It ends Townend’s 12-month reign at the top.

Canter, 33, is the first woman to top the rankings since fellow Briton Mary King held the world number one slot back in 2011.

Over the past seven years they have been dominated by four men – New Zealand’s Andrew Nicholson, Great Britain’s Townend and William Fox-Pitt, and Germany’s Michael Jung.

Canter and mount Allstar B clinched victory at last year’s FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon in the United States and treated fans to a thrilling performance to secure team and individual gold medals.

In 2017, Canter was also part of the gold medal-winning team at the FEI European Eventing Championships in Strzegom in Poland.

"It is very exciting for me as not many people can say they have been world number one," Canter said.

"I didn’t think it would ever happen, in the main because I’ve not had a string of horses at the top level.

"However, we have been improving.

"We have gone from fairly average results to very competitive in recent years."

Expecting her first child in July this year, Canter will not be competing at the FEI European Eventing Championships which are scheduled to take place from August 28 to September 1 in Luhmühlen in Germany.

Her sights are set, however, on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where she hopes to be a strong contender.

Townend has dropped to third place in the FEI Eventing World Athlete Rankings.

He has 529 points to second-placed New Zealander Tim Price's 550.

Canter leads the way on 564 points.

Completing the top six are Britain's Piggy French, Tom McEwen and Gemma Tattersall.

The full FEI World Eventing Rankings can be viewed by clicking here. 

They are updated on a monthly basis.