Nadja Minder and Toblerone. Photo by Hannah Cole Photography.
What does it take to get a nineteen-year-old horse to a five-star in peak condition and at the top of his game?
Turns out it’s pretty simple, actually.
“He’s turned out in a group of ten horses,” says 26-year-old Nadja Minder, who holds the overnight lead at the end of day one of Defender Burghley with the evergreen Toblerone.
All her horses are “very natural”, something that she believes is the keystone to keeping her partner not just thriving but constantly improving season after season.
“We take a lot of care that the horses move most of the day, because if they were living in the wild on the steppe, that’s what they’d do. It’s natural for them and has worked well for us in terms of avoiding injuries, too, because they’re not locked in and then going crazy in small paddocks.”
Also a likely factor?
“He’s a horse who doesn’t use himself up very much – he’s not a flashy mover, so I think that definitely helps. And he started late; he did his first two-star when he was eleven, so that’s also there. He truly only started his eventing career with me, and even though it feels like forever, I’ve only had him since 2020. But also, he’s just a special character.”
That ‘special character’ has been Nadja’s partner for some of her biggest career milestones: an eleventh place finish at the Young Rider European Championships in 2021, a Nations Cup debut the same year; a senior World Championships debut the next. There was the European Eventing Championships in 2023, Nadja’s first, where they jumped clear in merciless conditions; a five-star debut at Pau the same year; a first Burghley the next year and a top-twenty finish. At last year’s European Championships, they finished nineteenth, and are about as emblematic of the Swiss team as Toblerone’s namesake chocolate bar is of the country they hail from.
He seems like the sort of horse who’ll stick around at the big ones forever, but ‘Schöggeli’ – that’s Choccy, basically, if you’re Swiss or know how to do an umlaut on your laptop keyboard – might be on his last hurrah, even if he doesn’t feel a day over ten.
Nadja Minder and Toblerone. Photo by Hannah Cole Photography.
It was, as such, about as poignant as it gets when Nadja and her ‘chocolate legend’ – her words, not ours – sailed straight to the top of the leaderboard in Thursday afternoon’s dressage at Defender Burghley, earning a score of 29.5 and a position they will hold overnight. Someone get the girl a beer.
“I don’t know how many tests we have left – probably none,” says Nadja. “But he’s so cool – he never lets me down. He’s always just there, and he delivers on the day.”
Sharing such a formative partnership means that she can trust in him entirely – a lightning-in-a-bottle feeling at this topmost level.
“I’m 100% relaxed in every phase – well, maybe not showjumping,” she laughs. “But on cross-country, when I’m walking a course with him in mind, I really have no worries. I just need to ride him well and present it well to him, and it’s the same in the dressage. I don’t really practice before the test now because he knows the movements, and I know how to ride him because we know each other inside out.”
So the difference comes down not to rote repetition, but to mindset.
“I just need to get him moving before a test and make him believe in his abilities, because that was what he struggled with most when I started with him,” she says. “He was just maybe tightening a bit because he didn’t believe. But Piggy March really helped me with that – and today he believed he can actually do good dressage, and he believed me, and he believed in himself, and we were able to deliver.”
Nadja Minder and Toblerone. Photo by Hannah Cole Photography.
Though Nadja trains primarily with her mother, Therese, who also acts as her travelling groom, she also teams up with Piggy at the British five-stars – a tuning-up sort of relationship that works marvellously after Nadja spent six weeks based with the British rider ahead of her Burghley debut in 2024. Also by her side at events is Swiss team cross-country coach Andrew Nicholson, who helped warm her up today.
“It doesn’t get much better than these two,” she grins.
While many five-star riders might enjoy the spoils of a serious set of facilities at home, Nadja has humbler training grounds: “I ride more on grass at home than I do on a surface, because I just don’t have the setup. I have a little 20×40 arena, but really, I work my horses more on the grass, and actually, I think it’s very healthy for them and for their balance.”
There’s no doubt that that played to their benefit in Burghley’s uniquely terrain-y main arena today; for the busy weekend to come, it will be an asset they rely on, too.
Second place overnight is held by morning leaders Gemma Stevens and Chilli Knight, who ‘shuffled’ their way to a 29.6 – just a tenth of a penalty off the lead as we close out the day. You can read the full report on their test here.
Max Warburton and Deerpairc Revelry. Photo by Hannah Cole Photography.
Great Britain’s Max Warburton was a firm fixture at the collecting ring today: this morning, he was ringside in support of girlfriend Susie Berry, who rode first horse Clever Trick to a 40.5 – “she’d win a speed dressage, anyway,” quipped Susie, wryly – and this afternoon, he was neatly steering the rangy Deerpairc Revelry to a 31.2 and overnight third place.
“He was super – it was a real clear round test,” says Max. “He tried very hard; his brain was great, and I was absolutely thrilled with him.”
