Kristina Hall-Jackson impressed with mare CMS Google on a ‘magical’ day at the 2023 Defender Burghley Horse Trials.

Hall-Jackson, 26, returned to the fabled grounds after making her debut with the 13-year-old Irish-bred mare last year and posted a pleasing score of 32.4.

Google thrived on the archetypal Burghley atmosphere and is primed to show her strength in the cross-country and show jumping over the weekend.

“I’m really pleased with her,” she said. “She’s not a dressage horse and she finds it difficult, she’s not built for dressage so I was really pleased with her performance.”

“She’s quite a master in the dressage so it does help, every little bit counts and she’s amazing for me.

“She spends so much time with me so I should get there one day.

“It’s quite magical going under the arch. There is no other atmosphere like it, Badminton is quite similar but other than that you don’t get an atmosphere like it.

“I’m walking the course on Thursday afternoon. Twice on Friday and once on Saturday.

Hall-Jackson marks her third 5* event with CMS Google as the pair quickly progress at the highest level.

And the Yorkshire rider is hopeful that lessons learnt in Badminton, where they came 21st, will see them well-prepared ahead of cross-country on Saturday.

“We’re a lot stronger partnership this year, we’ve gained a lot of experience doing the 5*s and doing more 4*s.

“You build a stronger partnership the more tracks you do and learn more and more about each other.

“We’re definitely a stronger partnership and hopefully we can get it all right on the day.

“The undulations on the ground at Burghley are great and the terrain is a lot smoother.

“I did learn things going around Badminton, the conditions were the British weather’s fault but to know that she will keep going in those conditions for me is a nice bit of knowledge to know and just keep trying because she really is a trier.”

Defender Burghley Horse Trials (31st August - 3 September 2023) has been a major international sporting and social event for over 50 years. It attracts the world’s top equestrians and over 170,000 visitors. For more information visit www.burghley-horse.co.uk