By Matt Wright
UP-AND-COMING eventer Tara Dixon will know what to expect from the Defender Burghley Horse Trials when she makes her return next month.
When Newtownards star Dixon, 23, took to the dressage stage on the opening day last year, it was not just her debut at Burghley, but also the first five-star event of her nascent career.
Onboard 13 year-old gelding Master Smart, who she will be riding again between September 3-6, she was eliminated following the cross country, after an accumulation of refused jumps from her ride.
There was mitigation for this however, as Master Smart suffered from travel sickness while
heading to Lincolnshire, while Dixon herself was performing with wrist supports due to the multiple injuries and broken bones caused by fall at Bramham earlier in the year.
Thankfully, their preparation has been far smoother this year, and Dixon feels more confident.
“It feels very different,” she said. “Last year, it was more just the sheer excitement
of trying to get there and – as everyone is now – you’re trying to wrap them in bubble wrap and get them fit.
“But I think I’m more relaxed with going this time and I feel more prepared with it all. I feel like I know what to expect, even with just the layout of the event and the way it all works when you get there.
“I feel a lot more comfortable having been there last year and understood it all.”
Dixon has had a strong year with Master Smart, with a fourth-place finish at the Thoresby Park Spring Carnival in April being followed by a 14th placing at Burgham – both four-star events in which they went clear in the cross-country.
She comes from an eventing family, as her mother, Karen, is a four-time Olympian and a
member of the Great Britain eventing team that won a silver medal at the 1988 Games in Seoul.
On her mum’s influence, Dixon said: “She helps me every day with the horses, all year round, and she’s absolutely fantastic.
“She’ll even ride him for me at home and she absolutely loves him. Whenever we need canter work and fitness, she always wants to ride him, so I need to ride something else.
“She’s obviously very knowledgeable and at these five-star events, I’ll walk the course with her every time – I’ll never walk it by myself.
“Even things with the atmosphere or managing sponsors and owners whilst at these
events, she’s brilliant. I wouldn’t be able to do any of it without her.”
Defender Burghley Horse Trials 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.
