EARDISLEY event rider Louise Harwood came within a horse’s breath of achieving a gold-standard double clear at the prestigious Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.

Harwood finished 24th on her ninth appearance at the world’s premier three-day event and followed a dressage Test score of 54.3, with a clear round in Saturday’s cross country.

She picked up 41.6 time penalties to lie in 26th ahead of the showjumping finale, and then clipped one pole to get four faults and finish on 99.9 penalties.

Harwood, riding Mr Potts, said there was still room for improvement, but that she left the Lincolnshire country house happy.

“I’m really pleased, he jumped really well, it was just unfortunate to knock over one gate, he must have just breathed on it, but he was an absolute star,” said the 40-year-old.

“It’s exciting, you always want to sneak that clear but to have one down and get very close is really pleasing.

“It’s been good, I wish I’d gone a bit faster, but I’m delighted to have gone around safe and completed another four-star, what a great horse he is.

“There have been stressful moments, but I have complete faith in Mr Potts so I wasn’t too scared going out for the cross country, he’s given me some really great moments.”

The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is a four-star event and considered one of the FEI’s six Classic competitions.

Harwood has competed 27 times in four-star events, since making her Burghley debut in 2006, and said her dressage performance this year was the pick of the lot.

“It was the best four-star dressage I’ve done, but there were still a few mistakes I made which I know I can improve on,” she added.

“He’s not a dressage horse, he’s not super elegant but he’s getting better, and hopefully by the time he is 17 he can get it right.

“There’s nervous anticipation for everything, you get lots of time to prepare, sometimes too much, so I did a bit of shopping and there’s a great atmosphere, it’s super to be here.

“I’m very competitive, always trying to get round as quick as I can, but safely. There’s no let-up fences in the cross country, but that’s what Burghley is all about, it’s the biggest four-star in the world.

“And it wouldn’t be a four-star without some scary moments. It wouldn’t be worth coming unless we scared ourselves just a little bit.”

Looking back on her weekend, Harwood reflected on her achievement in even making it to Burghley – for a ninth time.

“Not everyone gets to Burghley, and I’ve produced Mr Potts right from a foal, we haven’t gone out and bought so we’re very proud to be here,” she concluded.

Australia’s Christopher Burton won the event, ahead of New Zealand’s Andrew Nicholson and his compatriot Jonelle Price.

* The multi-award winning Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials has been established as a major international equestrian and social event in the Autumn Sporting Calendar for over 50 years. For more information visit www.burghley-horse.co.uk