This year’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (31 August-3 September) cross-country course, designed by Captain Mark Phillips and built by Philip Herbert and his team, looks like it will be as challenging as ever for competitors.
We take a look at what the course has in store for the horses and riders who will tackle it on Saturday 3 September.
Fence 1: Olympic Legacy
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Fence 2: Lambert’s Sofa
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Fence 3: Fairfax Saddles Table
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Fence 4ab: Lion Bridge
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View over 4a
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Fence 4b (jumped coming towards the camera)
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Fence 5ab: Anniversary Splash
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Fence 5b
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Fence 6abc: Lakeside Corners — riders have the option of a step up bounce (first picture below) to a corner on the right, or just the corner on the left. There is a third alternative 6c (the longest route), which is a brush hedge
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Fence 7: Collyweston Slate Mine
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Fence 7 side view
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Fence 8: Capability’s Cutting
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Fence 9, 10, 11ab: Storm Doris — the fastest route is to jump the right-hand arm of the log to the corner on the right. The slightly longer route is to jump the left-hand corner of the first log, to the left-handed arm and then over a narrow fence at part c
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Fence 10 and 11ab side view
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Fence 12: Winners’ Avenue
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Fence 13: Cottesmore Leap
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Fence 14: Arched Roll Top
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Fence 15ab: Keeper’s Brushes — riders have the option to jump either two brush boxes on the left, or two triple brushes on the right
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Fence 16ab, 17: Land Rover Dairy Farm
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Alternatives to fast route above:
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Fence 18abc, 19: Rolex Combination
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Alternative routes:
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Fence 20abc: Joules At The Maltings — there isn’t much difference in time wastage at either of the fence 20a options
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Alternative 20b
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Fence 20c:
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Alternative 20c:
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Fence 21: Captain’s Log
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Fence 22, 23abcd: Land Rover Trout Hatchery:
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Long route for fence 22, 23abcd
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Fence 24ab: Herberts’ Hollow
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Alternative 24ab, which can be ridden on a line to avoid the undulations of the hollow
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Fence 25: Irish Horse Gateway
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Fence 26abc, 27: Discovery Valley
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View from 26abc to 27
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Alternative 26a and b
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Alternative 26c
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Alternative 27
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Fence 28: Rolex Grand Slam Rails
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Fence 29ab, 30: FEI Classics Leaf Pit
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View from 29a
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Alternative 29a
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Alternative 29b
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Alternative 30
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Fence 31ab: Discovery Valley
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Fence 32abc: Arena Homecoming
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Fence 33: Picnic Table
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Fence 34: Land Rover Finale
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Don’t miss H&H’s Burghley preview, including afull form guide and a scorecard to fill in for every rider, on sale now (Thursday 25 August), and you can read the full report in next week’s magazine (Thursday 8 September).
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Former web features editor, point-to-point editor and digital racing editor
Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.
