Top-two selfie at Badminton: Tim Price and Paul Tapner celebrate at the press conference.
Dare I say that this is one of the toughest four-star tracks we will see in the post-long format era? Riders were concerned from the get go about the size of the course and nature of the questions, and the rain that’s been falling all week only upped the ante, making for sloppy going that led to tired horses from very early on.
I’ve been following the reaction to the course all day on social media, and the general outcry from the public seems to be that this course was unfair to the horses. There have even been accusations that the track was designed to hurt the horses. This is the part where I strongly disagree.
Thirty-five of the 78 riders who set out on course came home — certainly not the completion rate (45 percent) we’ve come to expect in this modern era of eventing. But let’s consider the facts. Mark Todd himself — who fell from one of his horses and had a questionable go through The Lake with his other — mocked last year’s course as a three-and-a-half star at best, and many other riders joined him in calling for a tougher track.
That spurred Hugh Thomas, who had designed the course for the past 25 years, to step aside to usher in a new era. In steps Italian designer Guiseppe Della Chiesa, who absolutely hit the grounding running when it came to bringing Badminton back to its roots.
Would we have seen more completions had the weather cooperated? Absolutely. Last year was gorgeous, which made for perfect going, so of course this year was going to be a much different story. Riders who approached the course with the right game plan — like past winner Paul Tapner did with Kilronan — saved their horses so they had gas in the tank at the end.
Indeed, many of the mistakes came from rider errors, and you ultimately can’t fault the course designer for that. Do I think the track will be softened for next year? Probably, but that doesn’t mean this course wasn’t appropriate for the level.
After all, this is Badminton, and it developed its reputation as the toughest four-star track in the world for a reason. Paul said it best in the press conference, which you can watch in the video below. Eventers live for cross-country courses like this — the ones that make you fight for it until the very end, and then some.
What do you think, EN? Weigh in below in the comments, and be sure to check out the EN open thread with highlights of all the cross country action, as well as our final report with details on how the North Americans fared. Go Badminton.
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