*Exclusive* Which of Ros Canter’s five-star aces is she tipping for next season – and her new dream for the future

After ending their 2024 eventing seasons on a high, Ros Canter’s five-star horses have been enjoying a holiday in the field. Her Defender Burghley win with Lordships Graffalo (Walter) – who has Mars Badminton lightly pencilled in for his 2025 diary at this stage – was followed up by a successful trip to the Pyrenees with her two other top campaigners. Izilot DHI backed up his 2023 Pau CCI5* victory with the runner-up spot, and five-star first-timer MHS Seventeen came of age to finish 11th with a double jumping clear.

“We’re very lucky in our system at home in that they live outside anyway during the summer,” said Ros, explaining this meant the horses were able to transition seamlessly into their down-time with very little change to their routines.

“They have a bit of downtime and then we start to kind of quietly make some plans for next year and see how they come out.”

She adds: “I know Badminton and Burghley didn’t really go to plan with Izilot DHI, but bar those two events – which were always going to be a question mark – he has had his best season in terms of cross-country and rideability.

“We’ve made a big leap forward in his dressage. I’ve always known he’s had massive, massive ability in that phase, but probably never quite allowed him to use it. Now we are and he’s starting to really grow up. I’m learning to ride him better all the time.”

Ros Canter’s one to watch in 2025

MHS Seventeen was among the stand-out performers on Pau’s drenched cross-country day. The 11-year-old gelding, owned by Deirdre Johnston and Lady Milnes Coates, skimmed across the sloppy going with a smile on his face. The world number three now has three five-star diamonds in her string heading into 2025.

“I absolutely love MHS Seventeen. We call him Vinnie at home and I really love riding him,” says Ros Canter.

The Irish Sport Horse, bred by Mary Brennan, is by Callahan and out of Quidam Junior I mare MHS Dancing Queen. He was produced to three-star by Sara Bowe and later ridden by Nicola Wilson.

“He’s just that little bit smaller and he’s a little bit different to Walter in the way he jumps,” Ros adds. “He’s less thoroughbred in his jump than Walter – he has a more careful kind of bascule in his shape – but he’s like Walter to ride to a fence cross-country. He really looks, he’s very careful, he draws himself back and does a lot of those things automatically.”

Bramham CCI4*-L this year, where he finished third, marked a turning point.

“He definitely became a man after Bramham. There were a couple of times at the start of the course where he was a little bit green and he had to really work quite hard in some of the combinations,” she says.

“Ever since Bramham this year, he’s just gone to the next level and got stuck in from the start. He’s great. I’m really excited about the future. It might be another couple of years before you see us near the top of the dressage, but I think the potential is there and that he will be very competitive on the flat.”

And so, onwards.

“I have a little bit of a gap between the top three and my next bunch of horses, just because of when I had [my daughter] Ziggy,” says Ros. “I don’t have many eight- and nine-year-olds, but I have quite a lot of six- and seven-year-old horses coming through. So it will be interesting to see, and I think a lot of them have really good attributes, which is nice.

“Looking to the future, I’m still really loving it. That’s what’s important to me now. I enjoy getting on the horses, I love training the horses, and I love being at the big events – I get a kick out of the big competitions.”

That competitive drive is as strong as ever. The training side too is something Ros intends to do more of. And there’s something else Ros has her eye on for future.

“I have a slight dream of one day having a dressage horse as well…” she says.

“We all have the same goal – to become better”

Shortly before travelling to Defender Burghley, Ros Canter boxed up her five-star winners Lordships Graffalo and Izilot DHI to head from her base in Lincolnshire to Leicestershire to pop a few fences and have a “brainstorming session”.

Ros is a mentor on the Performance Mentoring Programme (PMP), founded by top coach Caroline Moore. On the riding side, it aims to give equestrians starting out in their careers all-round support, while the coaching strand is designed to give those with aspirations of one day coaching teams opportunities to further their careers.

As a mentor, Ros is there to support those on the programme. Part of its beauty, she has found, is how rewarding it is for all sides involved.

“We all chatted and bashed ideas around together – it was fantastic,” says Ros. “It’s a great bunch of people that all mutually respect each other, are very open minded and all have the same goal as wanting to become better coaches and better riders. I found it fascinating, and I learned a lot.”

Teaching and helping other riders is something Ros has done since she was young. In the busy eventing season, she tries to fit an afternoon of coaching in each week and carves out time in other places to mentor and support PMP riders where she can.

“Some of them came to stay in November to shadow me and bring a couple of horses,” says Ros, whose support also extends in other ways, such as course-walking with PMP riders at major events. “They are to use me to benefit themselves and I’m there to help.”

Ros reflects on all those who have played a role in her own career, and how beneficial it is for both riders and coaches to have a network to “bounce ideas off”.

“Caroline was keen to set something up for people that aren’t on the World Class programme, but who she felt had the right attribute to be top performers and hopefully, represent their country in the future,” she says.

“It’s fully funded and they all get training, but if somebody specifically needed a bit of help with a particular area, such as running a business, or personal training and fitness, then that could be put in place with them. It’s about opening doors for people that we think have got a lot of potential for the future to access anything that they need that can be career enhancing.”

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