The Ultimate Guide to the 2022 Badminton Horse Trials

EN’s coverage of the 2022 Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian, is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products. Click here to learn more about Kentucky Performance Products and its wide array of supplements available for your horse.

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Click any link below to jump to that section. We’ll be adding more to this Ultimate Guide, including sponsor promos and some contests, this week!

The Competition
What’s At Stake
The Line-Up
The Officials
Schedule of Events
How to Follow
Social & Links
Our Coverage
Sponsor Promos & Contests

THE COMPETITION:

We’ve waited since 2019, and Badminton Horse Trials is finally back. The iconic CCI5* competition, which began in 1949, is the second Rolex Grand Slam leg of 2022 — though the live leader, Michael Jung, isn’t entered — and arguably the sport’s most coveted prize. The dressage test will be FEI CCI5* B, the same used at Kentucky last week.

WHAT’S AT STAKE:

Most crucially? A shot at the highly-coveted Badminton trophy and a share of the £360,750 prize pot, which has been off-limits since 2019 due to the pandemic. But this is also a pivotal opportunity for riders to impress their respective selectors ahead of this September’s World Championships in Pratoni, Italy. Beyond that? There’s also a battle for FEI World Rankings points as the likes of the Price family and Pippa Funnell work to topple Oliver Townend from the number one slot.

THE LINE-UP:

Twelve nations will come forward to fight for the coveted Badminton title and its new-look trophy, including bumper entries from the US and France, a Canadian double-header, single entries from Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Austria, and Italy, and a small but serious contingent for Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. In total, we’ve got 86 entries across 77 riders, and you can meet them all in our jam-packed form guide, which is in drawn order for maximum ease of use.

THE OFFICIALS:

There’s a truly top-notch cast of ground jury members on duty at Badminton. Switzerland’s Christian Landolt will serve as president of the ground jury, while Great Britain’s Anne-Marie Taylor and Finland’s Seppo Laine will work alongside him. The FEI Technical Delegate for the week is Poland’s Marcin Konarski, assisted by Simon Grundy of Great Britain. The cross-country course will be designed by Eric Winter, who has been in charge of Saturday’s action since 2017. On Sunday, the remaining field will tackle a tough course on grass, designed by Phillip Bywater.

[Times are listed in local time as well as EST]

Wednesday, 4 May:

9.00 am – 4.15 pm (approx.) – Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse Class – The Slaits
4.30 p.m. (11.30 a.m. EST): First horse inspection – North front Badminton House

Thursday, 5 May:

9.30 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. (4.30 a.m. – 7.30 a.m. EST): Morning dressage session
12.30 p.m. (approx.) (7.30 a.m. EST): Dressage demo with Laura Tomlinson
1.30 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. (8.30 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. EST): Afternoon dressage session

Friday, 6 May:

9.30 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. (4.30 a.m. – 7.30 a.m. EST): Morning dressage session
12.30 p.m. (approx.) (7.30 a.m. EST): Dressage demo with Laura Tomlinson
1.30 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. (8.30 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. EST): Afternoon dressage session
5.00 p.m. (12.00 p.m. EST): Stallion display

Saturday, 7 May:

10.30 a.m. (5.30 a.m. EST): Shetland Pony Grand National
11.30 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. (6.30 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. EST): Cross-country

Sunday, 8 May:

8.30 a.m. (3.30 a.m. EST): Final horse inspection – North front Badminton House
11.30 a.m. (6.30 a.m. EST): First showjumping session
2.35 p.m. (9.35 a.m. EST): Parade of athletes
From 3.00 p.m. (10.00 a.m. EST): Final 20 to jump
4.15 p.m. (11.15 a.m. EST): Prizegiving

HOW TO FOLLOW:

For the first year, the BBC won’t be broadcasting Badminton — well, not in its entirety, anyway. You’ll be able to watch all the action, including trot-ups, by subscribing to Badminton TV for a one-off price of $20/£19.95. This gives you access to the livestream, wherever you are in the world, as well as nearly 100 hours of archive footage from prior events, peaks behind the scenes, course previews, and profiles. If you’re in Britain, you’ll need to turn to BBC2 to watch the final 10 competitors show jump live on Sunday afternoon.

If you’re following along at home (or heck, even if you are attending this year, you lucky duck, you can sign up for the free EN Daily Digest for Badminton here. We’ll start sending this newsletter out each evening in the U.S. beginning Tuesday, May 3. Inside you’ll find all of our coverage from each day + opportunities to win prizes, so you don’t want to miss out!

#badmintonhorsetrials, #badmintonbound, #rolexgrandslam

Accounts: Badminton Horse Trials, CrossCountry App, Horse&Hound, FEI Eventing, and Equestrian Team GBR. Don’t forget to follow EN, too – we’ll be bringing you all the insanity in the middle you could possibly need! (And if you’d like to see the real behind-the-scenes life of an EN journo on tour, you certainly can. #shamelessplug) Want to know the juiciest stats throughout the competition? Make sure you follow EquiRatings.

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SUNDAY MAY 8
Sunday Badminton Daily Digest
“I Thought I’d Wake Up and It All Would Have Been a Dream”: Laura Collett Sets Record Badminton Victory
Nicola Wilson Stable at Southmead Hospital Following Badminton Cross Country Fall
Three Horses Held, Five Withdrawn at Final Badminton Horse Inspection

SATURDAY MAY 7
Saturday Badminton Daily Digest
Laura Collett Reigns Supreme on Dramatic Badminton Cross Country Day
A North American Rider Debrief after Badminton Cross Country
Badminton Social Recap: A Very Social Cross Country Day
The Big Bad Badminton Cross Country Live Update Thread
‘It’s Like Going Back in Time’: Riders React to Eric Winter’s Cross Country Course

FRIDAY MAY 6
Friday Badminton Daily Digest
Friday Afternoon at Badminton: Hits Just Keep On Coming; Laura Collett Reigns Supreme
Hear From Friday’s North American Riders at Badminton
Badminton Social Recap: Mostly Just Some Photos of That Broken Bridge…
Shannon’s Scenes from Friday at Badminton: Dogs, Dressage and Dreams of Cross Country
David Doel is a Man with a Plan at Badminton
Friday Morning at Badminton: Laura Collett Leaps to Lead as Only New Entrant to Top 10
Friday at Badminton: Dressage Day Two Live Updates