The order was drawn for the 2023 Badminton Horse Trials, set to run Thursday May 4th-Monday May 8th, the dates adjusted for the Coronation of King Charles on May 6th.
Trailblazer Wills Oakden will be kicking off this year’s Badminton Horse Trials. Wills, riding for Great Britain, has two entries, Arklow Puissance and Oughterard Cooley.
Wills Oakden and Arklow Puissance. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Three American riders are scheduled for a run at Badminton, and are set to run middle of the pack.
Lauren Nicholson and Vermiculus. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Lauren Nicholson has drawn 28th with her 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games and 2022 FEI Eventing World Championship partner, Anglo Arabian gelding Vermiculus. This duo has been seen at Kentucky, Burghley, Luhmühlen, Fair Hill, and World Championships, but this will be their first run at Badminton together.
Katherine Coleman and Monbeg Senna finished 5th in the CCI3*-L. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.
For their 5* debut, Katherine Coleman and 13 year old Irish Sport Horse gelding Monbeg Senna will be 42nd. While a first 5* for the duo, this partnership enters Badminton having completed a handful of 4* events, with a 5th place finish in the CCI4*L at Strzegom in 2022.
Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
And last for our American riders, Lillian Heard and long time partner LCC Barnaby will head in to their twelfth 5* start as 46th to go. With five top-twenty finishes at the 5* level in their career so far, we saw them most recently at Stable View in the CCI4*S where they finished in 18th.
All involved in the Horse Trials have been working hard, especially to combat the rainy weather that England has seen. Catch up with the 2023 Course Designer Eric Winter to hear what final preparations are looking like…
You can find the event schedule on the Badminton website, as well as keep an eye here for more news and updates as we get closer to the event, just a few weeks away!
[Click here to view the current 2023 Badminton entry list]
[Click here to catch up on EN’s coverage of Badminton]
