Sonja and Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison flying around the cross country at Aachen
Western Australia’s Sonja Johnson will be staying in the UK to compete at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in September
Sonja and the 16 year old thoroughbred Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison (Ben) owned by Nikki Harwood will be tackling the CCI4* at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials from 1st-4th September for the first time in their career together. Sonja and Ben flew to the UK in July and, although disappointed to not be selected on the team for Rio, they will still be heading back to Australia with a gold medal from Australia’s win in the FEI Nations Cup at Aachen
Sonja and Ben finished fourth at the 2015 Australian International 3 Day Event in Adelaide adding only 1.2 time cross country time penalties to their dressage score; renowned for their bold and accurate cross country they will no doubt relish the challenges to be set by Captain Mark Phillips this year
As the entries for Burghley continue to come in Sonja joins her Aachen team mates Chris Burton (currently entered with Nobilis 18 and TS Jamaimo) and Shane Rose (currently entered with CP Qualified, Shanghai Joe and Virgil) on the list along with other Australian riders Sam Griffiths (Happy Times), Andrew Hoy (Rutherglen and The Blue Frontier), Bill Levett on Improvise and Paul Tapner on Vanir Kamira and Up In The Air
