Five Minutes With... Burto!

Published on Thursday, May 5, 2011 in Five Minutes With Horsezone

This weekend World Cups will take over Sydney and Burto (Christopher Burton), 2010 Sydney Eventing World Cup winner, will be there to have a good crack at retaining his title!

Chris has been in great form leading up to the event, winning the WHK ACCOUNTANTS CIC3*in Albury in March with HP Leilani, who won for the second consecutive year. He was also second on FIS Underdiscussion and fifth on Haruzac at this event.

Next up was Round 1 of the FEI World Cup™ Eventing 2011 series, which was held in Kihikihi, New Zealand. Chris and Leilani scored 45.9 penalties in the dressage phase putting them just 0.2 behind the overnight leader Clarke Johnstone (NZL). Chris then delivered a polished cross country round on the scopey mare adding nothing to his dressage score, leaving Johnstone absolutely no room for error in the final showjumping phase. Chris and Leilani finished up in 2nd place after the showjumping, which has put them in a strong position for Round 2 in Sydney this weekend!

Having had the pleasure of breakfast at Badminton with Burto back in the day, Horsezone's Georgia Fasher managed to catch up with him as he aims to defend his title at the World Cup this weekend...

How old were you when you first started riding and how did you become involved with eventing in NSW?

I have been riding for as long as I can remember, mum had found me the best little mare (Spice), you could ever wish to have as a first horse. We did pony club and campdrafting and showjumping and eventing. I had a very special horse come along Deojuvante the second best horse in the world, and I shot off to NSW as a working pupil in Kevin Mcnab's eventing yard, straight after I finished school in 1999, before setting up my own business in the Hawkesbury area around 2002.

What do you love about the sport?

The camaraderie between fellow competitors. I think is a great thing in eventing especially.

Favourite horses?

Deojuvante is my favourite horse that I've ever had the privilege of riding and for the me the nicest horse in eventing at the moment is Sam Griffiths', Happy Times.

After having such success in last year’s Weekend of World Cups what kind of pressure are you feeling, if any?

Winning on Leilani last year was a very memorable win for me. This year I am lucky to have three very nice horses in the world cup so surely one of them will go alright.

How has the preparation gone with HP Leilani leading into this competition to regain her title?

This year we took Leilani to Kihikihi in New Zealand and we were very happy with the way she performed. Going into Sydney she is feeling great so we shall see.

What's been your proudest moment in eventing so far?

Winning Adelaide on Newsprint in 2008 is by far my proudest moment.

Who have you, and do you train with?

I am very fortunate to be part of the high performance training program led by our coach Prue Barrett. I also have jumping lessons with George Sanna and have worked very closely with Marianne Lichtwark on the flat.

Your goals for the short and long term future?

My short term goal is to not fall off all 5 horses in the water jump at the Weekend of World Cups! Longer term I'm planning to move to the UK for a twelve month period with a lovely team of horses.

Who is your sporting icon?

Roger Federer.

Have you tried any other horse sports?

I actually have done showjumping and if the right horse came along I wouldn't mind trying to ride Dressage.

What would you be doing if you weren't involved with horses?

I love snow skiing - that's another sport where you can easily kill yourself.

What would you rather a big or little dog?

I've always liked big dogs, especially the next door neighbour's border collie, however, I've grown very fond of a cute little Scottie Terrier who I've enjoyed living with for the last four years.

Shout-out to your sponsors…

Thanks to Mitavite Horsefeeds, Capricorn Arena Surfaces, Brighton Saddleworld, Joint Performance and all my owners.

Thanks so much for your time Burto and we look forward to seeing you in Sydney this weekend!

CLICK HERE to find out more about Sydney's Weekend of World Cups

Comments

Furdography wrote:

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Awesome interview! Well Done Horse Zone and Thanks for supporting the Weekend of World Cups in Sydney!

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