May 9, 2026 
This Sunday is Mother’s Day in North America, but Ros Canter is celebrating a version of her own in Great Britain.
The newly minted mother of two—Canter gave birth to her second daughter in January—held onto her overnight lead at the MARS Badminton Horse Trials on Saturday with a fault-free cross-country performance aboard veteran partner Lordships Graffalo.
The pair is defending their 2025 title at the five star this week. Canter was quick to credit her team for keeping “Walter” fit while she was out of the saddle, and her mom for helping her return to it.
“I feel very proud,” she said in the post-round interview. “Not just of myself, but of the team I have around me. They’re the ones that enabled me to do this. I didn’t sit on Walter until well into February this year, and my guys at home, they’ve done all the fitness work with him. They put the hours in.
“And my amazing mum, who’s been through a huge amount this year and she has just carried on and she’s just worked harder and harder. She gets up earlier and earlier to make my dreams come true.”
Canter and the 14-year-old British Sport Horse were one of only five double clears on the day. While they made it look easy on Eric Winter’s cross-country track, she said the mental game was anything but.
“I’m incredibly grateful to [Walter]—to have a horse that allows me to [compete] at this level not maybe feeling at my best but with the belief that I can do it because I’m on him,” she shared.
“Physically, I’m not up to where I was. But [Walter] makes my life quite easy—it wasn’t going to be a massive physical battle out there for me. So I was fairly confident about that. Mentally, I felt good all week. It’s just the time. The time isn’t there. I’m feeding a baby. I’m doing things like that. It was a question to myself: could I do it without having those moments by myself that I normally get?“
The answer was a resounding, yes.
Heading into Sunday’s show jumping phase, the Brit has a rail and two time faults in hand ahead of runner-ups Harry Meade and Annaghmore Valoner (30.3), and two rails over Sarah Bullimore and Corimiro (32.1)—both of whom also produced double clears.
She and Walter are now on the cusp of Badminton history. If they can leave the sticks up to win on Sunday, they’ll become the first pair to win Badminton three times and the only combination to have also won Burghley CCI5*-L twice.
“He’s just amazing. He pricks his ears and says, ‘I’ve got it mum,’ but he never tows me through. He never tows me onto a difficult spot. He’s always light in his gallop and he enables me to get myself into a position where I believe I can be one of the fastest riders in the world.”
The 2026 edition of Badminton Horse Trials concludes Sunday with show jumping and is streaming on ClipMyHorse TV.
