The spirit of Leeds Festival arrived early to Wetherby to get the Defender Bramham International Horse Trials 2026 underway with the first horse inspection for the Defender CCI4*-L, sponsored by British Horse Feeds. Some 51 competitors from six countries came forward under the Ground Jury of Christina Klingspor (SWE – President), Les Smith (GBR) and Andrew Bennie (NZL), all briefed to add ‘a touch of festival’ in their attire – many took it to heart, with some spectacular outfits on show.
Leading British jewellery outlet Hiho Silver once again put each competitor under the spotlight to decide the male and female riders who best answered the brief. Hiho’s Andrew Ransford and Bramham’s Rachel Lane Fox judged Tom Rowland and Selina Miles the winners. Tom went for the casual partygoer look, while Selina dazzled in silver sequins. Well done to both – and all who supported!
Andrew Ransford of HiHo said; “We’ve had a great judging panel Bramham every year with myself, Rachel Lane Fox and her incredible friend Helen. It was Rachel’s idea to combine everything that goes on at Bramham and because of that, the theme was ‘a touch of festival’.
“There were two clear winners for us today. The unbelievable Tom Rowland in the absolutely hilarious get up he’d chosen. Rachel said that at Leeds last year, every single person looked just like that! It was superb.
“Selina won a hot competition from the girls with a sequinned long dress and did a brilliant job. I’m told Rachel Lane has her eye on it!
From my perspective, it was wonderful to see more people ‘got the memo’ this year and we had such a strong showing.”
Preparing the horses to go before the judges is in the hands of the hard-working grooms behind the scenes and today they all excelled themselves, with horses gleaming, neatly on-point plaits and artistic quartermarks all-round. However, it was Stephen Heal’s ride, Hisco, under the ownership of The Knight Syndicate and groomed by Tash Bailey, who was deemed top of the pops by the British Horse Feeds team of judges. Congratulations to Tash – a stunning effort.
Three horses were asked to represent, but subsequently passed, so it’s the full complement of 51 who go through to the next two days of dressage. One of the favourites to take the 2026 title – reigning World Champion Yaz Ingham and Goliath du Loir, owned by The Sue Davies Fund and Janette Chinn – is drawn second to go, so could lay the gauntlet early. Others to watch on Thursday include Selina Miles (Cooley Snapchat, owned by William Rucker), Tom McEwen (Diedre Johnston and Jane Knight’s Quintus) and Piggy March, riding MCS Maverick, owned by the Maidwell Mavericks, who won the event in 2023 with former rider Pippa Funnell. Dressage gets underway at 10:30 in the new-look Defender Arena.
The other eventing showcase is of course the Defender CCI4*-S and, here, the roster boasts a bumper 116 combinations from 11 countries. This section also incorporates the British Under-25 Championships. Selecting a potential winner is no easy task, but Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallists Tom McEwen and JL Dublin, owned by Diedre Johnston and James and Jo Lambert, have to be the bookie’s favourites. They do dressage under the Ground Jury of Christian Steiner (AUT) and Annabel Scrimgeor (GBR) on Friday. Others to watch on day one include first-to-go Kirsty Chabert and plucky mare Classic VI, who led the British team to victory in the FEI Nations Cup at Bicton two weeks ago with an individual win, Bramham regular and former winner Zara Tindall and Showtime, Gemma Stevens with her two Chilli Morning relations – son Chilli’s Jester and clone Chilli Morning IV, and Kitty King, who took the Bramham win in 2019, this time riding Cristal Fontaine.
The short section starts bright and early at 08:30. Both sections are being livestreamed by Horse & Country with a subscription, so you can catch every test.
In the Top Spec Arena, there’s a full programme of showing for youngstock, hunters and breeding to add to day one’s action.
You can follow all the action with times, scores and all the info via the Defender Bramham International Horse Trials app – just download from your preferred app store. You can catch up with on socials too – we’re on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok
If you’re planning on joining us, but haven’t purchased your tickets yet, save time at the gate and buy online before you arrive.
