Fiona Kashel got the call to say she had made the cut for the 2025 Mars Badminton Horse Trials just three days before driving in through the park gates.
Fiona and her veteran grey five-star campaigner Creevagh Silver De Haar were on the Badminton waitlist until Saturday. Just shy of a week later – and after discovering at the 11th hour that she had learnt the wrong test – Fiona and Creevagh Silver De Haar danced their way up among the leaders.
Their score of 28.4 put them into provisional fifth ahead of the afternoon tea break, and seventh by the end of the day.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Fiona, who gazed up in apparent astonishment at the stands as her final score rang out across the main arena.
“I’m so proud of him. He’s not the biggest mover, he’s not the biggest jumper, but he just tries his heart out.
Badminton final scores
“We’ve got a really special relationship, and he owes me nothing.”
She added: “It was a little bit of an emotional roller-coaster over the last week to come here. But he’s been on great form this year. He’s jumped and done dressage over the winter, and he’s had some really good spring runs.”
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This is a new personal best at five-star for the 17-year-old grey. Taking a look through this horse’s recent results, the evidence of his ability now to produce a sub-30 score is clear. Their previous five-star record was 29.7 at Pau 2024. But to pull off a career best at Badminton is a different ask.
It was fellow Badminton competitor Kirsty Chabert who indirectly alerted Fiona to the fact she had been practising the wrong test since January.
“I’m going to blame my mother, who does all my scheduling,” said Fiona, with a smile, adding that her mum had told her that the test being used was CCI5* 2024 “B”.
“On Friday night – I wasn’t in at Badminton at this point – I saw Kirsty Chabert doing a run through of her test on Facebook, and I thought, ‘that’s not the one I’ve been going through’. I looked at the schedule and it was 2025 “C”.
“I thought, ‘it doesn’t matter, because I’m not in, I’m not even going to say anything to my mum.’ Then I got the phone call to say I was in.
“The horse had already galloped on Saturday, and I was at Bovington on Sunday, so I couldn’t run through it then. So Damien drove up from the New Forest on Monday night to run through my test.
“I’m just pleased I didn’t go wrong, I think my mother’s pleased I didn’t go wrong as well!”
It’s been a wonderful journey sprinkled with five-star completions since Fiona first acquired the Camiro De Haar son as a six-year-old 11 years ago.
“I couldn’t keep any showjumps up on him as a seven-year-old, and I couldn’t stay on him, so I actually tried to sell him for a year,” she said.
“He wouldn’t pass a vet, even though he’s the soundest horse I’ve ever had. So I kept going with him and he’s answered each question.
“In the last two years, he’s felt better than he has ever felt – he is like a fine wine.”
How to watch Badminton Horse Trials
If you want to watch the live action from Badminton Horse Trials from the comfort of your home, wherever you are in the world, you will need to subscribe to Badminton TV. This year, Badminton TV has teamed up with ClipMyHorse.TV, but you do not need a full ClipMyHorse.TV subscription to watch Badminton – you can just subscribe to Badminton TV for £21.99. Go to clipmyhorse.tv/en_GB/badminton to subscribe or to activate your account as an existing Badminton TV subscriber. If you are already a ClipMyHorse.TV premium member, Badminton TV is included in your subscription. As part of Badminton TV, you can enjoy the documentary programme Legends and Legacy, a fly-on-the-wall insight into the 2024 event and preview of 2025.
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To ensure you keep up to date with all the breaking news, behind the scenes insight, and the best of the action throughout Badminton Horse Trials with no limits on how much you can read, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website from as little as £1 a week. Sign up now. And don’t miss our bumper 22-page magazine report on Badminton, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from top names, in the issue of Horse & Hound dated 15 May.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
