Olympic horse rider Ros Canter credits Blair Horse trials for success

Olympian and former eventing Champion of Blair Horse Trials Ros Canter has credited the event with her recent success.

She won the three-day competition with current Badminton winner Lordships Graffalo in 2021.

Now in its 33rd year, Scotland’s leading equestrian event is taking place between August 24 and August 27

Speaking ahead of this year’s dressage, show-jumping and cross-country, she said: “We came here straight after Covid and it was one of the first events when the public were allowed back in.

“He was a young horse then, and he hadn’t seen many crowds, but he was on the rise very quickly.

“So it was really good for him to come and see a really busy atmosphere around the dressage arenas and experience the hills. They really got his lungs blowing and really set him up well for that Badminton win.”

With more than 20 fences of different sizes running up and down the Perthshire hills, the Cross Country element of the trials is a real crowd-pleaser.

Professional riders have come from Japan to tackle the course, with an amateur rider event also running and drawing in crowds.

Organiser Alex Lochore says having retail as well as a range of different disciplines means there is something for everyone to enjoy during the four-day event.

He said: “There’s two and a bit thousand horses here over the weekend doing hundreds of different classes.

“The big classes for the international eventers as well. So we’ve got our Olympic world and European medallists here and we have the national championships for the Highlands and Clydesdales and the other classes and they’re all full as normal.”