A cross-country machine who’d take off on the road out hacking: five-star horse put down

McFly, who completed Burghley and was on the British squad at the young rider Europeans with Nicola Robertson (née Malcolm), has been put down aged 22.

Nicola only had one season of experience eventing at pre-novice (BE100) level when she teamed up with McFly, and her aim was to compete in the one-star (now two-star) at Blair. But the pair ended up finishing 16th in the young rider European Championships in 2007, were in the top 16 twice in the under-25 CCI3* (now CCI4*-L) at Bramham and completed Burghley in 2010. They also finished the cross-country at Badminton 2011 with 20 jumping penalties, though withdrew before showjumping.

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Article written by: Pippa Roome