Chris Burton and Ingrid Klimke win at Le Lion

Rain, what rain?? Chris Burton takes another big win to finish 2016 on a roll at Le Lion d'Angers

On Saturday I was idly musing how similar Chris Burton and Ingrid Klimke look on a horse on cross country. Obviously they both compete in white but it was more they way they ride their horses and partner with them; as it turns out they are both, maybe not surprisingly, this year’s Champions at the FEI WBFSH World Breeding Eventing Championships for Young Horses at Le Lion d’Angers

In the 6 Year Old Championship the leader throughout the event, Kai-Steffen Meier on the lovely stallion Painter’s Maxim dropped two rails, as did his wife Lara on Ducati D’Arville to finish in fourth and sixth places. Izzy Taylor also had one rail but maintained her third place, leaving it open for Australia’s Chris Burton on Fire Fly and Switzerland’s Felix Vogg on Mathurin V/D Vogelzan to move into first and second places with clear rounds

Ingrid Klimke and Weisse Duene

In the 7 Year Old Championship Ingrid Klimke also sealed the win with a clear round on Weisse Duene and, although Pippa Funnell had two rails down on Billy Walk On, they held second place thanks to a strong performance in the dressage and cross country phases. It was a close thing however with New Zealand’s Jonelle Price riding Cooley Showtime finishing with a clear round on 47.3, just 0.3 penalties behind Pippa for third place. France’s Tom Carlile riding Vassily De Lassos and Astier Nicolas on Vinci De La Vigne also on 47.3 for fourth and fifth places

But as the say, a picture tells a 1,000 words so let’s recap the day with Libby Law’s photos and plenty more to come in our galleries ....

Full results here