Like many sports, Mounted Games was invented in Britain and subsequently given to the world. However, unlike most of those other sports, Britain still dominates the world of Mounted Games. In its short but eventful history, British riders have won every World title to have been contested, be it at Individual, Pairs or Team level.

The first of the World titles to be contested this year was the individual version. The competition was held between the 18th and 23rd July in Newark-on-Trent. At the same competition last year, the top 46 places were occupied by British riders. In 47th position was Jens Martin of Luxembourg and this year he once again entered the fray against the best of Britain.

The standard of the competition was exceptional. As expected, all 8 of the finalists were British and the performances they delivered were breathtaking. The lead changed hands many times during the final between defending two times World Champion Jonathan Barnett, Christian Jones of Wales and the only female representative in the final, 17 year old Nicola Leese. Going into the last race, Nicola held a one point advantage over Jonathan but her lack of experience told as the pressure took its toll and she made an academic mistake which cost her not only the title but also the runners up spot. Jonathan Barnett claimed his 3rd World title, Christian Jones came second and Nicola took third.

As for Jens Martin, he put in solid performances in his qualifying heats, it was never going to be enough to get into the semi-finals but then not even he would have thought that possible. Strangely enough though, the result was the same as last year, he came 47th out of a field of 64, beating all other non-British entrants along the way.