Levett leaves the rest standing

Young riders with championship ambitions dominate the international podiums

- By ELLIE HUGHES

JOSHUA LEVETT enjoyed a red letter weekend when he dominated a sizeable CCI3*-S, winning with his long-term partner, This Ones On You, and finishing fourth with a more recent acquisition, Huberthus AC. Both horses, who were previously competed by Josh’s father Bill Levett to advanced and five-star levels respectively, finished on their dressage scores.

“There's only one ‘Bert’ - he does things his own way, but he always gets them done,” said Josh of his winning partner, who despite an occasional disdain for dressage - “he can get quite grumpy and shake his head and swish his tail a bit” - knuckled down and delivered a foot-perfect performance from to start to finish.

Josh, 20, who took over the ride on Elisabeth Murdoch's 16-year-old five years ago, won last year's young rider national championship at Bicton. The pair were selected for the 2024 young rider European squad, but were eliminated after the dressage for a boot rub.

“I'd definitely like the opportunity to make amends this year,” said Josh. “Bert felt really up for it all weekend and was mega. He loves the cross-country, especially jumping into water, and he absolutely launched over the brush into water here.”