Olympic gold medal-winning partnership reunited for Britain at Europeans after horse swap

There has been a horse change for the British team, in partnership with Agria, in the Longines FEI European Showjumping Championships, which kick off in Spain on Wednesday (16 July).

Ben Maher had been selected with Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s 11-year-old stallion Point Break, but British Equestrian (BEF) and British Showjumping (BS) have confirmed this morning (14 July) that he will instead ride Dallas Vegas Batilly, owned by Ben, Ms Rossetter and Ms Wright.

It is the same swap that was confirmed almost exactly a year ago, when Ben had been named with Point Break for the Paris Olympics but instead competed with the then 11-year-old mare – and Britain won team gold.

In a joint statement, the BEF and BS said the decision had been made after consultation with the rider and owners.

Dallas Vegas Batilly has been on fabulous form; she and Ben jumped double clear for Britain in the Aachen Nations Cup on 3 July, helping the team to third place and finishing fifth individually. They had also come third in the 1.60m Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe on 2 July.

The championships are being held at Casas Novas equestrian centre in A Coruña, northwest Spain. The first horse inspection takes place tomorrow and the showjumping starts with the speed class on Wednesday.

The team medals will be decided on Friday and the individual placings on Sunday.

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