To be fair, Zara falls off xc quite a lot! We go to a good few big events and its become a standing joke for us that she always falls off when my husband is there (he wasnt there yesterday so cant be blamed!)
Watching the highlights again, it just shows that a lot of the good riders, bith early and later, rode lovely over the tricky fences. But they clearly had a lot of control and were able to check horses back before the big fences and really set up. Most of the riders that came a cropper hurtled at the fences on long, often wrong, strides.. I dont even think hunting would help them (I bet a lot already hunt), it was the technical fences which were unlike anything you'd find hunting that caused the problems.
Id like to see this course left much as it is (apart from the white gates) and have Tina Cook, Nicola Wilson, Andrew Nicholson, Ros Canter, Tom McEwan, Harry Meade, Micheal Yung, Ingrid, Astier Nicolas (and anyone else that level Ive missed) go round it next year. I bet it would have been a really good Burghley with a totally different xc day if the field hadnt been so inexperienced. I think Burghley needs criticism for not pulling up a few riders that were consistantly bad at several fences before they fell, but not for the course.
Anyway, Im pleased the top 3 stayed the same. Id quite liked Piggy to have been able to do the grandslam though... Pippa may not have been as elegant in her jumping phases, but she worked hard to get that young horse round, and her dressage was stunning.