Murphy makes it look Easy
British Showjumping Spring Championships, Northcote Stud, Lancashire
DESPITE being second-last to perform in the jump-off, 22-year-old Lancashire rider Robert Murphy and Julie Andrews’ How Easy kept their heads firmly in the game to triumph in the winter 1.35m championship final.
Easy, a Talan 10-year-old bay gelding, manoeuvred impressively tight turns while searching for long strides on the approaches with Robert in perfect harmony, to finish on a time of 42.12sec. It was just enough to inch Nigel Coupe and Drewmain Cedric’s time of 42.37sec into second spot.
After watching earlier combinations roll the last fence, Robert knew how to tackle this specific jump-off situation.
“It was a fairly long course so I knew I had to stay calculated,” he said. “There were some tight turns to technical jumps, so I kept everything neat and tidy while moving on quick enough. Some of the earlier riders went fast and had the last down, so I tried to keep my head as
