Badminton is back! After the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Badminton Horse Trials (England) were canceled, the storied CCI5*-L returns this year, with a hefty North American contingent of competitors and 180,000 spectators expected to attend over the five days of competition.
Piggy March will return to the Badminton Horse Trials to defend her 2019 title on Vanir Kamira. Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials 2019/Kit Houghton Photo
The Schedule
(All times listed are local; England is five hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time.)
Wednesday, May 4: The first horse inspection takes place at 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 5, and Friday, May 6: Dressage is scheduled to run from approximately 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.
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Saturday, May 7: Cross-country will run from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eric Winter returns for his fourth year as the course designer, and you can preview the course here with commentary from six-time winner Lucinda Green.
Sunday, May 8: The final horse inspection will take place at 8:30 a.m. The first group of horses will show jump at approximately 11:30 a.m., with a parade of competitors at 3:05 p.m. The top 20 will show jump at 3:30 p.m., followed by a parade of those competitors and the awards ceremony at 4:45 p.m.
You can find the full schedule here.
Where you can watch: You can watch the entire competition online by purchasing a Badminton TV subscription for $26.99. The event will be broadcast live, but can also be viewed on-demand later.
The Badminton Horse Trials website also posts audio clips with interviews and commentaries, as well as podcast episodes about the event. You can also listen online to commentary and interviews during the event on Radio Badminton.
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Who’s entered: Eighty-five combinations will start. Click here to see the current entry list and wait list. Riders are limited to two horses, so those with multiple entries accepted will select which horses they will ride before the first horse inspection.
The defending Badminton winners from 2019, Great Britain’s Piggy March and Vanir Kamira, are back to try to retain their title. Several five-star winners are in the field, including Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class, Laura Collett and London 52, Tim Price with Ringwood Sky Boy and Jonelle Price with Classic Moet, and current World Champions Ros Canter and Allstar B.
Seven American combinations have been accepted: Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby, Phillip Dutton and Z, Tamie Smith and Mai Baum, Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan, Will Faudree and Mama’s Magic Way, Matthew Flynn and Wizzerd, and Emily Hamel and Corvett. U.S.-based Australian rider Dom Schramm will be taking Bolytair B, and Canada will be represented by Karl Slezak on Fernhill Wishes and British-based Mike Winter on El Mundo.
British-based U.S. rider Tiana Coudray is also on the wait list with Cancaras Girl.
Heard, Smith, Flynn, Hamel, Schramm, Winter and Slezak are all Badminton first-timers.
Want to get to know them better? Go behind the stall door with us to meet some of the horses entered:
