One of Australia’s top eventing riders, Sammi Birch, has now been based in the UK for many years but it will be her first time competing at Scone Palace International Horse Trials next week (27th – 30th August 2026).
Sammi will be riding the 10-year-old Parkfield Artie Blou in the CCI4*-S at the beautiful Scottish event where she hopes not only to have a good few days of eventing but also enjoy some of the shopping, hospitality and beautiful location as she has the luxury of competing just one horse.
“I’ve never ridden there before but really looking forward to going up. I’ve seen pictures and videos of it on socials and the ground looks amazing” Sammi told us.
“Parkfield Artie Blou is a horse I’ve been riding for a little while. Laura Collett rode him whilst I was pregnant, but I’ve had him since he was six years old, he’s very talented but not always the easiest, so we’re trying to channel that talent into him becoming the horse I think he’ll be in the future.
“He has hasn’t done many events and is definitely not consolidated at this level so the plan is to go up there for the good ground and get some experience for him around a nice track; that will should set him up well for a another 4*-S at the end of the year and then hopefully a 4*-L in the spring
“I’m actually going to be flying up to Scone Palace with my mum and we’re going to make a nice weekend of it, as I’ve only got the one horse there. Anton Turnwald, a lovely Kiwi who works with us, will be grooming for me so he’s taking Parkfield Artie Blou in Tom Rowland’s lorry
“I don’t have high expectations of his results at Scone Palace and don’t really expect him to be competitive – I’m really going there to give him a good experience. But we’re really looking forward to this event, we’ve heard so many good things about it from last all the riders there last year. Obviously, because it has been so dry, it has been a struggle with the ground in England this year, so we’re hoping to have some good ground and a really fun course to ride at Scone Palace”
Sammi is one of over 100 entries in the CCI4*-S class at Scone Palace International including all three members of Britain’s Paris 2024 Olympic and Aachen 2026 World Championship gold medal-winning eventing team - Laura Collett, Tom McEwen and Ros Canter.
It will be a hotly contested competition with other competitors such as Tokyo Olympics team gold medallist Oliver Townend riding Sommersby, World Number One Tim Price (Libero D), Scotland’s leading event rider Wills Oakden (Keep It Cooley) and Emily King (Valmy Biats and Mellow Lane).
Olympian Clarke Johnstone (Cooley Stirling and the former racehorse Sparky Lad, winner of the £50,000 ARC Racehorse to Eventer Challenge Cup at Cornbury House Horse Trials in 2025) is another of the Kiwi clan competing and Australia’s Kevin McNab and Christine Bates, recently arrived in the UK, will be joining Sammi as competitors in this class.
For more information, including a full timetable, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.sconehorsetrials.com
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