British based Australian eventer, Christopher Burton took first place in the CCI*** of Saumur, riding Santano – his ‘dresssage’ horse (the Hanoverian gelding is by Sandro Hit out of a Brentano II / Weltmeyer mare). The win is a good omen for Christopher who was 1st and 2nd at Saumur with Haruzac and Leilani, in the run up to the London Games. Christopher led from start to finish, adding just one time on the cross country, and one rail in the showjumping to his dressage score of 40.2.
It seems Saumur is happy hunting ground for you?
“It is, it has been a good place to us, I’m happy to have done so well there again. It is obviously a lot more relaxed at Saumur than Badminton, but Pierre Michelet built a tough course, I thought. Okay I was riding a first-time three-star horse, but it was very tough. He’s found a new hill through the woods, and the ground was a little bit holding and tiring, and there were some very tough questions right at the end. I was super pleased with the way my young horse galloped, and the way he responded.”
Who does that make as your front runner for Rio?
“You like asking me difficult questions. I don’t know, it will be up to the selectors in terms of what they need for the team – hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to be selected. Of course this has been a good performance and we’ve always considered him a good Rio horse but of course things can change. Who knows, I might not be selected at all.”
Santano – Chris’ dressage horse
Realistically Rio is not going to be the toughest course you’ve ever ridden, it’s not going to be a Badminton or a Burghley, is Santano the sort of horse you’d like to take to a tough two star?
“You might be right, he has always looked to us like an Olympic horse but we always keep saying one day we might be in for a shock, we’ll turn up at an Olympics and it will be a proper four-star, but they do often make it a kinder track for the sake of the public. So in that regard, he is outstanding on the flat, and a very good jumper, so he could make a good contender.”
I might have to concede that Sandro Hits are not useless…
“It’s so funny, while they all seem to be black and beautiful, they do seem to be quite a mix of natures. But you know me, I’m not too fussed by breeding – I get my horse, and I ride my horse and if it feels right, that’s all that matters to me. This one has always been a jumper. Interestingly there was another horse there with similar breeding that ran out of petrol, but our one galloped right to the end. He was unbelievable.”
After Badminton things weren’t looking so wonderful for Australia, maybe things are looking up now…
“Of course, I was disappointed after Badminton (Christopher was eliminated on the cross country with Nobilis after a good dressage test) – it just shows that things can always go wrong. To be honest, I don’t think it was all bad. Sam Griffiths having a 20 on his beautiful mare, Paulank Brockagh, was very unlucky, she would have a 20 on her card, she has hardly ever had a cross country penalty, so all that is going to do it focus them up, to put a little more emphasis on the cross country, and I’ll tell you now, she’ll jump a clear round at Rio. It might just have been the wakeup we need, and I still believe we can be strong when we get there.”
Photos: Eventing Photo
Each Rider of the Month receives a prize supplied by IAHP.
This month, the Rider of the Month receives a 30g tube of Protexin Paste
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To read more articles with Christopher, head to his who’s who page: