NZB Land Vision - Return Of A Champion

Badminton 2011 Winner NZB Land Vision Back To Winning Ways After A Two Year Absence

NZB Land Vision returned to the eventing scene at Gatcombe today with all the familiar hallmarks of a Badminton champion despite over 2 years away from the scene due to injury. The two Open Intermediate sections were full of 4 star performers and a number of winners, including Andrew Nicholson's extra special horse Quimbo, winner of Rolex Kentucky 3DE.

The day however belonged to Sir Mark Todd & NZB Land Vision. It's no secret that I am partial to a grey horse, but this horse I have followed in earnest since seeing him for the first time in the flesh at Highclere Horse Trials a few years back. He is tall, sleek, elegant & powerful with a fabulous temperament. His perfectly balanced self carriage exudes such presence and power that I could spot him amongst 3 greys in the dressage warm up from 200 yards away.

Burghley In Your Pocket

Burghley App

The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials has released (or possibly leaked!) it's official iPhone App in preparation for what promises to be one of the greatest Burghley's of all time! Whether you're sitting in the relative comfort of your saddle or armchair, or attending the event to gaze in awe at the sheer size of this year's retro cross country course, provided you have one of those new fangled 'i' thingys in your pocket  you will be able to keep right up to the minute on all the goings on at Burghley, as the press tent spills the beans on who's leading who down winner's avenue or who's being dragged through the leaf pit as the action unfolds.

Sitting neatly beside your official Badminton App, you can now take pride in being joined at the hip with the world's two largest 4 star 3 day events. Burghley's App whilst very similar to the Badminton one, will let you remember where you parked your car, enter an amazing competition to win a 'Nordic Adventure' courtesy of the title sponsor  which presumably involves driving a 4x4 across frozen wastelands, something us Brits are used to in recent winters, and will give you plenty of ideas on where to spend your hard currency. Social media integration is inherent in the app too, and if you're a tweeter, you'll be pleased to see the app even saves you the hassle of constructing a suitable hash tag, it automatically puts #BHT2011 in for you.

Hats, Safety Pins & Riding Safely | Education, Education, Education

Have Fun Cross Country But Be Safe

Eventing has become very safety conscious over the last 5-10 years, and quite rightly so in light of fatalities that occurred in the preceding years. An Australian Assistant Technical Delegate, John Lechner, even devotes an entire blog to eventing safety, and so vehemently champions the safety mantle he's known as "Eventing Safety John". (he scares me!) Anyway on to my point for this post.....

A number of things in recent weeks have been discussed or published on the safety topic, and then there's a visit I made to America earlier this year, and a somewhat eye opening spectacle at a one day event.

Dressage | Not As Safe As It First Looks

Firstly, the subject of hard hats in the dressage phase was raised again recently, this time by ECOGOLD. I have to admit, although I've not always worn a hat myself in the past (I do now) whilst working on the flat, I've always found it a little ridiculous that all the teaching and education we do from Pony Club right through to young riders, hammers home "always wear a hard hat", yet in upper level competition (where our role models sit) we throw caution to the wind. Perhaps the safety forum planned for January by Riders4Helmets will tackle some of these points.

But then I have always found Eventing really doesn't seem to take dress code seriously at all, my favourite gripe at the moment is the ridiculous bibs situation, in which case I really don't see why we have top hats in the Dressage phase, so perhaps it's time to make hard hats mandatory purely for dress sense!

WEG 2010 Eventing: British 4 Stars Provide Best Individual Medal Indications

More Foreign Riders Are Moving To Britain Chasing Medals

Someone now based in the states, recently told me she really missed the eventing circuit back here in the UK, and trawling the web last night looking at photos and videos of events from around the globe got me thinking about how lucky we are in the UK to have an eventing circuit with such depth and variety.

