The reigning Defender Burghley Horse Trials champion returned to Stamford’s Burghley House to compete at eventing’s most revered venue despite expecting her second child with husband Chris McAleese, with the baby due in early 2026.
It means that this year’s edition of the famed 5* event will be Canter’s last for the foreseeable future, with the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medallist set to skip the European Eventing Championships.
But until then Canter she proved that she doesn’t plan to let Defender Burghley crown slip after a sensational start in the dressage phase at Burghley House, with her score of 22.4 on board Lordships Gruffalo bested only by 2023 champion and fellow Olympian Oliver Townend.
“The Europeans is a team competition and pregnancy progresses day-by-day,” said Louth’s Canter. “I didn’t know if I wanted to compete in two-weeks’ time or not and it wouldn’t have sat well with me if I had to pull out last-minute.
“Burghley is an individual event and it’s entirely down to me if I choose to go or not.
“There’s a fair amount of pressure when it comes to riding Lordships Gruffalo. He doesn’t often do a bad test or make mistakes so it’s all about trying to eke out as much marks as we can.
“I was particularly thrilled with his flying changes today. We missed two of those at Badminton and they’ve always been something we get but they wouldn’t necessarily be believable and I’ve worked hard on those since May.
“Today they felt really secure and that’s what I feel most pleased with.
“I feel good out there and hopefully we looked and felt ok. Tomorrow’s another day where we’ll go out around the course but we take it every day as it comes and at the moment it’s all systems go.”
Up next for Canter and her trusty mount is the cross-country course on Saturday, with the 6500m 31 gate course set to challenge even the most seasoned rider.
Course designer Derek di Grazia has implemented an additional twist by reversing the direction of the track for the first time since 2017 and while it represents a daunting task, Canter is expecting nothing less.
“It’s a Burghley challenge,” she added. “Each individual fence is jumpable but the challenge here is to put them all together with the distance you have to travel and all of a sudden something that looks innocuous can become a fairly big question and they can be relentless.
“It’s certainly hard course to walk so I can only imagine that it’s going to be pretty challenging for the horses tomorrow but we know the horse loves his job and wants to do his absolute best so hopefully I can give him the ride so that he sees the jumps and knows what to do.”
Defender Burghley Horse Trials (4-7 September 2025) has been a major international sporting and social event for over 50 years. It attracts the world’s top equestrians and is attended by vast and enthusiastic crowds. For more information visit www.burghley-horse.co.uk
