We’re on the final countdown to the Mars Badminton Horse Trials, which is taking place from 8–12 May 2024, and we can’t wait to bring you all the news from this spring five-star. If you’re an eventing fan like us then you won’t want to miss a moment of the action, so here is our helpful guide explaining how to watch Badminton Horse Trials, plus other ways to keep up with all the news throughout the event.
How to watch Badminton Horse Trials
- Badminton TV is the only way to watch all the live action, from the first horse inspection through to the showjumping, from anywhere in the world.
- Visit watch.badminton-horse.tv to sign up.
- Badminton TV is an internet TV channel. The live, as well as watch-again, streamed programmes from the whole event will be hosted by the Brightcove platform.
- A special preview programme focusing on the 75-year history of Badminton is also available now.
- As a Badminton TV subscriber you will have 365 days of access to all of the content in the Badminton TV library, as well as being able to rewatch all of this year’s action for just £19.99 when you sign up on the Badminton TV website. Find out more…
- Badminton TV can be viewed using a variety of different devices including your smartphone, PC, Smart TV, Firestick and via the Badminton TV app.
- A highlights programme on BBC2 on Sunday, 12 May will also broadcast the final 10 showjumping rounds live – British viewers will need to switch over from Badminton TV to BBC2 or BBCiPlayer to watch this. International subscribers will be able to watch the top 10 live on Badminton TV.
How to follow Badminton Horse Trials with Horse & Hound
Horse & Hound will have three journalists and a photographer on the ground at Badminton throughout the competition.
Website
We will be creating extensive online coverage of Badminton in addition to what will be included in the magazine report, including:
- Course photos of the five-star track on Wednesday, 8 May.
- Course photos of the Voltaire Design Grassroots Championships’ tracks on Wednesday, 8 May.
- Times for the next day’s competition so you know when your favourites compete.
- Breaking news and numerous reports on all the action as it unfolds throughout the event.
- Interviews with first-timers, comeback stars, British heroes and more.
- A daily interview with a groom.
- Daily video round-ups of the action.
To keep reading our Badminton online coverage after five articles, readers will need to buy a website subscription, which can cost as little as £1 a week. Visit horseandhound.co.uk/join to buy a Horse & Hound website unlimited subscription or visit magazinesdirect.com/XHH-brandsite for a combined magazine and website subscription. If you are already a magazine subscriber, the cost to upgrade your subscription to include full website access is minimal – call 0330 333 1113 to find out more.
Magazine
- 2 May issue: preview, including course walk with Nicola Wilson and a celebration of Badminton’s 75th anniversary
- 9 May issue: full form guide with details of every horse and rider competing.
- 16 May issue: 22-page special report, containing the best photos, analysis and insight from our team on the ground at Badminton, as well as from experts including Mark Phillips and Christian Landolt. We will also report on the grassroots championships in this issue.
Podcast
- Special daily episodes of The Horse & Hound Podcast, in partnership with Mars Equestrian, from Thursday to Sunday.
Horse & Hound subscription offer plus free magazines at Badminton
- There will be a special subscription offer for Horse & Hound available around Badminton – more details to be added in due course.
- Pick up a free copy of 9 May issue at Badminton from the organisers’ office or at the Badminton Cafe by the scoreboards.
Radio Badminton
- Listen live on frequency 87.7 FM or online at badminton-horse.co.uk/badminton-radio/
- Broadcasting starts from Wednesday afternoon and and then runs from 8.30am daily Thursday through Sunday.
Badminton tickets
All tickets for the event must be bought in advance. There are no tickets available on the gate.
To find out more about how and what options are available, visit H&H’s ultimate guide to Badminton Horse Trials tickets.
75 years of Badminton museum
Photographer Kit Houghton, journalist Kate Green and former competitor and press officer Julian Seaman have curated a museum at Badminton to celebrate 75 years of the event. Find the museum at stand 255 on Beaufort Way.
Visitors can explore seven decades of the event’s history, charting the evolution of format, fence design and fashion, while other elements remain the same to this day. The museum will reflect the debt owed to the 10th Duke of Beaufort, who started the horse trials, and the movers and shakers behind its development, the extraordinary and moving achievements of horses and riders, the memorable victories – and the lighter moments.
Artefacts on display include Ginny Elliot’s weight cloth, Richard Meade’s stopwatch, Andrew Nicholson’s record seventh Armada Dish and Jane Holderness-Roddam’s special Olympic reins.
How to watch Badminton: why do the event charge you to watch?
Badminton was first broadcast via a paid-for, online streaming service in 2022.
On the InsideBadminton podcast released in January 2022, created by the EquiRatings Eventing Podcast, the event’s commercial director Andrew Tucker explained that the reason for the paywall was a commercial one.
“The TV is currently a big cost to us, so we have had to take the decision to offset some of that cost,” he said, adding that the same production team pull together both the Badminton TV and BBC coverage.
You may also be interested in…
Three horses withdrawn from Badminton, including title contender
‘I hope this will encourage others’ – owner-breeder tells the story of Laura Collett’s Badminton ride
Title contenders withdrawn from Kentucky and Badminton
Badminton wait list all accepted – and Harry Meade set to make history
Have you got your Badminton Horse Trials tickets? No tickets on the gate in 2024
Subscribe to Horse & Hound this spring for great savings
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 16 May.
