The crowd watches on at the 2015 Burghley Horse Trials.

©Jenelle Christopher

By Equestrian Life

The first trot-up at Burghley Horse Trials has been and gone - and it certainly wasn’t without incident!

The ground jury - comprised of Sue Baxter, David Lee and Anne-Mette Binder - held three horses for reinspection. Roo Fox’s Fleet Street was the first, followed by Stacey Shimmons and Orions Promise and then the last combination to present, Holly Payne-Carvella and Never Outfoxed.

Fleet Street, a 12-year-old Selle Francais gelding, trotted up well for the reinspection and was subsequently passed as fit to compete. Orions Promise was a little flat for the second inspection, however the ground jury opted to accept the horse.

Never Outfoxed looked great the second time around and was also passed fit to compete, however Holly lost a heel while trotting up - much to the amusement of onlookers! No injury was sustained.

There was further drama during the trot up, with Frenchman Denis Mesples suffering a blow to the head from his horse, Oregon De La Vigne. It’s believed the hit was hard enough to draw blood, and as such a steward was employed to trot the horse up on Denis’ behalf.

The trot-up - as it so often is - proved to be a fashionable affair. Arthur Duffort of France was awarded the best-dressed male, while Burghley first-timer Becky Woolven was judged the best-dressed female.

The dressage kicks off today (Thursday the 1st, local time), with Tom Crisp and Coolys Luxury kicking things off at 9.30am. For those planning to follow along here in Australia, this translates to Thursday the 1st at 6.30pm AEST.

The Burghley dressage draw and times (local times) can be found here.

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