As anyone knows the British circuit attracts more talent from around the world, than any other eventing nation, thanks to a number of factors; climate, geographical proximity of events,  number & variety of events, and a long history and experience of running large events. I'm lucky enough to live in an area of the UK that is home to a number of top foreign and domestic event riders and have several events running all manner of classes within a 50 mile radius, where as in Germany, France or America you would have to travel 100's of miles to experience the same variety and quality of events. Unlike some in the British ranks I welcome the diversity of nations we have based here eventing, it spices things up.

WEG 2010 likely to be dominated by Yanks and Aussies

But who will get the selectors' call.....

I know it's probably a little early to be discussing team selections for the World Equestrian Games but I really couldn't wait for Barbury before speculating a little from whispers I've heard. There must be a number of national team selectors around the world scratching their heads as to how they are going to break the strength of the Americans, and particularly the Australians in the forth coming WEG festivities. That is any other nation that might otherwise has a reasonable chance of collecting a medal!

Paul Tapner's Badminton win is guaranteed to promote him off the Australian subs bench to first squad, and he could take either (or both) of his Badminton rides to Kentucky, and with a small battalion of other horses in reaching distance of winning at 4* it would be foolish to leave him off the team. Whilst I think of it, doesn't Paul Tapner remind you of the young Andrew Hoy? (laidback, but serious and focussed, likeable too) And what has happened to Andrew Hoy? I'd thought he dropped off the planet, but then remembered he jumped the channel to Germany. Seems to have the odd entry here though ( Houghton 2* in a few weeks time). Needs to update his website.

Anyway I digress.....back to WEG....

2010 provides another Cracking Badminton Horse Trials

Once again Badminton Horse Trials provided another cracking spectacle for the masses. A host of new names finished in the top 20 and a new winner in Paul Tapner. Yogi Brisener and the British Selectors must be scratching their heads though! Apart from the ever present Mary King, and Daisy Berkeley (and Daisy's horse is getting a little long in the tooth) there was a distinct lack of other British stalewart anywhere near the prize money.

Moving the days to finish on a Monday, was of course predominantly done to avoid TV scheduling clashes with other sports (well football anyway). I recon the gate receipts would have been up though as there did seem to be a bigger crowd, and I'm sure the opportunity to cram in an extra day's action and shopping without the need to take time off work helped.

Now if you take a look at the final results the cross country phase was the most decisive phase, something we haven't seen at Badminton for some time. And having carefully watched a number of cross country rounds, I still believe the chaos on Sunday was generally due to complacency of riders, who walked the course when the weather was good and didn't take into account the effect this had on both the conditions and their horses.

I had just walked away from the Huntsmans Close when Desert Island fell, returning when I heard the commotion. What I found particularly distressing about this incident was the reaction of some of the crowd, who felt it necessary to scream and shout at the marshalls to 'grab the horse', and thus distressing the poor horse further. Having had to deal with several incidents of this nature over the past twenty years (including two of my own horses), the only criticism of Marshals should be not getting someone to make sure the course was 'held', but bearing in mind this was early on in the course at fence 7 and only a short gallop from fence 6 you can understand how the following competitor managed to get so close. A very unfortunate incident but not badly managed.

Now if you ask any rider or spectator the cross country phase is the one they all love and believe should have greatest influence. This year's course whilst not inspired has proved you do not need to build a 'horse frightener' in order to exert decent influence, or at least not in wet conditions.

This brings me onto my next point. Why do we not run cross country on the last day? I think this can only bring more benefit (especially to horses) and much greater excitement. If this were the case, making the allowed time would be the key to winning (Just take a look at how many horses made the time in the XC results). This would make for a far more exciting finale. If we are still running the current order of service because of some historic military reason, then all I can say is "We haven't used horses on the battle field for sometime"

Time for change!

Anyway, with a rare day off this weekend I'll be winding my way to Hambleden and with early times I might get a chance to film a few top riders ( I notice the new Badminton Champion and Mark Todd are both planning to be there), so might do a little report from one of my favourite events.

ps. that reminds me, it was amusing to watch Mark Todd during his Cross Country Round on the "Mark Todd (sponsored) Big Screen"

Badminton Horse Trials 2010 Cross Country Day - Carnage!

