Our cross country videos have become a big hit, not only with riders and owners buying their cross country individual rounds to review and re-live their rides but also with many people who just love watching them
In 2016 we introduced a new, easy to search system. Simply put the name of any horse or rider into the Cross Country Search Box at the bottom of any page on our website and you will find the corresponding videos
So which were our top ten most viewed videos in 2016? Here they all are and there may be a few little surprises in there ......
If you think it would only be the top international riders who score lots of views, you might be interested to know that there are some less well known amateur riders who obviously have lots of followers. But the Number 1 was one of the biggest names in eventing and everyone was delighted to see him back in early 2016
Number 1
So, which horse and rider was our top viewed combination in 2016? It came as little surprise to us that it was William Fox-Pitt riding Parklane Hawk at the Barefoot Estates Burnham Market International in April 2016
William’s return to competition after a life threatening fall at Le Lion d’Angers in October 2015 saw him come home safely after two clear but steady rides around the cross country on his two 4* winning horses Cool Mountain and Parklane Hawk
“They are both old pros and literally carried me round – I only had to hold on,” said William at the time “It's a great relief to finish in one piece and feeling good.”
As we now know, William went on to represent Britain in Rio later in the year on Chilli Morning, but the highlight of the year for us was watching him ride again at this first competition. It must have been a nervous time for William (and his family) but you would never know it from watching this cross country round
William’s popularity and everyone’s joy at seeing back in the saddle again made this our top viewed video by a big margin and it’s still great to watch! Watch William and Parklane Hawk here
Number 2
Hazel Shannon, the quiet achiever that took out the CCI4* at the Australian International 3 Day Event, shot into second place of our most viewed videos late in the year. Hazel and Clifford had enjoyed a very good year in 2016 and topped it off with a big win which saw her finish in 21st place on the FEI World Eventing Rankings
The girl that was brought up in far North Queensland and has been eventing for just six years started the competition in second place after the dressage, added only 0.4 time penalties on cross country and jumped clear on the final day. Clifford literally took the bit between his teeth to move into the lead during the cross country when the cheek piece on one side of his bridle broke, making the ride even more exciting
“I wasn’t exactly sure when it happened but about one third before the end of the course I noticed that the cheek piece of my bridle was flapping. So the cheek piece wasn’t attached to the bit and the bit wasn’t being held in his mouth by anything but my rein on that side. So I thought – okay, do not let go of the reins and do not do a crest release over any jump, whatever you do!”
Clifford’s normal galloping style is a little on the forehand, which Hazel describes as ‘not ideal but it doesn’t stop him from doing the job’, on this occasion was a saving grace “I just let him lean on the contact so the bit would stay in his mouth. There were a few moments but it worked thank god!”
Watch how they jumped the 4* course in Adelaide and see if you can spot the flapping cheek piece! It’s hard to see but, using slow motion on the original footage, we can see the cheek piece flapping at Fence 26AB although we’re still not sure where it first happened
Number 3
Right up in third place is another amateur rider, Tamsin Drew, who leads a busy life juggling her London base career, riding and managing the popular #TwitterEventing group.
Tamsin returned to riding in 2010 after a 14 year riding break and moved up to Novice level thanks to her great schoolmaster, Captain but in late 2015 a new young horse, the now eight year old Gorsehill Ziggy came into her life
Tamsin and Gorsehill Ziggy finished seventh in the Novice Section J at Keysoe (1) in April, having added just two time penalties on cross country and one show jump rail to their dressage score. This cross country round was the third most viewed video in 2016 - we love how bold Ziggy is through the water, all the ‘good boys’ and the huge hug at the very end!
Watch Tamsin and Ziggy's cross country ride here
Number 4
There are two very big eventing names at the pointy end of our countdown and Bettina Hoy is one of them, in fourth place. Bettina had her first major 3* win for a few years in the CCI3* at the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials on Seigneur Medicott and also made history by being the first German winner of this class.
It was a very wet day with trying conditions and no-one made the optimum time; only Andrew Nicholson came close with 0.4 time penalties and another speed demon, Oliver Townend did it with two time penalties.
Bettina had to survive a couple of sticky moments but she rode as if her life depended on it, coming home with just 8.4 time penalties “I went as fast as I could – I couldn’t have gone any faster and, with a young horse like him, you have to sometimes put an extra stride to give them time to realise what they have to do”
The next day Seigneur Medicott showed how well he had pulled up from the exertions in the wet conditions by jumping his first ever clear show jumping round at this level to take the win and making Bettina a very happy woman!
After her cross country ride, Chris Bartle said to Bettina “You’re a star, you rode every bit of every fence” and indeed she did. Watch how she did it here
Number 5
So far we have had two Olympic medallists, a European medallist, a show jumper turned eventer and an amateur eventer. In fifth place we once again celebrate grass roots eventing with a rider we have to admit we had never heard of until checking our stats
Viviane Pendleton riding Kate’s Touch at Rockingham Castle finished 44th in the CIC2*which we think is pretty darn good for an amateur rider who (from what we can glean through Google) is a full time lawyer based in central London.
At first we wondered if this might be Victoria Pendleton’s sister, hence the number of hits, but after a little stalking on TwitterEventing we discovered why Viviane may be popular on social media with some classic posts that made us laugh a lot e.g.
