The Badminton Horse Trials is a five-day event, one of only seven annual Concours Complet International (CCI) Five Star events as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). It takes place in May each year in the park of Badminton House, the seat of the Duke of Beaufort in South Gloucestershire, England.

History

Badminton was first held in 1949 by the 10th Duke of Beaufort in order to let British riders train for international events, and was advertised as "the most important horse event in Britain". It was the second three-day event held in Britain, with the first being its inspiration – the 1948 Summer Olympics. The first Badminton had 22 horses from Britain and Ireland start, and was won by Golden Willow. Eight of the 22 starters failed to complete the cross-country course. Badminton was the home of the first European Championship in 1953, won by Major Laurence Rook on Starlight XV. In 1955, Badminton moved to Windsor Castle for a year, at the invitation of the Queen, in order to hold the second European Championships. Badminton was first televised in 1956.

In 1959, Badminton was held in two sections, called the Great and Little Badminton, due to the popularity of the event and the number of entries. The horses in the two sections jumped the same fences, but were separated into the two divisions based on their money winnings. This graded approach was abandoned after the 1965 event.^[3] In 1989, the current director and course-designer Hugh Thomas, who rode in the 1976 Montreal Olympics,^[4] took over from Francis Weldon, a former winner,^[5] who is credited with bringing the event to the pinnacle it is at today.

Badminton is held in the six-square-kilometre (1,500-acre) Badminton Park, where the car parks, tradestands, arena and cross-country courses are located.

Badminton has been cancelled on several occasions – in 1966, 1975, 1987, 2001, 2012, 2020 and 2021 the event was cancelled completely, and in 1963 it was downgraded to a one-day event due to bad weather. In 2001 it was cancelled due to foot and mouth disease,^[6] in 2012 due to waterlogged ground,^[7] and in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8][9]

Status

Together with the five-star rated Kentucky Three-Day Event and the Burghley Horse Trials, Badminton forms the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. Only two people have ever won the Grand Slam; Pippa Funnell in 2003 and Michael Jung in 2015/16. Australian Andrew Hoy nearly took the title in 2007 but lost it when he had a pole down at Burghley.^[10] The remaining CCI***** rated events are the Luhmühlen Horse Trials, the Australian International Three Day Event, the Stars of Pau and the Maryland Five Star at Fairhill.

The cross-country day at Badminton attracts crowds of up to a quarter of a million and is the second largest in the world for money made (after the Indianapolis 500).^[11][12]