Twenty-five percent of the field didn't finish Sunday's Cross Country phase at Badminton Horse Trials, and the carnage was wide spread around the course. There were the obvious bogey fences that you just knew were going to catch a few out but the problems weren't limited to these by any means.

Dan Jocelyn kicked things off but only managed to get as far as the Colt pond, and standing on the sidelines it became very clear he, and more importantly, his horse just didn't seem committed to getting over this fence. He had started well but perhaps burnt a little too much fuel.

Probably the biggest shock was Tina Cook taking to water like a duck on the fabulous Miner's Frolic (see clip). A little too much hesitation in putting the strides together on the way into the lake meant leaving a leg behind over the narrow willow fence. She survived this well with her spirits intact though.

Today's conditions of course made the track more challenging but the going was generally considered very good and whilst 2 fences were removed for safety the ground held up well and we didn't see bucket loads of sand that are usually used to secure the footing on slopes in these conditions.

I think the main cause of problems was riders getting a little complacent and misreading the effort required in certain sections of the course in wet and cold conditions. The riders who went clear kept a steady even pace up to fence 15, resisting temptation to gallop on too strongly between the lake and the sunken road.

With fence 15 (farmyard corners) behind them, the more challenging Colt Pond and Hexagon Hedge could be tackled with a calm, clear head. Get over these and the rest of the course could be attacked with some vigour, with opportunity to make up time. There were probably only half a dozen issues on the later half of the course, half of which could be put down to first timer inexperience and another, the very unfortunate Francis Whittington.

Interestingly a good few of the clear round riders do not watch others go round the course, Andrew Nicholson and Paul Tapner to name two, instead preferring not to let others' problems cloud their judgement. (most wise).

Certainly not the toughest course we've seen at Badminton over the last decade, just a year in which many rider's had become complacent. You could almost suggest the Hugh Thomas had designed the course specifically for a rainy Badminton! (very clever if he did)

Mark Todd, the comeback king, rode a very positive and attacking round on a relatively inexperienced horse and with a glut of withdrawals likely before the showjumping probably has a decent chance of making the top 10, if his horse stays sound.

Sasha Pemble & Nicola Wilson also both rode exceptionally well and deserve to finish the competition with something to show for their efforts. Good Luck!

First Inspection Day down at Badminton Horse Trials 2010

Badminton really does generate an atmosphere like no other horse trials does, a real buzz is always in the air, and I think you'd be hard pushed to replicate the magic formula they are using, but I suspect the Duke's enthusiasm has a lot to do with it.

Thursday's First Inspection Day started a little grey and overcast, and unfortunately only got worse (in terms of weather), when by mid morning the rain had set in. This really didn't dampen any spirits and the cross country course was awash with people walking the course.

The trot up itself drew a decent crowd although press and photographer numbers were noticeably down, I can only assume the Credit Crunch is still biting in media circles.

In my last post I was probably a little harsh on the cross country course, and whilst the main thrust of my point in that post was the lack of imagination used in devising the course (I still stand by that!), having walked it once more there are some very interesting nuances that only really come to light once you see the course in its polished state. For example on approaching the lake the Mitsubishi Pick Ups are jumped and almost on landing you need to turn sharp left to take the 'fast' route through the lake over a narrow wicker fence.

I think this is going to catch out a few ambitious riders who will either glance off the narrow fence or have no option but to take the 'longer' route. Personally I think it will be entirely possible to make the time using the longer route as long as you have your horse organised going through the water. I wouldn't be surprised if a horse goes for a deep swim trying this longer route though.

The Colt Pond is still my 'bogey' fence though. The angle is so acute over the two brush fences it's very tempting to glance off one of them. Small nimble horses should fair best here. The bigger horses will need to slow the pace right down, which given the vicarage vee comes next is not ideal.

