Burghley, As Only Burghley Can

This year's Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials cross country day, lived up to all my expectations as the best Burghley for many years. Probably the most international line up of any CCI**** I've ever seen, with horses and riders having travelled from as far afield as Australia, California, and of course Europe.

I've spent most of the day out on the cross country course, partially succeeding in fine tuning my camera skills, although I have to confess to being a little ill prepared by not having a course map with me until I blagged one from an official, but not before I'd walked far more than I needed to.

Nicholson Holding All The Aces For NZ WEG2010 Team

Nicholson - All Smiles

The New Zealand Eventing Team is one that never seems to have a smooth ride, generally. The much loved, but ever controversial Andrew Nicholson however is currently sat at the card table holding all the aces. With 4 horses listed on the selectors clipboard, 3 of which have nothing further to prove for a pass for the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, he can happily concentrate on his day job with a big smile on his face.  You have to admire this guy, he speaks his mind and let's his results do all the talking. I doubt there's any other rider that can match the sheer number of class horses he currently has stabled in Marlborough.

There is still one trophy missing from Nicholson's mantle piece that he'd dearly love though, The Badminton Trophy. He's been around the Badminton deer park more than anyone, 29 times (I bet the Duke of Beaufort hasn't even been round the park that often), yet the title still eludes him. 

Wilton Horse Trials - Another 'Stately' Event

Dressage in the 'stately' surroundings of Wilton House

With a rare free weekend, and nothing better planned than cutting the lawns, I decided to go and take a look at Wilton Horse Trials, particularly as it's only a 30 minutes or so from home. So armed with digi camera & camcorder off I went.

This event is pretty new to the circuit held in the parkland and grounds of Wilton House near Salisbury. They run Novice and Intermediate over two days, and in many ways it's very similar to Highclere, extensive parkland, with plenty of ancient trees, undulating ground and home to cattle most of the year. Wilton probably uses a few more steep slopes than Highclere in their courses, which can mean the need for plenty of control. It also means they have slightly tougher challenges when it comes to preparing the ground sufficiently in dry weather.

Wilton Horse Trials - Photographs

One seriously nice grey horse

While I finishing blogging about Wilton Horse Trials (and wait for the video to upload), here's a load of photographs I snapped of my day down at Wilton. Some lovely horses, including a grey that looks the spitting image of my horse.