Did we film you in 2018? Just put a rider or horse name in the Cross Country Search Box here to find out
Once again, the ladies really dominate the Top 10 of our cross country watched on An Eventful Life website (don't forget you can also view some of our videos on our Facebook and YouTube video channels)
In the last two years the winners have varied greatly from a grassroots competitor Zoe Traherne and Lavalla Jimmy in the BE90 at Oasby (1) in 2017 to one of the world's top riders, William Fox-Pitt returning to competition at Burnham Market after serious injury, in our 2016 countdown
So who will be on top this year?
There are certainly some classy professionals in this year’s top 10 whose videos are not only great to watch but instructional as well (check out Bubby Upton's fascinating talk through of her ride at Belton International to learn from one of the up and coming stars) but once again the amateur riders have shown that they love their videos and that lots of their friends, family and coaches love them too!
The Top 10 videos cover a wide range of classes, from BE90 up to CCI4* and just one male rider made the Top 10. Check back each day over the next four days to see how the Top 10 unfolds ........
Number 1
Alice Goring
Big drum roll! The 2018 most viewed XC Video on our website is that of Alice Goring and The Little Frenchman riding the Advanced course at Aston-Le-Walls (3) in 2018
Amateur eventing rider Alice balances riding and competing with a full-time job in Osteoporosis Research but that doesn’t seem to hold her back. In 2007 she won the Horse & Hound Amateur Rider of the Year and in 2018 she has continued to impress on board her 13-year-old gelding The Little Frenchman
They say that good things come in small packages and this is certainly true of the 5’ 1” Alice and the ‘barely 15h’ The Little Frenchman who stormed around the cross country at Aston-Le-Walls (3) in July. They may not have won the Advanced class but they won our most viewed video of 2018 by a mile and here it is ......
Number 2
Michael Owen
At number two is a video from another very big event - 2018 was the first year that we filmed at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials and we loved it! Our cameras captured different views from that of the usual film cameras and, as always, we filmed all riders on Captain Mark Phillips’ stunning course
Britain’s Michael Owen made the biggest jump into the Top 20 after the cross country with an impressive ride on the 14-year-old gelding Bradeley Law, a horse famous for his Badminton debut in 2016 when, having unseated Michael, Bradeley Law jumped three of the massive fences in the wrong direction on his way back to the stables.
Bradeley Law and Michael certainly didn’t repeat that at Burghley in 2018 where they produced a clear cross country ride with just 7.2 time penalties to move from 65th after the dressage into 23rd and a clear show jumping round put them into 15th place overall
Watch Michael Owen and Bradeley Law at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials here
Number 3
Callum Buczak
Now we’re coming to the pointy end with the top three most viewed videos and for number three we return to Australia – Callum Buczak riding Matavia Cheval at the Australian International 3 Day Event
Callum and the 10-year-old gelding had a clear run across country in the CIC3* and it was also the fastest time of the class with just 1.2 time penalties, helping them to finish in second place overall
Watch Callum Buczak and Matavia Cheval at the Australian International 3 Day Event here
Number 4
Anna Cheney
In at number four is a ‘blast from the past’ with Anna Cheney riding Every Stone in the CIC2* at Aldon International in 2016 proving that amateur riders have as much 'pull power' as the pros!
Anna, an amateur event rider who has competed at Advanced/CIC3* level, currently has some young horses coming up through the levels but it is Every Stone, who Anna last competed in mid-2017, that has proved to be a viewers’ favourite in 2018
Watch Anna Cheney and Every Stone at Aldon International 2016 here
Number 5
Phoebe Buckley
Like Bubby Upton, Phoebe Buckley featured in our 2017 Top Ten, finishing in second place for her ride at Barbury on Custer of the West
This year Phoebe occupies fifth place for the video of her ride on Tiger Mail around Burnham Market International where they finished 21st in the Intermediate. Phoebe was one of the lucky ones to get a run at Burnham Market, one of the events early in the year that was hit hard by the weather resulting in the final day of competition being cancelled due to ground conditions.
It was the first time that competition had ever been cancelled at Burnham but luckily, as you’ll see in Phoebe’s video, the ground was still holding up well for the first two days of competition giving Phoebe and Tiger Mail a good run
Watch Phoebe Buckley and Tiger Mail at Burnham Market International here
Number 6
Ben Way
Our only male rider in this year's top 10, Ben Way may have started his media career at Badminton this year as a presenter for Radio Badminton but he still has a career in eventing firmly in the forefront of his mind (it certainly wasn’t a case of ‘don’t give up the day job’ as Ben was a very good interviewer!)
Ben’s six year old Dutch warmblood gelding is one of his horses for the future who started the year with four top 10 finishes at BE100 level before winning his first Novice start at Keysoe 2 – one to watch in 2019
Watch Ben Way on Hullabaloo at Keysoe (2) 2018 here
Number 7
Tanya Kyle
Although the viewing stats for this Top 10 are based only on views in 2018, it isn’t always the current year’s videos that attract attention – Tanya Kyle and Rock Emperor’s ride around the CIC1* at Chatsworth in 2017 comes in at seventh place.
This was Tanya’s last ride on Rock Emperor as he went on to be ridden by Hong Kong’s Yu Xuan Su, 2017 Asian Games bronze medal winner who is based with Tanya and Mark Kyle at Queensholm Equestrian. We understand that Rock Emperor was recently for sale - could be one to snap up (and maybe why the video is so popular!)
Watch Tanya Kyle and Rock Emperor at Chatsworth International 2017 here
Number 8
Amanda Pottinger
We head from the top of Britain to Down Under in Adelaide for the eighth most watched video featuring New Zealand rider Amanda (Muzi) Pottinger
This great cross country ride put Amanda into pole position to win the CCI4* at the Australian International 3 Day Event but two rails in the show jumping relegated her to second place – still a fantastic achievement at her very first 4* competition
27-year-old Amanda is the daughter of Olympic team bronze medallist Tinks Pottinger and you can see in this video how the cross country skill genes have been passed on!
Watch Amanda Pottinger on Just Kidding at Australian International 3 Day Event 2018 here
Number 9
Iona Campbell
It was our first visit to Floors Castle in Scotland in 2018 and we’re delighted that the beautiful venue for the Floors Castle International Horse Trials has made it into out Top 10 for this year.
Scottish rider Iona Campbell finished 18th in the Open Intermediate Section C on board the nine-year-old gelding Edelwijs II, who is no petite pony at 17.2h! His exuberant jumping almost gets them into trouble at the water but Iona gets herself back into the saddle and quickly calls for the option, giving them a clear jumping round with just 9.6 time penalties
Watch Iona Campbell and Edelwijs II at Floors Castle 2018 here
Number 10
Bubby Upton
In 2017 Bubby Upton had three videos in out Top 10 most viewed with Cola III and Cannavaro stealing the limelight but in 2018 it is her pocket rocket gold medal winning European Championship horse Eros DHI that is star of the stable
Bubby and Eros DHI produced a foot perfect cross country ride at Belton International 2018 to win the CIC2* on their dressage score of 24.9
Bubby also talked us through her winning ride in a separate video, which explains her thoughts as she was on course and how she uses our cross country videos as part of her review and training process as “I find these videos so useful, nothing beats them, to evaluate your round and see if everything went to plan or not to plan”
Watch Bubby Upton and Eros DHI at Belton International 2018 here
Watch Bubby’s ride and listen to her commentary here
