Bramham: West Yorkshire rider competes at international horse trials for first time at senior level

She competed here with the Pony Club back in 2017 but returns to compete against almost 80 other entrants in the CCI4* short format which features dressage on Thursday and Friday, show Jumping on Saturday morning followed by cross country on Saturday afternoon.

While she says with it being her first time at the event, one of the highlights of the international equestrian calendar having first started in 1974, she just hopes for her and her horse to return safely – the university student can’t help but admit, she has eyes on competition beyond Bramham too.

Miss Milner-Moor is studying Science of Sport Performance and Analysis at Leeds Beckett University and is applying that knowledge to her own training and preparation for competition.

She said: “My mum used to ride, she is horsey and did Pony Club when she was younger and I got into horses and ponies in general. It was mum that pushed me into Pony Club and I joined when I was about 11 or 12. I would not have got into shows if I had not been in pony club.

“My coach, Sue Shadwell, she rode at Badminton and Burleigh back in the day. She is my mentor and will be there at Bramham as well. She got me into it and I caught the buzz so to speak for it and have not looked back since.

"I am so so excited. I have been around there for a long time, I did not realise I would actually be doing it. When I put in the entry I was so excited - it is very special."

Miss Milner-Moor will be competing on May Bell, an 11 year-old mare she has been riding with for the last five or six years.

She has another horse, Jack, who is six years-old and she hopes he will also eventually be a good competitor.

She said: “With any kind of horse you need to build up a relationship. When I got her she was six, so five years ago, and came from a friend of ours, Neil Fox (he used to ride at Bramham and Badminton) and wanted to find the right person for her.

“Mares can be quite difficult but when you establish a relationship, the horse will do anything for you.

"She loves a big atmosphere. It is the first time at that level so it is going to be a ‘see how it goes kind of thing’. I would like to come home safe and sound - that is the main aim with anything.

“She gets excited about the cross country so I have to stay very calm. Dressage is about being relaxed so I try and keep her as relaxed as possible but she loves jumping. That is her main thing and tends to excel at that phase.

"Jack is very different to May Bell. Horses teach you something new every day. Having Jack has been different. He is very talented and I hope he will step up when the time is right. He is big so taking a bit longer to progress. He is very special.”

Miss Milner-Moore’s preparation for Bramham may have been better than most thanks to an arena that the family have had built at home in Wakefield where they keep their horses.

It has been "life-changing” she said, and has allowed her to keep training, despite bad weather which has kept some riders and horses indoors.

Rather than have to load horses and kit up and travel to train, she has been able to step outside and do it – albeit under the watchful eye of mum Bridget.

Miss Milner-Moor joked: “You can literally see the arena from the kitchen window and she is usually at the window telling me what I am doing. She has her hands on her hips and I need to do it again.”

After Bramham, May Bell will have some time off due to the intensity of the build-up and competition and will then do a few local shows perhaps before a bigger one towards the end of the year.

When she is not competing or at home training, Miss Milner-Moor is studying and looking at all elements to get the best from herself and her horses.

She added: “Everything is a work in progress at the moment. It is both of our first time and I would like to have a good, confident round that will set us up for next season.

"I feed a lot (of university work) back into what I do - it is very helpful. We look at performance analysis and use university and state of the art equipment. We will test how much energy you get per litre of oxygen for example.

“ We are athletes at the end of the day. Both of us need to be happy and healthy to get results.”