“Groom-less of Barbury Horse Trials seeks caring, devoted partner for exclusive relationship on Sat 9th and preferably also Fri 8th July. Unattractive fake blonde with zero wealth or prospects and shit car, hoping to meet unlike-minded individual to help with horse who's always placed last and two badly-behaved small children. Exposure to general chaos and dirty nappies guaranteed. Please could anyone help...?”
“HORSEHEATH HORSE TRIALS WERE DISHING OUT FREE CAKE!!!! I don't care that I forgot my dressage test and tried to fall off in the showjumping. Or that my daughter fell asleep face first in a xylophone”
Viviane – we really must interview you this season! In the meantime, let’s watch you and Kate’s Touch at Rockingham and we’re cheering you over every fence!
Number 6
Well, she may not have won the CIC3* at the Australian International 3 Day Event but Megan Jones certainly won the hearts and minds of the Australian eventing fraternity!
Megan finished second to the visiting British rider Oliver Townend but the local Olympic medallist scored high on our Most Watched Video List. Megan had already been around the course once on Kirby Park Invader but in a ‘blonde moment’ had missed Fence 13 – she made no such mistake on Kirby Park Impress to come home with the fastest time of the class
“I must get the numpty award for 2016!” laughed Megan about the mistake on her first horse “My next horse was awesome even though I was nervous about going out and missing that fence again!”
“I was able to cut inside some lines, inside some trees to try and make up some time. It’s so hard to do at Adelaide because of how it is roped but you can cut some corners occasionally”
If you want to know how to ride those lines and come home fast at Adelaide, watch Megan and Kirby Park Impress here
Number 7
Andrew Barnett started his first ever Adelaide as the number one rider and finished it as the winner of the CCI2* on Bradgate Park Dante. The pair had a very good season leading up to Adelaide but Andrew has not been eventing for that long, having started his career as a show jumper then turned to eventing to keep his wife’s (Tarsha Hammond) horses ticking over whilst she had children. It doesn’t look as if Tarsha will be getting them back!
Andrew and the 10 year old gelding started in fifth place after the dressage but they added nothing to that score of 45.90 despite Bradgate Park Dante tiring a little on cross country
“He’s always been just a little fighter” said Andrew of his young chestnut horse that is an unusual breeding cross of Appoloosa and warmblood “About the seven minute marker he just died a bit so I gave him a kick and away he went again”
You can watch Andrew and Bradgate Park Dante’s cross country video from Adelaide here
Number 8
Bubby (Isabelle) Upton made the move from ponies to horses in 2015 and she hasn’t looked back since. She had great success in pony eventing, winning Team and Individual silver at the 2014 FEI European Pony Eventing Championships on Alfie XI but her long legs forced the move to horses in 2015.
In 2016 she had a good year on her three horses, Fernhill Rock Star, DHI Topper and Eros DHI but it was her nine year old grey horse Eros DHI that earned her eighth place on our most viewed list.
Bubby and Eros DHI finished eighth in the Open Intermediate Under 21 at Cholmondeley Castle where they started on a very good dressage score of 29.3 but two rails in the show jumping cost them dearly. Their cross country ride however was a joy to watch with some good riding by Bubby at the very spooky blue water of Cholmondeley!
You can watch Bubby and Eros DHI’s cross country video from Cholmondeley here
Number 9
Vicky Melia and her nine year old grey gelding Handel’s Messiah III finished 24th in the Novice class at Chatsworth International Horse Trials in 2016. They started on a dressage score of 43.3 and added eight faults in the show jumping but their cross country ride was a cracker, adding no jumping or time penalties to finish on 51.30
29 year old Vicky hails from South Yorkshire where she works at her own livery yard, Springwood Equestrian as Yard Manager and instructor. Handel’s Messiah is a 16.1hh ex race horse that was purchased by Vicky as a four year old and she began eventing him as a 5 year old. On her sponsor’s website LD Equestrian Vicky says
"My greatest achievement with Handel’s Messiah would have to be competing at Chatsworth Horse Trials earlier this season. Although, it was only at Novice level (something me and Andy had done many times) it has always been a venue I have wanted to compete at. I have never competed at a venue with such a large atmosphere and neither had Andy. He made the whole day a complete dream come true for me, soaking in the all the atmosphere of the Show Jumping ring and flying round the Cross Country! "
Vicky obviously wasn’t the only one to enjoy the ride and, although an amateur rider who only started eventing in 2012, she certainly has made her mark on our video stats!
You can watch Vicky and Handels Messiah’s cross country video from Chatsworth International here
Number 10
While Chris Burton may be one of the household names in eventing with an incredibly successful year in 2016 – bronze silver team medallist in Rio, winner of the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, Belton CIC3* and the 6 Year Old Young Horse Championships at Le Lion d’Angers to name just a few – the horse in this video is a little well less known.
Chris won the BE100 at the South of England International on one of his future superstars, Calibre Royale (then named Cyprian). Calibre Royale is not only obviously talented but is also a stallion that is attracting a lot of attention as a potential ‘daddy’ and this may be reflected in the number of views that this video is getting, just toppling the USA’s Clark Montgomery riding Loughan Glen at Belton International in 11th place
No wonder Chris says that “I enjoy riding him so much that Bek has to sometimes step in and remind me to give him a day off!” - just watch how this horse jumps!
Watch Chris and Calibre Royal at South of England International (2)
