Student has the Upper hand

A former showjumper and an osteopath take top spots, while a corner question causes cross-country problems

AN engineering student who has stepped up his involvement in his mother’s horse after she fell ill topped the BE90 championship. Ben Fairbrother, 20, was second after dressage on 26.3 and moved up to win when he stayed on that firstphase score with his mother Jo’s 12-year-old Upper Limit.

“I only rode ‘Max’ at events last year and Mum would school him in between because I’m quite busy with university,” explained Ben, who has only been eventing for three seasons, having previously showjumped.

“Then in November her stomach ruptured and she was in intensive care for 10 or 11 days, so I took over riding him.

“She is a lot better now – she’s here and has been a big help. She’s not completely back to full strength, but hopefully she will get back to riding later this year once her core muscles are stronger. We are so thankful she is OK. She’s always helped me with everything ever since I was tiny.”

Ben is studying for a master’s in civil and structural engineering at Dundee and is based at his parents’ home in Stirling, travelling to university daily – “it’s a lot of miles on the car”. This was the first time he had visited Badminton and this championships was his first eventing run of the year.

Katie Mathias and Lodor Carl took second (see box, right). Suzanne Ross landed third with 12-year-old Findatie Bracken, who was originally intended as a dressage horse for Suzanne’s sister, Colina Pickles, who worked for Bill Levett before setting up on her own.