Due to heavy rain, some alterations have been made to the Badminton Horse Trials cross-country course ahead of competitors tackling it at the event, presented by Mars Equestrian, tomorrow (7 May).
The announcement was made by officials at Badminton at 12.30pm today.
The statement read: “Due to the weather conditions at Badminton, the following alterations are being made to the cross country course.”
The changes include hardcore stone footing being placed behind the B element of fence 15; the Lightsource BP Pond.
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The B element will be removed from the LeMieux Mound at fence 17 (pictured below).
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
The water level will be lowered at the Badminton Lake at fence 21.
Some decoration around fence 26, the Jubilee Clump Brush, will be removed to make it a “smoother line on the approach”. Some riders had raised some concerns over this fence prior to these alterations being announced.
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Finally, the A element of the HorseQuest Quarry at fence 27 will be removed.
There is no alteration to the optimum time, time allowed or distance of the Badminton Horse Trials cross-country course, which is designed by Eric Winter.
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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.