Anyway Dressage tomorrow, but more interestingly it's Grassroots cross country day. I did have a little wander over to look at their dressage and was impressed by the dedication of the competitors to their warm up and tests, if also a little amused at the eclectic mix of horses, ponies and riders, something you're really not used to seeing at Badminton. Still what a treat for both them and us.

more tomorrow.......

Badminton Horse Trials 2010 Cross Country Course - More of the Same

It's Press Junket Day for Badminton, as they unveil the cross country course to media with a drive around the Deer Park in Mitsubishi 4x4s.

The Press Release from today talks of accuracy being the key to success on this year's course, which in itself is nothing new for any 3 or 4 star event, and I can't help but be a little disappointed that there is nothing really new on the course and hasn't been for some years.

Here's how I read the course:

The first and last fence haven't changed in essence for a number of years.

The first 'test' comes in the Quarry, but here again a number of tried and tested logs provide the obstacles with no real visionary change (down one side, up and down the other side of the quarry). Yes it may well catch out the odd inexperienced rider as it did in 2008 (Dee Kennedy), but it's a safe 3 star fence complex, up to height but not imposing.

Huntsmans Close follows the quarry and here again there is nothing new, yes it will cause some problems for the inexperienced but it's been like this for some years now. It is a 4 star question though.

Over those now familiar Wadworth Barrels and onto the lake. and here once more there is little imagination for what is generally considered the show piece fence complex, another 'safe' 3 star option.

Over the bizarre roofed table and onto the Sunken Road, where I have to say I think the first real test lies, the profile and position of these 'egg' shaped obstacles requires riders to have gathered up their mounts after the long gallop down to ensure they don't fall into the road or glance off the cleverly designed eggs.

On down to the Farmyard, and here's once more nothing to get excited about, two corners on curving stride, something we've seen in this spot for some ten years now, hardly inspired.

The Pond I'll admit does bring a little variation to an old theme, and at this point in the course I think it will catch out more than one experienced rider. Essentially 2 brush fences must be negotiated on an acute angle either side of the pond. But it's not a masterpiece for spectators to marvel at.

The Vicarage Vee I've always thought was a clever use of the natural landscape and does deserve it's place in the 4 star annuals.

The Bank hasn't changed in some 10 years and another 'safe' 3 star fence, followed by another spread fence over the ditch.

The Shogun Hollow brings a tried and tested combination together, which is rather dull and not that difficult for those concentrating. It's also a place to take the longer alternative if you're worried about the corner as you have plenty of galloping ahead of you to make up the time. Again, a little uninspired and something we've seen so many times before without the wow factor.

On over the Shooting Butt that is less imposing from the back of a horse than you may think and onto the corral. Here's where I think they've really missed an opportunity, as it's as straightforward as a novice fence, and when you look back to the 1980's & 1990's you'll find much better examples of this theme were here at Badminton.

The staircase is a test of the brute strength needed to climb it, but once again this hasn't really changed in 10 years - safe.

The last fence worth mentioning is the Owl Hole and Double Logs, and the only reason someone might have a problem here is if their horse is knackered out. A quick glance at your watch will tell if you should take the alternative at the logs or just take it steady. So late in the course no one will be rushing this fence anyway, so again, it's another safe 3 star fence.

Don't get me wrong, all of these fences are up to height, and it's a long enough course to make it a 4 star event, I'm just a little disappointed that for a Global Showpiece Event like Badminton the whole thing is a little uninspired and safe. A good year to be a Badminton first timer.

Perhaps in another post I'll make a few suggestions for next year.

Now what is interesting about this year's Badminton is the Grassroots Championship and how much of that course sits along side the main course. This, I'm sure, will prove very challenging for the amateurs, but more on that in another post.

