Olympian equestrian Andrew Zeffernan sets course for Defender Bramham International Horse Trials

Having been a professional rider for more than 20 years, representing The Netherlands at Olympic, World and European Championships as well as competing at Badminton and Burghley, Heffernan has also had first-hand experience of the Bramham Park turf having ridden round as a competitor on six occasions, including a top ten finish in 2010.

It’s this experience that Heffernan intends to bring to the fore when setting the course, which is renowned for being particularly challenging, partly due to the undulating terrain.

He said: “I don’t think it needs to be more testing, historically it’s been quite a good blend of positivity combined with accuracy, and if I’m really honest I’m going to try and stick with the same format. I definitely don’t want it to become more challenging, but equally I don’t want it to be dumbed down, I want it to be a proper four-star test. In my first year the combinations and things like that will be different, but the sponsor fences should pretty much remain the same. Once I’ve got a little bit of a feel for it I will make some slightly more dramatic changes for 2026.”

Getting design experience at national level has quickly developed into involvement at international events. Heffernan has qualified to four-star level under the mentorship and guidance of Stark, and Bramham course builder David Evans, who will continue to work at Bramham Park.

The challenge ahead is something Andrew is clearly relishing; “Excited doesn’t even come close to the way I feel about taking on the role as designer at Bramham,” he said. “I’m extremely grateful that Nick and Rachel Lane Fox and Nick Pritchard have shown so much belief in me and given me what can only be described as a career changing opportunity. To take over the reins from someone like Ian Stark is a huge honour. He has helped me enormously over the years with my designing and I’m hoping he will be there for me to lean on for a good few years to come! Bramham is a unique venue. With its topography and terrain, it is a course designer’s dream and the team at Bramham has been so welcoming, I really can’t wait to get cracking.”

Heffernan has shadowed Ian and David for the last two years at Bramham Park and has developed a good working knowledge of the park and it’s many features – and he and David have already been out planning for next year."

This year’s event saw two water combinations and alternatives at the more challenging fences, while every effort was made to provide the best possible going.

Heffernan said: “Ian Stark who has gone before me at Bramham is an amazing designer and did a fantastic job. What’s exciting for me is that everyone is different, so I can maybe bring some different dimensions to it. The undulating nature of the course, with steep inclines in places, makes it more challenging to come up with ideas and design due to the need to be aware of what will suit the horses, not all of which are thoroughbreds. The terrain makes you consider what you are going to do in a certain place in the course and where they are going to recover.”

More recently, Heffernan has expanded into elite coaching, team management and cross-country course designing. He and wife Millie are based at the expansive competition, schooling and livery venue Somerford Park Farm, run by Millie and her family, and it’s here his love of course designing began.

He added: “All the different roles that I have probably complement each other. They make you a little more aware of riders and horses abilities and a little more open-minded.”

Champion of this year’s Defender CCI4*-L at Bramham Harry Meade has given the appointment his endorsement; “With its gentle undulations and the bold designs of Ian Stark, Bramham has long been one of the best events in the calendar as well as one of the few that truly prepares horses for five-star level. With Ian’s retirement, it’s great news that his protégé Andrew Heffernan will take over at Bramham, and I’m sure that Andy will continue this same language of design that so successfully encourages forward riding. We’ll look forward to tackling this next chapter in Bramham’s story,” he commented.

The box office for next year’s event opens on December 1.