Max, who recorded a top twenty finish here with the twelve-year-old in 2024, was also helped in the warm-up by Piggy March: “My normal trainer, David Trott, has been moving house this week, so it’s been a little bit of a stressful thing not having him here,” he says. “So actually, Piggy helped me as well. I went to see her on Tuesday for the first time, and she was a big help, just having an extra pair of eyes on the ground and a bit of a kick up the arse. She was very good.”
Yasmin Ingham and Goliath du Loir. Photo by Hannah Cole Photography.
Tim Price and Global Quest, second at the lunchbreak, now occupy fourth place on their score of 32.1, while Burghley debutant and former World Champion Yasmin Ingham rounds out the top five on 32.7 with the ten-year-old Goliath du Loir.
“I honestly couldn’t have asked for any more from him,” says Yas. “It’s a massive atmosphere here at Burghley and we’re so excited to be here to start with, but for him to go out there and be so relaxed in the arena and work with me was all I could ask for.”
It’s not just a Burghley debut – somehow; inexplicably – for Yas, but also a level debut for the exciting Goliath.
“Burghley’s renowned for its tough cross-country course, and he’s an out-and-out cross-country horse – he’s brave and he’s got a huge stride, so I decided to bring him here for my first Burghley and his first five-star and give it a go. He’s had a great preparation so far this year; he went really well at Bramham and we’re ready to tackle this week.”
Caroline Powell and High Time. Photo by Hannah Cole Photography.
New Zealand’s Caroline Powell and the 14-year-old High Time go into sixth place on their score of 33.9 – a score that doesn’t quite rival their 31.1 here twelve months ago, en route to eighth place, but considerably betters their marks across the 2026 season.
“I’m absolutely thrilled with him,” says Caroline, a winner here in 2010 with Lenamore. “I kind of forgot about the Thursday atmosphere here and he’s a pretty hot horse anyway, but he’s just getting nicer and nicer. If it’s not his year this year, it’ll be coming up soon.”
High Time’s Burghley campaign comes after an uncharacteristic fall at Badminton – his only mistake at the level.
“We’ve changed a few things but it’s such minute details – we’re at the level where if one thing goes wrong, it ends up being quite a huge mistake. We’ve made a few changes, looked at the videos over and over again, and hopefully this time he’ll be absolutely amazing.”
Much of the rest of the top ten is populated by morning competitors: Tom Jackson and Hawk Eye now sit seventh on their 34.1; Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Tolan King are eighth on 34.3; and Clarke Johnstone and Domasco are ninth on 34.5.
Alex Bragg and Jaeger Master. Photo by Hannah Cole Photography.
A new entrant, though, rounds out the best ten of day one. Alex Bragg and his five-star debutant Jaeger Master posted a 35.6 to put themselves in the hunt at this early stage, in what is just their second season together after Alex took the ride on from fellow Brit Tom Woodward.
“For his first five-star, especially in the big atmosphere of Burghley, I was pleased,” says Alex. “It wasn’t perfect; he went into the main arena and got quite lit up, not naughty but just nerves, and then he becomes hypersensitive. So I tried to get into canter and then he stopped dead because he spooked at the scoreboard that’s next to the arena, and I really thought, ‘oh, I could be in trouble here!’”
But, he continues, “we got up the centre line and I stuck to my plan and didn’t get tense myself, and he tried so hard to stay with me and listening, so although it wasn’t the best work he can do, I was pleased. I think there’s a future there for a really magic test at this level in this atmosphere, and so that’s the positive I’m taking.”
Tomorrow’s second day of dressage will see the final 24 horses and riders in our field take to the white boards from 10.00 a.m. BST (5.00 a.m. EST), with Ireland’s Sam Watson and Ballyneety Rocketman first up to bat. Harry Meade and Cavalier Crystal will be the final pair of the day, starting their test at 15.50 (10.50 a.m. EST), and in between, we’ll see an exciting array of competitors from this wide open field. If you’re following along from the USA and hoping to cheer on the American riders in the field, you’re in luck: all four are scheduled to ride after the lunchbreak, with Jennie Brannigan first in on FE Lifestyle (14.00 BST/9.00 a.m. EST); US-based Aussie Ema Klugman and Chiraz following on at 14.08 BST/9.08 a.m. EST; Tiana Coudray and D’Artagnan coming forward at 14.24 BST/9.24 a.m. EST; Will Coleman and Very Dignified just after at 14.40 BST/9.40 a.m. EST; and Caroline Pamukcu and second horse HSH Blake closing out the North American effort at 15.26 BST/10.26 a.m. EST.
You can follow all the action on Burghley TV, and join us for two more packed reports (and plenty more coverage besides). Go Eventing.
The top ten at the end of Thursday’s competition at Defender Burghley.
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