American rider Emily Hamel has enjoyed a change in fortunes over the past month to line up at Badminton Horse Trials, the event presented by Mars Equestrian. Four weeks ago she had surgery on her knee after a “stupid accident”. At that stage she was uncertain to make the trip over the Atlantic as she was on the waitlist. However, an extra incentive to heal quickly materialised while she was recovering from the operation, when she moved into the proper draw.
“It wasn’t even a riding injury,” she says. “I was grooming a horse and I bent down and my knee just went the wrong way. It wasn’t good!
“It’s hanging in there. I have tape on it for riding and I try to wear a brace when I’m not on a horse.”
A Badminton debut has been a well-crafted plan since the autumn, though Emily has had to make huge sacrifices financially. After clear cross-country rounds on both her five-star attempts last year, Kentucky and Maryland, she felt ready for the challenge.
“I made a plan to come in the fall, and decided I had to figure out how to save money to make this trip possible,” she says. “I rented out my house, so it’s a big help to have no mortgage for a year. I rented a place in Aiken in the winter, stayed in a client’s pool house in Pennsylvania and now I’m renting a place in Cheltenham.
Badminton final scores
“It’s a whole different thing to compete at Badminton – a completely different atmosphere to the American events,” she adds. “There are so many spectators and it just feels like such a big deal.”
Emily Hamel: ‘He’ll do most things for carrots’
Her test on a bonny little grey, Corvett, left her 77th on 39.5 but dressage wouldn’t be the 15-year-old’s strongest phase.
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“I was just excited to be in the ring so I tried to take it all in and also ride well,” she says. “He was feeling pretty fresh but overall I’m pretty happy and excited for tomorrow.
“He’s a hilarious horse, with lots of character,” she adds. “He’s very particular and tries to give new people a hard time and won’t let him catch him. But he will do most things if you have carrots.”
And so the adventure continues. Emily plans to stay in Britain now until after Burghley, with Corvett staying at Mike and Emma Winter’s Gloucestershire yard.
Read our full Badminton form guide in this week’s issue of Horse & Hound (issue dated 5 May 2022). Our bumper 20-page Badminton report will be in our 12 May issue.
Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
