William Fox-Pitt wins record sixth Burghley!

William earned a standing ovation at the Landrover Burghley Horse Trials, 2 - 4 Septmeber 2011 as he made history by winning a sixth Burghley title riding 11-year-old ex-racehorse Parklane Hawk. William kept his cool to ride clear cross-country on Saturday which secured his overnight lead.

Sunday's show-jumping brought with it typical British weather which created very difficult ground conditions for the competitors.  With incessant heavy rain making the going heavy, William's second ride Neuf des Coeurs struggled to clear the fences and had three poles down.

Catherine Witt's New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred Parklane Hawk, 'Parker', gave a spectacular clear round in his first four star debut.  Parker was admired by fellow competitors as Andrew Nicholson commented "William's horse jumped immaculately and won" and admitted he had been beaten by an outstanding performance. 

William on Parker: "I can't believe it. He was superb. The conditions went against him. He's still a bit green in the show-jumping but he's a phenomenal horse and I'm so lucky to have him to ride".

Parker is one of William's big hopes for next year! Definitely a combination to watch over the coming months and a strong contention for the London 2012 Olympics.

British Young Rider team medalist Tom McEwen performed well to finish 19th in his Burghley four star debut riding Dry Old Party. Tom commented "It's a pity about the Jumping, but the cross-country was a great day".

Tom was the youngest competitor on the start list and won the prize for the highest placed British first-timer and the HSBC training bursary worth $1,000- a fantastic achievement. Well done Tom.

Click here for full results.

Click here for videos of William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk in all three phases.

The HSBC FEI Classics™ continued with the European Eventing Championships at Luhmühlen in Germany, 25-28 August 2011.

Albion's sponsored rider William Fox-Pitt earned individual 7th as well as team bronze. 

The combination scored 42.70 after the dressage and went clear in the cross-country despite a somewhat sticky run.  William defied gravity at the water jump and the head dive didn't seem to faze Cool Mountain, even with water in his ears, as the pair continued to finish inside the time.  One down in the show-jumping secured team bronze. 

The event definitely made for exciting viewing.

The FEI HSBC Classics™ action now moves to the Landrover Burghley Horse Trials (1-4 September) then finally, France (12-16 October) as Fox-Pitt and King fight it out for the valuable first prize.

A historic victory for Team GBR as the quartet win the first British gold medal at the FEI European Dressage Championships in Rotterdam, 17-21 August 2011.

The team's final score of 238.678 set a new European record, a full 12 points ahead of the Germans who won silver and the Netherlands bronze.

Albion's sponsored riders Laura Bechtolsheimer, Emile Faurie and Hans Peter Minderhoud gave spectacular performances throughout the competition.

Emile and Elmegardens Marquis set the tone on day one of the team Grand Prix with an impressive score of 70.426%. The combination went on to finish in 21st place in the Grand Prix Special.

As well as team gold, Laura B and Mistral Hojris claimed individual bronze in the Grand Prix Special, took 4th place in the Grand Prix Kur to Music on an excellent score of 83.018%, and finished 5th in the Grand Prix.

"He was very flighty in there and too bothered by the noise which pushed him over the edge. I felt like a small blonde girl on a big ginger horse, rather than the harmonious picture we usually go for!" joked Laura. "Still I don't think I can be too upset, this is still fairly indescribable."

Hans Peter and Nadine (representing the Netherlands) scored 76.589% in the Grand Prix Kur to Music to earn them 11th place.  The pair went on to finish 14th in the Grand Prix Special and 15th in the Grand Prix.

Albion thoroughly enjoyed meeting our existing Dutch customers and welcoming many new friends from around the world onto the stand in the shopping village.

Click here for full results.

Albion's sponsored rider William Fox-Pitt and Before Time won their first CCI* on a fantastic score of 38.10 after successfully going clear in both the cross-country and show jumping at Blair Castle International in Scotland, 18-21 August.

