands at just 15.2hh and has been brought through the grades by Kate. She was bought for £5,000 from a breakers yard when Kate was 14 and Libby was six.
“She was hot to trot in there, that’s for sure,” said Kate after her dressage test where the pair scored 38.7. “When she sees white dressage boards I swear she thinks she’s in the start box. I actually really enjoyed it though, the atmosphere in the arena was amazing and you could hear a pin drop when we were doing our test – it was unreal.”
Kate and Libby finished seventh in the under-25 CCI4* - L at Bramham this year and Kate is hoping to complete here at Burghley:
“Cross-country is her thing,” she admitted. “She took to it like a duck to water from the very first time I took her cross-country schooling so I’m looking forward to Saturday.