Emma Hyslop-Webb surprised herself by holding back the tears after completing the revered Burghley cross-country course for the first time.

Former sales manager Hyslop-Webb moved back to her parents' base in Leicestershire last year and looked right at home at the famed 5* venue, navigating a fiendish course aboard Jeweetwel.

One of the younger horses in the field, aged just 10, Jeweetwel means ‘You Know Who’ in Dutch and nobody was in any doubt that Hyslop-Webb’s young stallion is an eventing horse to watch for the future after an impressive coming-of-age showing.

“We joked I would probably cry, I had a little teary moment earlier but that hasn’t really happened yet,” said Hyslop-Webb.

“It’s not just for me it’s for the team at home and everyone that works to keep the horses at this level, the vets, the physios, without good people around you this isn’t possible.

“I should say it was fun. I can’t say it was awful but I think it’s fun now to have done it, and you don’t have that element of your time to think I’m having a great time.

“Derek’s courses come so quick and so fast and you’ve got to think quickly when things change, go to the alternate option, so all the while you’ve got to be on your A game.”

Competitors walked the four-mile course several times before tackling it on a gloomy Saturday in Lincolnshire, with many saying it was one of the toughest and biggest they have faced.

But Jeweetwel – on his top-level debut – showed a maturity beyond his years to navigate a test which troubled so many others.

Asked if she was nervous before setting off, Hyslop-Webb said: “Definitely, very much so. But we’ve seen the amount of energy that horse has and that’s why I thought he would be suited to Burghley.

“He’s so scopey we’ve just got to find the rideability. I feel the more he does the more he’ll back himself off whereas right now he wants to go faster than what I do.

“I walked the course. With him being young I popped down the leaf pit. I always planned to then go and jump 1, 2 and 3. I can’t say I actually felt nervous, just focused.

“I knew my plan whereas sometimes on more experienced horses you know you have to do the direct route for them whereas I didn’t have that pressure today.”

Defender Burghley Horse Trials (5-8 September 2024) has been a major international sporting and social event for over 50 years. It attracts the world's top equestrians and is attended by vast and enthusiastic crowds. For more information visit www.burghley-horse.co.uk