May 7, 2026 
Tiana Coudray had modest expectations for the sales prospect that “struggled with the dressage.” Now they’re leading one of the world’s most prestigious five-star three-day events.
Riding the 16-year-old Cancaras Girl (Cancara x Narew XX), Coudray posted a score of 28.1 to take the overnight lead after Thursday’s dressage at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials. It’s a new personal best—with the best is yet to come, she says.
“It started a little bit rocky and she was a bit shy and making a few little mistakes and I thought, oh, we threw a point away here and we threw a point way there,” Coudray said of her test. “But actually the quality throughout was really good and, dare I say, there’s a lot more—when she does a clean test, there’ll be a lot more again, so that’s really exciting.”
The pair delivered the first nine of the day for their flying changes. “She’s always had phenomenal changes,” she continued.
When the score flashed on the board and the reality of the overnight lead sank in, Coudray could scarcely believe it.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I mean, that is absolutely ridiculous.”
That’s a understandable reaction based on their improbable start. Cancaras Girl was a Facebook find that Coudray thought had resale potential.
“She’s an absolute darling. I saw her on Facebook. She was up in Scotland,” Coudray explained. “She was just a sort of project. I thought she’d make a cute junior’s horse. So I picked her up. I thought I’d do some novices on her and sell her to a little girl.”
The sales plan never materialized. “She really struggled with the dressage. She was never flashy on the flat. So she was never worth a huge amount of money. We never sold her. We just kept going with her.”
The partnership has since matured into a seasoned five-star combination, with previous starts at Burghley, three editions of Badminton, Maryland, and Pau. But never before have they sat atop the leaderboard on the opening day of a five-star.
“I’m just so grateful that the universe made that happen or whatever,” Coudray said.
“I had a long spell of not having horses at top level and she’s the one that got me back out here. For her to go in and take the lead at Badminton is just honestly beyond ridiculous because it’s been a long, long process developing her—trainers and vets and physios, getting strength, getting suppleness. She just proves that you keep chipping away and you train them well, they really can keep growing and growing.”
Will Rawlin riding Ballycoog Breker Boy sit just 1.2 penalties behind on a score of 29.3. Bubby Upton and Cola sit third with 29.8.
Dressage continues on Friday at Badminton with with 30 more combinations to come including world no. 1 Harry Meade on Annaghmore Valoner and Cavalier Crystal, defending champion Rosalind Canter and Lordships Graffalo, and world no. 2 Tim Price and Falco.
Catch all the action on ClipMyHorse TV.
