Gemma Tattersall wins Chedington Bicton 5*
Gemma Tattersall has won the Chedington Bicton CCI5* riding 11 year old Chilli Knight. This is Gemma’s first 5* win and on a horse that she has bred and produced herself through the levels. Chilli Knight is by the famous stallion Chilli Morning, who was evented by William Fox-Pitt and won at 5* and out of Kings Gem.
Gemma Tattersall won the competition, the only one in the UK at this level after Badminton and Burgley Horse Trials were cancelled, finishing on her dressage score of 27.9. Pippa Funnell riding Billy Walk on were 2nd on a score of 28.7 after adding 4.8 time cross country and Badminton 2019 winners Piggy March riding Vanir Kamira were 3rd on a final score of 33.9 after a clear in the time cross country but two show jumps down and 0.4 time.
Speaking after jumping a clear round for the win Gemma Tattersall said ““I felt the pressure anyway, obviously, and, you know, all I thought of was ‘I’m at Hickstead’, which is one of my favorite places to go and ride and jump. And I’m so used to jumping in those grass arenas in the main ring and ring to, and I literally just pretended, shut my eyes and I thought ‘No, I’m just I’m just going to go in and do what I do day in day out on so many different horses and go and jump play around’. That’s what I did.”
Gemma went on the thank her family and friends for the support. “My family from when I was a tiny girl all the way through, and my team at home work endlessly hard. My absolute nutter boyfriend, Gary. And just everyone, everyone. It’s just such a team thing. You know, it’s not just me and Alfie (Chilli Knight). It’s everyone behind the scenes that makes it happen. And Charlotte, my head girl has just done the most incredible job looking after Alfie this week. We all know what it takes to get a horse to five-star. It’s, you know, it’s quite a headache! Just thank you to my team. And finally, I’ve managed to get us the five-star win!”
The biggest surprise of the three day competition was when Gemma’s boyfriend proposed during the media interviews afterwards. From all the team at The Horse Exchange – Congratulations Gary and Gemma!