Charlotte and Manor Missile at The Maltings at Burghley
27 year old amateur rider Charlotte Brear captured our hearts at this year’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials with her horse Manor Missile.
The half-Shire Manor Missile (by the thoroughbred Honeybrook Siren out of a Shire mare) was given to Charlotte as a 21st birthday present and the now 27-year-old has produced him from a foal to four-star level.
“He’s my only horse,” said Leeds-based Charlotte, who works for her family’s business repairing car gear boxes. “My aim with him initially was to compete at Novice level, but he kept stepping up the levels easily, so we kept going.”
The pair completed five three-star competitions in 2015 in order to qualify for Burghley and remarkably they have never incurred a cross-country jumping penalty in their international competition career.
“He’s a bold, honest jumper, so I’m really looking forward to the cross-country. I’ll probably take a few long routes as I won’t be going for the time,” she said after the dressage, which was an experience she will not forget in a hurry. Charlotte walked up to the main arena before her dressage test with William Fox-Pitt (who came out of the arena on Fernhill Pimms as Charlotte went in).
“William said to me that I should be proud just to get this far, whatever happened,” she said. “But it’s all very well him saying that sat on his flashy dressage horse while I’m on a half-Shire!”
Charlotte was nevertheless thrilled with her mark of 64.8.
“Most riders probably wouldn’t be pleased with it, but it’s a good mark for him” she said. “He doesn’t really do flying changes and I know I need to work on them over the winter. I heard the crowd laugh when I did my last one, which I didn’t think was supposed to happen!”
Charlotte straight after her cross country ride at Burghley
They maintained their faultless jumping record on cross country but added time faults and just one rail in the show jumping meant they finished in 40th place, a fantastic achievement for an amateur rider who competes just this one horse and prefers to compete at 4* level ‘for fun’
Charlotte Brear
