surrey event
BADMINTON B
HORSE TRIALS
adminton Horse Trials was recently honoured as the Best Event of the Year 2014 – Eventing in a vote carried out via the magazine Horse International. It is particularly significant as the award is the choice of riders, owners, trainers and all at the pinnacle of the sport. “Badminton is known worldwide as the premier Event of its type, but to have the endorsement of those most involved at this highest level is a very welcome accolade,” the organising team commented.
Badminton Horse Trials has a long and proud history. It was the idea of the 10th Duke of Beaufort to organise an event on his estate to train British riders for future international events. At the time it was advertised as the most important horse event in Britain. It was the second three-day event held here, the first being the 1948 Olympics from which the Duke took his inspiration, and eight of the 22 starters failed to complete the cross-country course.
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surreymagazineonline.co.uk
Badminton was home to the first European Championships in 1953, won by Major Laurence Rook on Starlight XV. In 1955, at the invitation of HM The Queen, Badminton moved to Windsor Castle for a year, to hold the second European Championships. The Horse Trials were first televised a year later. In 1959, due to the popularity of the event and the number of entries, Badminton was held in two sections, called the Great and Little Badminton. The horses in the two sections jumped the same fences but were separated into the two sections based on their money winnings. This graded approach was abandoned in 1965. Badminton is held in the six square kilometre (1500 acre) area of Badminton Park where the car parks, trade stands, arena and cross country courses are located. For the first ten years the dressage and show jumping were held on the old cricket ground in front of Badminton House but moved in 1959 due to mud after torrential rain. In 1966, 1975, 1967 and 2012 the event was cancelled
completely due to such causes as bad weather and waterlogged ground. In 2001 it was cancelled due to foot and mouth disease and 1963 it was down-graded to a one-day event due to weather conditions. Badminton is now home to the 11th Duke of Beaufort who is President of the Horse Trials and was himself a very successful rider in the sport, being placed second in 1959. When Golden Willow won the first Badminton competition in 1949 there were 22 riders from Great Britain and Ireland. In 2014, some 65 years later, 85 horses were on the starting list with more on the waiting list hoping for a start. Only 32 pairs could finish the course in 2014. No question – this is one of the most challenging courses in the world. The cross country day at Badminton attracts crowds of up to quarter of a million, which is the largest for any paid entry sport event in the United Kingdom.
Tickets for 2015 are now on sale. For full details please visit the website at
www.badminton-horse.co.uk
Calling all Surrey horse lovers! Highlight of the Season, the 2015 Badminton Horse Trials will take place from Wednesday 6th May to Sunday 10th May in the Park of Badminton House, the south Gloucestershire seat of the Duke of Beaufort.
Photograph courtesy of Kit Houghton
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