William's success continued with Parklane Hawk finishing 2nd and Bay My Hero placed 6th in the CIC***.

The European Young Riders Eventing Championship also took place at Blair, reaching an exciting climax yesterday with the British team winning gold.

Albion's sponsored rider & Young Rider team member Tom McEwen and Private Rudolf earned individual 4th after going clear in the cross-country and accruing only 4 faults in the show jumping. 

"I'm very, very happy!" said Tom. "This was a great result for the team and we're especially delighted to have secured the result for Gill Watston - this year's chef d'equipe - who has helped us so much."

The team scored 169.2 points, nearly nine points ahead of Ireland in second place and Germany in third, making it six team golds out of the last seven years.

Massive congratulations to both William and Tom for their excellent performances over the weekend.

Click here for full results.

Albion's sponsored rider Hannah Esberger-Shepherd enjoys huge success at Frys Yorkshire, 9-11 August 2011...

Hannah won the Elementary with Welkom last Wednesday and continued to stay on top form winning the Advanced Medium Open riding Vanita the following day.

Hannah also came 4th with Rubin II in the Prix St George.

Fantastic result. Well done Hannah.

Click here for full results.

Albion's sponsored rider and British Young Rider hopeful, Tom McEwen, continues to perform well...

Tom and 8yo Suspicion, produced an excellent dressage test, scoring 33.2. The combination went on to go clear in the show jumping and cross-country phase with only 6.4 time penalties, earning them 2nd place overall.

Following a squad training camp at Addington Manor (13-14 August) twelve British riders, including Tom, were selected to defend their sixth successive team gold medal at the 2011 Young Rider European Championships which is to be held at Blair Castle in Scotland from the 18-21 August.

Watch this space...

 A 2,3,4 for William Fox-Pitt at Gatcombe...

Albion's sponsored riders William Fox-Pitt and Tom McEwen dominated the Advanced section at the Fesitival of British Eventing which took place at Gatcombe, 5-7 August 2011.

William and Macchiato produced one of the best dressage scores of the day, with only one down in the show-jumping, the pair went on to finish the cross-country phase with a mere 7.2 time faults which earned them 2nd place overall.

William's second ride, Gaucho, followed in 3rd position on 44.00- only 0.50 points between them. Neuf Des Coeurs produced another excellent dressage score of 33.4 and went clear in the show jumping to land them in 4th.

William and Bay My Hero finished in 8th position in the Intermediate on an excellent score of 40.10.

Tom and Dry Old Party took 3rd in the Advanced section A having gone clear in the show jumping and cross-country phase with only 8 time penalties. William came 14th with Avoca Alibi on 54.30.

Both riders enjoyed a very successful weekend, earning them valuable points and mileage in preparation for London 2012. Congratulations to both William and Tom.

Click here for full results.

Albion's sponsored rider, and triple world silver medalist, Laura Bechtolsheimer storms ahead of Matthias Rath and Totilas riding Mistral Hojris to finish on an impressive score of 78.76% winning the grand prix at Wiesbaden CD4*.

Laura continued with her high quality performance with Andretti H and came runner-up in the grand prix kuer.

Congratulations Laura.

Image courtesy of British Dressage, issue 5.

Have a look at the July issue of Horse and Rider to find out more on 'The key to consistency' as Albion's sponsored rider and top dressage rider / trainer Emile Faurie reveals his secerets to successful competing and how to 'turn any horse into a show-ring superstar'...

Click here for details of how to subscribe to Horse & Rider.

Massive congratulations - the boys done good! Three of Albion's sponsored riders... Tom McEwen, William Fox-Pitt and Harry Humfrey, succeeded at Barbury.

Tom and William dominated their sections at Barbury International with Tom winning the Novice class on Rehy USA with an impressive score of 28.50, closely followed by William riding Before Time in 3rd position on a score of 33.50. 

