Piggy French was over the moon when Vanir Kamira jumped a faultless show jumping round at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, guaranteeing them a second place finish. But when overnight leader, Oliver Townend, put one too many time penalties on the board, a rush of friends and family enveloped an emotional Piggy. At her 25th appearance at the level, she had finally clinched a CCI5*-L victory.
“I feel pretty numb to be honest,” Piggy said, noting that Vanir Kamira is not a natural talent in show jumping but an absolute trier. “You get so used to congratulating everyone else, and to be fair to Oliver, he's bloody hard to get in front of.”
Piggy, with the honor of being the 100th British rider to win a five-star, is the rider who keeps kicking for the love of the game, but when everything finally falls into place, victory certainly is sweet.
“Dreams can come true. You get close so often but you have just got to keep believing. Keep working. Keep in the zone. Keep your system. Keep loving riding horses. ... Hopefully one day someone looks down and says it's your day, and today was mine.”
See full results here.
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Photography by Ben Clark.