April: Green Grass & Badminton countdown

So April has arrived and with it good weather and greener grass. My poor horse seems to suffer more than most from swollen glands as the new grass growth comes through to signal the real start of spring. 

There are however two very good reasons to celebrate the arrival of April, the clocks have gone forward (more opportunity to ride in the evenings) and just as importantly the countdown to Badminton Horse Trials starts in earnest. 

The line up for this year is as good as any, in spite of slightly fewer entries. Go take a look: 2009 Entries . From looking at the Badminton Website the grass is coming through there too and the course looks in great shape. The usual rustic look to the course will no doubt disappoint many, but one of the aspects I really enjoy about Badminton is it's respect for eventing's true roots and it really is the best galloping track on the circuit, something that lifts the spirits of horse, rider and spectator.

Last year was an excellent example of how clever the course is at deceiving the riders and lulling them into a false sense of security. Not much is made public yet about this year's course but I predict the number of fences requiring a frangible pin will be kept to a minimum, and the fence most likely to give rise to penalties under this ridiculous new FEI rule is the gate at Huntsman's Close. 

The Event is also a week later this year which, given recent history, should mean better weather and good conditions under foot - a canny move!

I'm really looking forward to seeing Mark Todd ride Badminton again!

Put the Date in your diary (7th -10th May) and book your tickets online if you haven't already.   

Grassroots Championship

Hurrah, a brilliant idea at last from the boys at the top! 

If you haven't already heard the Intro/Pre-Novice Championship is going to be run at Badminton (and during the main event) WOOOOW!. This is the one competition every aspiring event rider  dreams of riding. 

I have to say, given the choice I'd choose Badminton over the Olympics any day. If any of the true amateurs are ever going to get the chance to experience the buzz of major event this is it. 

This is bound to engage the BE membership and give them something to aim for, and justification for all those fees. Watch out for a rise in entries and therefore balloting. Remember the vast majority of BE members don't ride above Novice.

Time to brush up my showjumping! 

 

Badminton '08 - One of the best

A shorter course, influential going and a mixed field - all the ingredients for a fabulous competition. The fence analysis sheet looks like a bingo card with penalties racked up at every combination on the course.

There's no doubt the going which was on the sticker side of good meant in places the course was like riding on a mattress. Not much that can be done about that except make you have a very fit horse and choose your ground carefully.

There were some astonishing displays of "ambitious riding". 4 or 5 riders choose to attack the quarry resulting in a number of horses being catapulted into the floor of the quarry what must be a 3 metre drop at least, and at speed.

I'm sure the fact a wait list was implemented this year also contributed to the number of horses coming home tired - it's quite tempting not to get a horse super fit if you're halfway down the reverses list.

When the first horse (Apache Sauce) came back unscathed I thought this might be a relatively straightforward, but it wasn't long for errors to start appearing. The toughest fence to ride foot perfect seemed to be the shogun hollow. most of the horses I saw through this fence had very uncomfortable experiences through here many of them catching their stifles on the first element.

It was a great year to be be at Badminton and there was certainly a large crowd there to enjoy it.

Badminton - Day 2 - The Usual Suspects

The leader board during day of dressage was as usual an every changing beast. Not surprisingly though nearly all the usual suspects appeared in the top 10 or so. Possibly the biggest upset of the day was the demise of Zara Phillips on her fancied ride ARDFIELD MAGIC STAR who took exception to something during the test and shyed dropping them right down the final list.

He is by all accounts a tricky character at the best of times, and no doubt for the second year running we'll see Zara withdraw before cross country. She still has reasonable chance with the less experienced GLENBUCK so I'm sure she'll start one horse tomorrow.

Generally the place was pretty busy, and Friday is always a good day for shopping and celebrating spotting, and not just the usual equestrian stars of yester year. (there's always plenty of them!)

With less that 5 penalty points separating the top ten the pressure is really on all of these competitors and the perfect time for a "Mark Phillips cross country pep talk" on maintaining focus and not letting the heat get the better of them.