William came 3rd with Fernhill Highlight in section C of the CIC** on an excellent score of 46.50, while Tom was placed 4th with Private Rudolf in section B.  

Tom was also placed 13th with Dry Old Party in the INROR class and 17th with Up In The Air in Novice section G.

William had two very successful rides in the CIC*** with Cool Mountain placed 5th and Navigator in at 11th.

Tom had no time to waste as he speedily made his way to Tweseldown for his last ride of the weekend on Suspicion to finish in the top 10. 

Harry scored a fantastic 36.50 on Kool Takenda to land him in 4th in the Open at Tweseldown, while his second ride Shanbally Delight came 8th in the BE90.

Well done.

Click here for full results of Barbury.

Click here for full results of Tweseldown.

The British Equestrian Federation has announced the British Team to compete at Aachen next week.

Two of Albion's sponsored riders Laura Bechtolsheimer and Emile Faurie will be representing Great Britain.

Laura will be riding Mistral Hojris (Danish Warmblood gelding by Michellino) and Emile will be taking Elmegardens Marquis (also by Michellino).

We wish them both the very best of luck.

Albion's sponsored rider and British Dressage star Laura Bechtolsheimer watched on as fellow GBR Team-mates competed in the grand surroundings of Greenwich Park.

"The Olympics are a great opportunity for us to give people a better idea of what the equestrian world is like", commented Laura who went on to say "We (Britain) have our strongest team ever and it's our best chance of standing on that podium".

Laura speaks fondly of her ride Mistral Hojris, also known as "Alf", who she describes as "very big and very orange" and who has "a lot of personality and always wants to perform well".  Good characteristics for an olympian contender in the build-up to London 2012.

Watch this space.

Click here for the full article.

After an exhilerating three days at the Olympic Test CIC** Event in Greenwich, Albion's sponsored rider William Fox-Pitt finished on a score of 60.50 which landed him in the top 10.

William and Gaucho performed well, with only 5 time penalties in the cross-country phase which "rode well... a bit like a BMX track" for which you need "a good athletic obedient horse", commented William. 

The combination went on to finish with 8 faults in the show jumping.

Click here for a full list of results.

Congratulations to Albion's sponsored rider William for his great success in winning all 3 senior classes at Tattersalls International Horse Trials which took place in May.

The British Squad to attend the two-star Olympic test event has been announced.

Albion sponsored rider William Fox-Pitt has been confirmed to represent Team GBR at the event which will take place at Greenwich Park in under two weeks time.

Albion would like to wish William every success at the forthcoming event.

The U.S. Dressage Team for CHIO Aachen 2011 was announced today.

Albion's sponsored rider Guenter Seidel (Cardiff, CA) will be riding Dick and Jane Brown's 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood UII, by Jazz x.

Albion would like to wish Guenter every success in the forthcoming event which takes place from the 8th - 17th July 2011.

Click here to view full team.

Congratulations to Emile Faurie and Elmegardens Marquis who produced an excellent test in the Grand Prix Special on a score of 69.660% at Fritzens CDI4*, Austria.

The combination went on to finish 3rd on a score of 73.479% in the Grand Prix Special.

Click here for full results.

A fantastic weekend for Albion's sponsored riders William Fox-Pitt and Tom McEwen at Salperton Park.

William finished 17th in Section C with Neuf des Coeurs on a score of 50.40.

Tom had three great rides, placed 3rd with Rehy USA in Section H, Suspicion performed well finishing 6th in Section K and Up In The Air came 27th in Section I.

Well done to both Tom and William.

Click here for full results.

It has been announced that the Dutch Aachen Team is to include Albion sponsored rider Hans Peter Minderhoud who will be riding Tango (by Jazz x Contango),

CDIO Aachen, which takes place from the 8th - 17th July 2011, has been coined the 'mini-olympics' so should make for an exciting event.

Albion would like to wish Hans Peter every success.

Click here to view the full team.