One of just seven five-star events in the world, Badminton Horse Trials is held in the grounds of Badminton House in Gloucestershire, UK. Badminton is located around 15 miles from Bristol and Bath, in the south west of England.
The 2022 Badminton cross-country course for the event will be designed by Eric Winter once again. It will be the first event held under the directorship of Jane Tuckwell, following Hugh Thomas’ decision to retire after 31 years at the helm. Jane has worked at Badminton in various roles for over 40 years.
The list of Badminton Horse Trials winners is a true who’s who in the sport of eventing and we can’t wait to see who will add their name to the roll of honour this time. The most successful rider at Badminton is Lucinda Green, who topped the leaderboard six times during her outstanding career. Andrew Nicholson holds the record for the highest number of Badminton completions at 37.
The 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Badminton has previously been cancelled five times, owing to bad weather in 1966, 1975, 1987 and 2012, and foot-and-mouth disease in 2001. Weather also forced Badminton to run as a one-day competition in 1963.
The most recent winner of the Badminton Horse Trials title is Piggy French, who was crowned in 2019 riding Vanir Kamira, ahead of Oliver Townend, who had led going into the final phase on Ballaghmor Class. Third was Chris Burton riding Cooley Lands, the only combination that year to finish on their dressage score.
Badminton Horse Trials dates back to 1949, when the 10th Duke of Beaufort hosted an event on the estate to help British riders train for future international events.