For those who have ever watched Andrew Hoy will know, pressure is just not something he suffers from. Whether leading from the front or playing catch up, he's bound to put in a foot perfect ride.

Bear in mind this year the course is noticeably shorter and there are probably fewer places to make up time even with only 29 fences on the course. Many of the riders have commented on how much there is to do in the middle section of the course down in vicarage fields, but when you stand back and look at this section you can see how a horse going in nice even rhythm will do very well. The biggest accuracy question is actually at the beginning of this section in the shape of the farm yard. From here round to the Shogun Hollow it's generally big spread fences, requiring more commitment than accuracy. By far the trickiest complex on the course is the Blue Cross Round tops that has no doubt had plenty of quizzical looks from this year's competitors and bound to cause a few run outs. I wouldn't be surprised if this fence makes a reappearance in future year's with little alteration.

With good weather forecast it's bound to be a cracking good year to be at Badminton. Take a look at the Badminton Interactive Course - What cool toy for us web savvy folk!

Clayton Rains........

The Badminton dressage arena was obviously at the end of Clayton Fredericks' rainbow today, the Aussie supremo was the only rider today to get a dousing from today's only shower at Badminton. I have to admit I didn't see the test live myself but it must have been outstanding as an average of 74.57% is impressive by any standard, let alone when picking your way through a down pour. Video footage of the test is available on the Badminton site though.

Ignoring the sludge residue in the carparks the ground has recovered from this week's earlier rain. If tomorrow & Saturday stays relatively dry the going will be pretty good all round. As any regular at Badminton has probably realised the Badminton ground does take a little time to dry out, too much rain late in the proceedings makes it all very slushy and with a number of accuracy questions out on the course many riders are certain to cover the same ground.

Before I forget, one of the most pleasurable to watch in the Arena today was Dee Kennedy on Big El. This rangy looking horse looked as fit as a greyhound with big long flowing paces, more over watching this horse move gracefully round the arena in pure harmony under his rider with long floppy ears in a totally relaxed manner was sheer poetry. I won't bet against Dee Kennedy getting a lot further in this sport, and for me this is going to be another one to make a point of watching on Saturday.

Generally it would seem to have been a much busier Thursday than most years, which probably means the remaining days will also get busier.

Until tomorrow.......and Andrew Hoy, Zara Phillips et al.

Badminton - Day One

The rain stayed away from the most important part of Gloucestershire today, giving the ground a chance to dry out, so hopefully it will stay dry for a day or too.

The day seem to start off very calm, tradestand holders busied themselves quietly in the shopping village putting the finishing touches in preparation for the retail therapists to arrive on the following day, whilst many competitors could be spotted having a quiet stroll around the ground on horseback except Dan Jocelyn perhaps, who everytime I came across him on Special Attorney was doing involuntary sitting trot, while his horse jogged it's way round the deer park or reared in the First Horse Inspection.

The crowds started gathering from about 3pm to watch the Ground Jury nod and raise their hats as they "passed" competitor after competitor in front of Badminton House to the usual rustic but enthusiastic tones of MC Mike Tucker.

There's was much twittering about how well the riders were turned out as there was about the horses, and no doubt the nationals will carry pictures of Zara all suited and booted, that is if she manages to upstage both father and boyfriend's more pressing press interests.

All in all it's been an excellent, relaxing day at Badminton for those not needing to touch a horse, sign, bog or bin. Roll on tomorrow............

Brace Yourself - It's Badminton Week

As any eventing fan will probably tell you it's Badminton week! it's Badminton week! And so the annual pilgrimage begins. The week that many non-horsey husbands & wives are either blissfully ignorant of, or are only too well aware makes most eventing followers gooey eyed, and their credit cards quiver!

All the top events have a certain something different that makes them appealling. I couldn't put my finger on what it is about Badminton - the history, the setting, the shopping - but what ever it is I still rate it as the best buzz of all the big events, including the olympics.

