‘He is so laidback, he’s like a dog’: meet Burghley-bound first-timer Holly Richardson

Five-star first-timer Holly Richardson is looking forward to a crack at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials next week (30 August-3 September). The 29-year-old from Richmond in North Yorkshire will be riding Sarah Wingfield’s 13-year-old Bally Louis.

“I’m trying not to think about it at the moment because there’s just so many things that can go wrong at the last minute, so we’re ticking off each day as it comes and hopefully we’ll make it,” says Holly, who rides full-time.

Holly Richardson started out riding for Karen Dixon when she was 12, then went to Durham University to study biomedical science aged 20, before going to Hartpury to complete a masters in racehorse science.

“I was going to continue in that direction, but I ended up with a few owners and decided to ride full-time,” says Holly, who got the ride on Louis in 2019. “Andrew and Julie Wingfield, the parents of Sarah, bought Louis for Sarah to ride from James Sommerville. James had competed him up to intermediate and CCI* [now CCI2*-L]. When Sarah sustained an injury and stopped riding, Andrew and Julie, who are so supportive of me, asked if I would do some events with him.”

Holly says she thought she was sat on something special after their first event together in June 2019.

“I thought this horse is a real top one at that first event. He’s unbelievably brave and he gave me the feeling he was another level of horse straight away. Originally we said he was a Bramham horse, but he’s gone round there really well twice now, so hopefully he’s a Burghley horse!”

Holly and Louis finished in the top 25 in the CCI4*-L at Bramham this year and they have a string of CCI4*-S completions to their name too.

“He’s got so much scope and he makes me feel like I could jump anything. We struggle a bit with the showjumping but I think that’s probably more to do with me than him,” admits Holly, who trains with Chris Bartle and Melissa Chapman. “He can get quite tense on the flat, but it’s just because he wants to do the right thing.

“He’s unbelievably laidback the rest of the time and is just like a dog. Julie has him home with her in the winter and also for a couple of weeks after Bramham. She takes him on what she calls ‘chatter hacks’, where she takes a friend on very chatty rides and he’s brilliant!”

In terms of expectations ahead of Burghley, which she has visited a number of times as a spectator, Holly keeps things simple.

“I would love to complete and  just do the best we can in every phase.”

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