William Fox-Pitt: Defending champion out of Badminton

William Fox-Pitt is Britain's most successful rider with 20 major championship medals.

Defending champion and Britain's former world number one William Fox-Pitt has withdrawn from next month's Badminton Horse Trials.

Fox-Pitt, 47, made the decision after his intended Badminton ride, Parklane Hawk, fell at a cross-country event at Weston Park earlier this month.

In a message posted on his website he said: "I have decided that we have run out of time for Badminton."

He won Badminton last year aboard the stallion Chilli Morning.

Fox-Pitt, Britain's most successful rider with 20 major championship medals, was placed in an induced coma after a serious fall in France last October.

The 2016 Badminton Horse Trials take place between 4-8 May.