If today is anything to go by it's going to be very wet and very busy. As you'd expect Tuesday down in "the park" was all about getting ready. Tradestand holders were all busying themselves fluffing and puffing their stands. The event's site staff were merrily running round with signage, bogs & bins. Everbody else took shelter under canvas!

All afternoon the roads around Badminton and the site were clogged with horseboxes, caravans, trailers and cars, as the world, his wife, uncle, aunt and all manner of distant cousins decended on Badminton to take part in the greatest show on earth. The enlarged campsite has been fully booked for some time, the same goes for the Grandstand. If you are planning to go on Sunday and want a grandstand seat, you may want to hunt around the net for any not-needed tickets.

And all afternoon the rain came down - It really must be Badminton week. Hopefully tomorrow will prove it drains quickly at Badminton (given a chance) I'd be really surprised if the event suffers from hard going this year.

So what can your average eventing spectator expect from this year's event?
Much of same and a little more seems to be the answer. Tradestands and shopper's choice doesn't seem to show any signs of reducing on previous years. The course overall is very similar to previous years, there are a few notable adrenaline pumpers on the course though, most notably the old vicarage vee (take a look at the course thingy on the Badminton site). It looks like even those of you not able to make it this week (shame on you!) will have plenty to see, hear and follow via the event's website and the bbc. (live video and radio are both going to be available via the net).

The entries list looks more "who's who" than "who's not", especially compared to Kentucky which had very little representation outside of North America. Any how all this is good news for Badminton Pilgrims who can expect to see all the old favourites and few of the new up and coming contenders pitch their wits against Hugh Thomas and his somewhat deceptively tough cross country course.

Peronally I'd like to see Caroline Powell do well on Lenamore, and isn't it about time we saw Andrew Nicholson go last and clear in the show jumping! Apart from any other obvious choices, the ones to watch closely on the cross country are Andrews Nicholson & Hoy, Harry Meade (Midnight Dazzler) and Matt Ryan.

And just for kicks chuckle to yourself as you realise the drawn order reads less like the roll call for the Ministry of Silly Girls Names than previous years!

I'll try and bring you more news and hopefully some photos and video over the coming days.

Let the Games Begin

With the first major UK event of the season (Badminton Horse Trials) almost upon us, I suppose the season must be in full swing. The clocks have brought us into British Summer Time, the grass is already sprouting fresh green shoots and William Fox-Pitt has started boring us with his usual benign comment in his Horse & Hound column! - The 2008 season is truly underway.

Whilst on the subject of Badminton, I notice Hugh Thomas is still getting the odd ball out of left field over last year's ground conditions. What a complete over reaction! April 2007 produced almost zero rain in much of the UK, and considering Badminton is famous for it's mud (and not for it's therapeutic qualities), it was particularly exceptional weather conditions.

Hard ground is far less of an issue for horses than the deep or slippery conditions that can often be experienced this early or late in the season. Certainly our friends from over the pond didn't have a problem running their horses, and even one of the biggest critics decided to run and won! If they'd have had a wait list last year I wonder how many on that list would have criticised fellow riders for waiting until after dressage to withdraw, thus taking away an opportunity for them to run.

All that being said there have obviously been some significant re-investments down at Badminton, on the going, the whole event and a flashy new website providing even more content than in earlier years.

I have it on good authority that for those unable to make it down to Gloucestershire this May the website will provide a huge amount of video, audio and other content to satisfy our insatiable appetite for instant information.

Judging by the course walk preview presented by the esteemed Mike Tucker the 2008 course will bring no new surprises, except maybe getting your feet wet slightly earlier on the course. Many of the same questions are posed in the old familiar places on the course. Time for a little change down in the park me thinks! Still it's more of a flowing course than you find in many of the Mike E-S designed courses at least.

I for one will certainly be looking forward to Badminton and all it's trappings.........who knows maybe I'll even report from the ground so to speak.