As a nation we love to get out and attend key events across the calendar year whether that is the Cheltenham Race Festival in March, the Grand National or the Boat Race in April or Wimbledon in July. Certain dates get marked off on calendars at the start of each year and people turn out, sometimes in their thousands, to support these wondrous spectacles.
Badminton Horse Trials features amongst these and in 2024 it celebrated its 75th Anniversary. First started in 1949 by the 10th Duke of Beaufort, Badminton has since grown to become one of the world’s greatest equestrian events. Classified by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) as a five star event, it draws the top three day event riders from across the globe.
Located in South Gloucestershire, every May thousands of spectators gather in the 1500 acre grounds of Badminton House, the current home of the 12th Duke of Beaufort, Henry John FitzRoy Somerset, to watch this magnificent test of horse and rider unfold.
Badminton is one of only six competitions in the world to have the CCI 5 Star rating. The season starts with the Kentucky Three-Day Event in the USA on the last weekend of April closely followed by Badminton in early May. Horses and riders then travel to Luhmühlen Horse Trials in Germany in June, before returning, in early September, to the UK for the Burghley Horse Trials. Crossing the channel they then compete at Pau in France in October and then finish the season at the Australian International Three Day Event in November.
2024 is even more significant given it is an Olympics year so worldwide riders are under scrutiny as they take on firstly the dressage test across Thursday and Friday before the cross country course on Saturday and finally the showjumping on Sunday.
Three combinations and a travelling reserve will be selected to represent Team GB in Paris – all three combinations will contest the team and individual medals. A list of twelve nominated combinations, including three reserve combinations, will be announced in late May. From this list, the final squad of three plus the travelling reserve will be chosen in June.
Prior to the start of Badminton Oliver Townend, the current world number one, was favourite to take the win on his horse Ballaghmor Class. Having won Burghley the previous September on this horse and then secured a win at Kentucky on Cooley Rosalent he was up for the Rolex Grand Slam. Only two other riders have previously achieved this feat by winning all these three five star events in succession. Unfortunately Oliver had to withdraw his horse before the dressage due to an ailment leaving the three day event wide open for other competitors.
I have been going to Badminton since I was a child. When my interest in horses began at the tender age of eight it wasn’t long before I was competing locally in showjumping competitions and starting to become interested in cross country. I still remember my first Badminton, it’s ingrained in my memory, because my heroine, at the time, Lucinda Prior-Palmer (later Lucinda Green) won her first Badminton on Be Fair. She was only nineteen years old! She went on to win the event five more times and still holds the record for the most amount of wins here.
I had no idea what to expect on that first visit but my Dad took me along and together we walked the course. There are around 45 individual jumps, including the combinations, across four miles. In those early days of visiting Badminton wandering around the shopping village was not on the agenda. We didn’t live in that price bracket. It was solely about watching the horses, drinking in the atmosphere and looking out for your favourite riders. I’m pretty sure my Dad didn’t pay for our tickets back in the day. His brother -Michael lived nearby and worked on the Badminton Estate so I’m guessing he helped my Dad and his pony mad daughter out with some complimentary tickets.
Once I left home at the age of eighteen my visits to Badminton became a rare occurrence and I didn’t return to the sport until I was a Mum myself and took my own children along. Since then I’ve tried to go as often as possible and this year was no exception.
The cross-country day at Badminton attracts crowds of up to a quarter of a million and is the second largest in the world for money made (after the Indianapolis 500) but despite this for those wishing to attend it isn’t a cheap day out. Tickets this year were £52.50 per person plus £21 for car parking =£126 for a day out for two!
All tickets now have to be bought in advance. They are slightly cheaper if bought before April 1st but with UK weather being what it is you can be taking a huge gamble if you do this. Walking around Badminton in soggy jeans, muddy boots and an all weather style jacket isn’t much fun in my book.
As it was, the sun finally made an appearance and the day dawned bright and warm. Over the years since I’ve been an adult myself I’ve got into a bit of a routine and tend to get there by 9 o’clock when the shopping village opens.
I make a direct beeline for a programme, closely followed by a check on the up to date score board to see who the overnight winner is following the dressage. This year the reigning Badminton champion Ros Canter (GB) on Izilot DHI delivered a brilliant dressage score of 25.3 to secure first place, followed by Bubby Upton (GB) with 27.3 and then Tim Price, from New Zealand with 27.7.
Next to the scoreboard you can then pick up the list of horses and riders for today’s cross country. Armed with all the necessary information I then tend to go and explore the shops. Most of these, as you can imagine, are geared around the world of horse and rider, which for me is now a distant memory but I will drift in and out of some of the clothing merchandisers and always make a point of visiting The Craft Tent.
Allowing enough time to return to the main arena for the start of the cross country at 11.30 a.m. I finish my tour in the Food Area. There is usually a wide variety of foods to pick from. This year there were over 100 street food vendors serving dishes from around the world. Options included woodfired pizza, tacos, bao buns, Greek wraps, Japanese street food and much more!
Again this wasn’t always the plan, in the past Dad and I wouldn’t arrive so early. We were there purely to watch the horses and riders and would usually retreat to his vehicle to eat our home made sandwiches and flask of tea around lunchtime whilst taking a short break from watching the cross country.
Having watched the first ten riders set off from the main arena hubby and I set off to walk part of the course. With hospital and a major operation still looming for him we didn’t want to overstretch ourselves and commit to the whole thirty two fences.
