The Leader from Above

We headed over to Lincolnshire to the Burghley Horse Trials today.  The drive over was accompanied by mist most of the way, which got thicker as we neared the estate.  Thankfully, by the time riders were heading out it had cleared.

As usual, our first stop was the 'In the Saddle' exhibit.  The travel company organise our riding holidays for us and there is always some Prosecco available as a substitute for breakfast. Then it was out onto the course and what ended up as nearly 8 miles of walking.

I'm always looking for something different as a photograph of the horse and rider.  There are only so many different styles of shot.  It was only as the penultimate rider, Ros Canter on Lordships Graffalo was coming to the Lion Bridge obstacle that I took advantage of standing on the bridge and shooting down on her as she jumped the fence.  I even managed to get the horses reflection in the water.  Ros started the day in the lead on her other horse, but she didn't make it round the course.  She ended it in the lead on this horse, after completing a clear round dead on the time allowed.

Absolutely knackered by the end of the day, and we still had two hours drive back home.  To make matters worse we hit torrential rain just outside Birmingham in the gathering gloom and almost aquaplaned on the motorway as the water couldn't clear the carriageway fast enough.  Thankfully we made it home safely.