Winners

Year	Rider	Horse	Notes
1949	John Shedden (GBR)	Golden Willow
1950	Tony Collins (GBR)	Remus
1951	Hans Schwarzenbach (SUI)	Vae Victis
1952	Mark Darley (GBR)	Emily Little
1953	Laurence Rook (GBR)	Starlight
1954	Margaret Hough (GBR)	Bambi V
1955	Francis Weldon (GBR)	Kilbarry	Event held at Windsor
1956	Francis Weldon (GBR)	Kilbarry
1957	Sheila Wilcox (GBR)	High and Mighty
1958	Sheila Wilcox (GBR)	High and Mighty
1959	Sheila Wilcox-Waddington (GBR)	Airs and Graces	Little Badminton
1959	Shelagh Kesler (GBR)	Double Diamond
1960	Bill Roycroft (AUS)	Our Solo
1960	Martin Whiteley (GBR)	Peggoty	Little Badminton
1961	Laurie Morgan (AUS)	Salad Days
1961	Peter Welch (GBR)	Mr. Wilson	Little Badminton
1962	Anneli Drummond-Hay (GBR)	Merely-a-Monarch
1962	Penny Crofts (GBR)	Priam	Little Badminton
1963	No Major Event		Event downgraded due to weather
1964	James Templer (GBR)	M'Lord Connolly
1964	Sheila Waddington (GBR)	Glenamoy	Little Badminton
1965	Eddie Boylan (IRL)	Durlas Eile
1965	Martin Whiteley (GBR)	The Poacher	Little Badminton
1966	No Event		Cancelled due to weather
1967	Celia Ross-Taylor (GBR)	Jonathan
1968	Jane Bullen (GBR)	Our Nobby
1969	Richard Walker (GBR)	Pasha
1970	Richard Meade (GBR)	The Poacher
1971	Mark Phillips (GBR)	Great Ovation
1972	Mark Phillips (GBR)	Great Ovation
1973	Lucinda Prior-Palmer (GBR)	Be Fair
1974	Mark Phillips (GBR)	Great Ovation
1975	No Event		Cancelled due to weather
1976	Lucinda Prior-Palmer (GBR)	Wide Awake
1977	Lucinda Prior-Palmer	George
1978	Jane Holderness-Roddam (GBR)	Warrior
1979	Lucinda Prior-Palmer (GBR)	Killaire
1980	Mark Todd (NZL)	Southern Comfort III
1981	Mark Phillips (GBR)	Lincoln
1982	Richard Meade (GBR)	Speculator III
1983	Lucinda Green (GBR)	Regal Realm
1984	Lucinda Green (GBR)	Beagle Bay
1985	Ginny Holgate (GBR)	Priceless
1986	Ian Stark (GBR)	Sir Wattie
1987	No Event		Cancelled due to weather
1988	Ian Stark (GBR)	Sir Wattie	Also came second on Glenburnie
1989	Ginny Leng (GBR)	Master Craftsman
1990	Nicola McIrvine (GBR)	Middle Road
1991	Rodney Powell (GBR)	The Irishman II
1992	Mary Thomson (GBR)	King William
1993	Ginny Leng (GBR)	Welton Houdini
1994	Mark Todd (NZL)	Horton Point
1995	Bruce Davidson (USA)	Eagle Lion
1996	Mark Todd (NZL)	Bertie Blunt
1997	David O'Connor (USA)	Custom Made
1998	Chris Bartle (GBR)	Word Perfect II
1999	Ian Stark (GBR)	Jaybee
2000	Mary King (GBR)	Star Appeal
2001	No Event		Cancelled due to foot and mouth epidemic
2002	Pippa Funnell	Supreme Rock
2003	Pippa Funnell (GBR)	Supreme Rock	Won as the second leg of winning the Grand Slam of Eventing
2004	William Fox-Pitt (GBR)	Tamarillo
2005	Pippa Funnell (GBR)	Primmore's Pride
2006	Andrew Hoy (AUS)	Moonfleet
2007	Lucinda Fredericks (AUS)	Headley Britannia
2008	Nicolas Touzaint (FRA)	Hildago de L'Ile
2009	Oliver Townend (GBR)	Flint Curtis
2010	Paul Tapner (AUS)	Inonothing
2011	Mark Todd (NZL)	NZB Land Vision
2012	No Event		Cancelled due to weather
2013	Jonathan Paget (NZL)	Clifton Promise
2014	Sam Griffiths (AUS)	Paulank Brockagh
2015	William Fox-Pitt (GBR)	Chilli Morning
2016	Michael Jung (GER)	La Biosthetique-Sam	Won as the final leg of winning the Grand Slam of Eventing
2017	Andrew Nicholson (NZL)	Nereo
2018	Jonelle Price (NZL)	Classic Moet
2019	Piggy French (GBR)	Vanir Kamira	First year of CCI5* designation
2020	No Event		Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	No Event		Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022	Laura Collett (GBR)	London 52
2023	Rosalind Canter (GBR)	Lordships Graffalo

Casualties

1976

• Wideawake ridden by Lucinda Green died of a heart attack on his victory lap.^[13]

2010

• Desert Island ridden by Louisa Lockwood, euthanised after breaking a fetlock.^[14]

2007

• Skwal ridden by Andrew Downes died of a suspected heart attack in the finishing ring ^[15]
• Icare d’Auzay ridden by Jean-Lou Bigot died after a fence flag marker pole pierced an artery.^[15]

2018

• Redpath Ransom ridden by Alexander Bragg, euthanised after suffering a major injury to a suspensory ligament during cross country, unrelated to a jump.^[16]

Criticism

In 2007, after a long period without rain, the ground was considered to be too hard, resulting in 22 withdrawals.^[17]