The cross country at Badminton this year is governed by the great British weather. It feels like it’s not stopped raining since October, as a result the ground is saturated. Despite a few sunnier days in the run up to today the ground is still sticky. Riders will need to take care and, as previously mentioned, with the Olympics looming they won’t be taking any chances. Badminton may be a five star event but nothing overshadows the chance to compete for your country at the Olympics or the welfare of your horse! A rider and their horse are very much in tune with each other. They know each other inside and out and the riders will, no doubt, be totally on their game in terms of horsemanship so they make the right decision for their horse.
Fences One and Thirty Two are in the main arena whilst the rest of the fences loom thick and fast as the course takes an anti clockwise route around the grounds. We head out to fence twelve with the intention of then following the course to jump twenty nine before returning into the arena to watch the remaining competitors come home. The first thing we notice is that the change in weather has brought thousands of spectators out. It seems a lot busier than normal. My interest is in watching the skills of the horse and rider as they attempt to jump the fences and I love to get at least one photo at each fence. Hubby loves photography and has brought a longer lens so he can snap off some real action photos.
Maybe because we aren’t committed to walking the whole course this year, and thus are in no great hurry, I start to notice elements of society behaviour that I would perhaps normally walk past without a glance. Firstly I’m slightly bewildered by the amount of people that are having picnics on the grass in between the fences. They aren’t watching the action at all. I understand the need to take a break, stop and eat but it’s obvious that a lot of these picnickers have been there all day. The empty bottles of wine and champagne, the leftover food lying around, in some cases the sunburning bodies and general frivolity. I must be getting old because I just don’t get it. What’s the point in being here if you have no interest in the primary reason for Badminton -world class horsemanship?
My second observation is the dress attire of some visitors. Maybe I’m old fashioned but Badminton to me has always been about the “country look”. Whether that is a pair of old jeans, last year’s Badminton polo shirt and a good pair of boots or the more classy Tatler uniform of an old family Barbour, muddy Le Chameaus and a black Labrador in tow.
Today I see less country set and more summer dresses. White cotton old English lacy dresses with flat strappy sandals for example. This isn’t a beach in Koh Samui it’s a series of grassy and sometimes muddy fields! Twice during the day I am inadvertently given a full sideways view of a breast where the young lady concerned hasn’t ensured that her top is close fitting enough to avoid such a malfunction. Again I’m bewildered, this is not the Badminton I’ve come to grow and love?
Making our way back to the arena as planned, we walk past the southern end of the tented shopping village and are quite frankly amazed by the amount of people sat around the Big Screen. Again I’m at a loss. Why pay over £100 per couple to come into Badminton to sit, eat and drink (often to excess) in front of a Big Screen watching the cross country unfold. Why not invite a group of friends around to your house, lay on an extravagant buffet complete with unlimited booze and watch it on your 65 or maybe 98 inch television screen at home?
Winding our way past the parked cars “tale gate picnics” are in abundance. This I understand but on the odd occasion we pass a large picnic table with seats for 6-8 people, the table laden with a massive lunch of every conceivable delicacy obviously purchased from Marks and Spencer, Waitrose or the local village delicatessen or purchased in Chelsea that morning. Champagne flows freely, the chat and laughter loud and sometimes boisterous. Again any thoughts about the horsemanship being delivered on the course is far from their minds. Why are you here? Why don’t you set up your picnic on the vast lawn at home and save yourself the entry fee or maybe the entry fee is so inconsequential to them it’s irrelevant.
Finally just before we reach the entrance to the main arena we hear endless barking, whining and whimpers and realise there is a dog creche. Open from 9am until 5 pm each day this tent of dog crates is evidently on offer to those who, for whatever reason, choose to bring their dog with them but don’t wish to actually walk them around.
The cost is £5 per dog per hour up to a maximum of four hours. This turns out to be my final astonishment. Not the cost or even the noise emanating from within but why? Just why? Badminton is full of dogs on leads and always has been. I don’t really understand why you would give your dog the excitement of being here and then lock it up in a dog crate? Wouldn’t the poor canine have been better off at home?
Making it to the main arena we manage to watch the final half a dozen horses go out onto the course before returning afterwards. Not one horse makes it round on time. 62 horses started the cross country but by the end of the day, 9 combinations were eliminated and 12 retired, including the dressage leader Ros Canter so only two thirds make it to the end.
Tim Price (NZ) goes into the final showjumping phase on Sunday as the overnight leader, followed closely by William Fox-Pitt (GB) who at the age of 55 has announced this is his final curtain. 25 years after he made his first appearance here and having come back from a major head injury less than nine years ago he is stepping aside.
In contrast in current third place is 27-year-old Badminton first-timer Lucy Latta from Ireland, a one-horse rider who holds down a full-time job in a drinks marketing company; she rose from 46th place on RCA Patron Saint after dressage with the fastest round of the day, finishing just one second over the optimum time of 11 minutes 19 seconds.
Tomorrow’s showjumping takes place in the main arena, no doubt with a capacity crowd. Tickets for this final phase are bought in advance in order to secure a seat in the arena.
As we drive away I actually feel quite tired but, at the same time, there is that inner sense of having watched something momentous and, at times, amazing as together the horse and rider produce a carefully created partnership. Until next year………………………………….
NB:
This is my first post on key events to attend in the UK. I have plans to visit additional famous events over the next 12 months so look out for additional posts in the future. Please like and/or comment at will. Maybe there is somewhere you’ve always fancied going and would like a preview, just let me know
A Midlife Adventure 