The English language just doesn’t seem to have sufficient words to adequately describe the feat Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo pulled off at the Defender Burghley CCI5*-L in Lincolnshire, England, this past weekend. Even Canter herself struggled to find something new to say about “Walter,” who just won his fourth five-star in five appearances at the level. (His only non-win was a second-place finish during his five-star debut in 2022, behind London 52 and Laura Collett.)

“I really hope he will go down as a legend of our time and a legend of the sport, not only for the performances he gives, but his character as well. He is an unbelievable horse to have at home,” she said of Archie and Michele Saul’s 13-year-old British Sport Horse gelding (Birkhof’s Grafenstolz TSF—Cornish Queen, Rock King). “He absolutely thrives on these occasions. I could have dropped the reins and waved at the crowd for 15 minutes and he would just have thoroughly enjoyed himself. I don’t think there are many horses in the world that would do that.”

To help put the pair’s latest victory into context, we turned to the folks at EquiRatings. When words fail, go to the people who can describe the pair’s feat in numbers.

Canter and Walter also won at Burghley in 2024—on a record low score, nonetheless—which already puts them in elite company. Only two other horses have been repeat winners at the event—Priceless, ridden by Ginny Leng of Great Britain, who won in 1983 and 1985; and Avebury, ridden by Andrew Nicholson of New Zealand, who won in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

But Walter is the only horse to have been a repeat winner at both Burghley and the Mars Badminton CCI5*-L, which he won in his two consecutive appearances, in 2023 and 2025. (They did not contest the event in 2024; focusing instead on the Paris Olympics, where they were part of the gold-medal British team). Carter is one of just six riders to win Badminton twice on the same horse, and the first to do it in more than 20 years. The others repeat winners are Frank Weldon on Kilbarry (1955 and 1956), Sheila Willcox on High And Mighty (1957 and 1958), then-Lt. Mark Phillips on Great Ovation (1971 and 1972), Ian Stark on Sir Wattie (1986 and 1988; the 1987 event was canceled) and Pippa Funnell on Supreme Rock (2002 and 2003).

Only one other horse has won consecutive Burghley-Badminton-Burghley events: Priceless, ridden by Leng, who won Badminton in 1985.

Walter’s win at Burghley last year set a new record-low final penalty score: 23.6. Amazingly, they matched that feat over the weekend, scoring 22.4 in dressage and adding 1.2 time penalties in show jumping to finish on the exact same final score. Their winning margin of 9 penalties over Ireland’s Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue was the largest in the modern era of the event, since roads and tracks and steeplechase were dropped in 2006.

Walter has never had a rail in show jumping at the five-star level, and his only cross-country time penalties came during a particularly muddy and challenging year in 2023, where their 11.6 time penalties were still the second best of the day, behind only O’Connor and Colorado Blue, who had 10.6 time penalties and went on to finish third that year.

Both this year and last, the pair sat second after dressage, but took the lead after cross-country. In 2024, Walter was second (22.0) to Canter’s other ride, Izilot DHI (19.9) who retired on cross-country after a run-out. In 2025, Canter and Walter were just 0.4 penalties behind dressage leader Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent (22.0), who had a glance-off at a corner and finished 12th.

Canter and Walter were the only pair to make the optimum time on cross-country at this year’s event. Thirty pairs completed the course from a field of 50 starters, with 19 clear rounds.

Being in the pole position after cross-country at Burghley is a good place to be, as every leading pair but one since 2013 went on to win the event.

With the Burghley win, Walter has now completed five five-stars, never placing worse than second. And in that first Badminton appearance, where they finished second to Tokyo Olympic team gold medalists Collett and London 52, Walter still performed faultlessly, finishing on his dressage score of 26.0. Canter confirmed that she plans to head back to Badminton in 2026. For the record, no horse has won Badminton three times … yet.