Laura Collett makes her senior championship debut in style

Laura Collett & Rayef

Cantering down the centre line at her first senior championships GB’s Laura Collett, riding Mr Jason Houghton’s 12 year old gelding Rayef, proved she can more than hold her own. The 21 year old rode a polished test for 35.4 to go into joint second place in the dressage, scoring 9’s for her trot work.

“He was such a good boy, I’m so chuffed with him” said Laura. “He’s been quiet all week as there’s not much atmosphere elsewhere but he got quite bright going into the arena. As soon as we went in he knuckled down though and is becoming a real performer as he gets used to these bigger occasions. Apart from one mistake in his final change he was faultless; this test is definitely up there with his best.”

Commenting on tomorrow’s cross country to come Laura said: “There are a lot of places where you could have a silly blip - the combination at the end could be very testing on a tired horse. It’s very wooded which will make the timing difficult to judge – you always think you’re going faster when you’re galloping through trees. I’m looking forward to it though and hoping the course will suit him - there are some big bold fences that he should respect, I’m lucky to be going later so I can see how it rides.”