| Badminton Horse Trials -
The Facts & Figures |
| |
| It was the 10th Duke of Beaufort -
Master - whose idea it was to hold an event in his
Gloucestershire park in order that British riders could train for
future international events. The first event was held in
1949. |
 |
| When Golden Willow won the first Badminton
in 1949, there were 22 starters from two
countries, Britain and Ireland. . |
| Since then Great Britain has won three team
golds and two individual gold medals in the
Olympics; four team golds and four individual gold
medals in the World Championships, and no fewer than 19 team golds
and 17 individual gold medals in the European
Championships. |
| For the first 10 years, the dressage and
show-jumping arenas were sited on the old cricket ground in front
of Badminton House. Torrential rain in 1959 turned
the park into a sea of mud and the arenas and tradestands were
moved to the present site. |
| The very first European
Championships were staged at Badminton in 1953. The winner
was Major Laurence Rook on Starlight XV. |
| The Trials were first
televised in 1956. in 2007 there were some
16 cameras covering the event for the Outside Broadcasts Unit
of the BBC. |
| In 1955, the Trials were moved
to Windsor for one year at the invitation of The
Queen, to hold the 2nd European Championships. |
| In 1956, the
Steeplechase course was moved from the Didmarton
point-to-point course to the site at The Slaits, where it stayed
until discontinued in 2006. |
| In 1959 it was decided to run
the Trials in two sections - The Great and Little
Badminton. This was due to the popularity of the sport and
the number of entries. This was abandoned after the 1965
competition, since when there have always been two days of
dressage. |
| In 1961, Messrs.
Whitbread took over the sponsorship of the
Badminton Horse Trials and this continued until 1991, one of the
longest sponsorships for any sport. |
| Bad weather has forced the
cancellation of the Trials on three occasions - in
1966, 1975 and 1987. The terrible weather of 1962/63 which
continued into the spring, forced Badminton to down-grade to a one
day event. Foot and Mouth disease caused the cancellation of the
2001 Event. |
M itsubishi-Motors, importers of
Mitsubishi vehicles to the United Kingdom, & based in
Cirencester, took over the sponsorship in 1992, initially for
three years. The three year contract is worth in the region of £1
million and the riders compete for the silver Mitsubishi Motors
Trophy designed and produced by the Wiltshire-based sculptress,
Judy Boyt. The continued sponsorship of Mitsubishi Motors is now up
to, and including, the year 2010. |
| Mark Todd (New Zealand), on
Bertie Blunt, rode two-thirds of the 1995 cross-country course
with only one stirrup. The
horse was unfortunately eliminated at the final Horse
Inspection the following day. The following year, the partnership
won the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton title. |
| It was in 1981 that the
Inspection of Horses moved to the North front of
Badminton House. Until that time, it had always taken place in the
courtyard of the stables at Badminton. |
| An Armada Dish
is awarded to any rider who completes the competition five times.
In 2008 Armada Dishes will be presented to: Sarah Cohen (GBR),
Nicola Wilson (GBR), Rodolphe Scherer (FRA), Andrew Nicholson (NZL)
and Caroline Powell (NZL). An Armada dish will also be
presented to Antoinette McKeowen who should have been presented
with one in 2007. |
| The prize
money for the inaugural 1949 event was
£150 to the winner and a total of about £500 in all; by
1965 this had 'progressed' to £250 and £750 in
all; in 1975 to £1,000 and £3,500 in all; in
1985 to £5,000 and £15,000 in all; in
1995 it was £22,500 and £92,000 overall, in 2005
it was £50,000 and £190,000 overall. At the 2008
competition the winner will take home £60,000 and the total prize
money will be £275,000. |
| The car parks, tradestands,
arena and cross country courses fit into an area of
approximately 600 hectares (1500 acres) of
Badminton Park. |
| Directors of Badminton Horse
Trials: |
| Lt. Colonel Trevor Horn 1949-56 |
| Lt. Colonel Gordon Cox Cox,
1957-64 |
| Lt. Colonel Frank Weldon,1965-88 |
| Mr. Hugh Thomas, 1989-present
day |
| |
| The late Colonel Frank
Weldon, MVO., MBE., MC., was associated with the
"Great Event" as a competitor, Official and Director for 36
years. |
|
 Fence
builders at Badminton - Charlie Chapple; George Stoneham
and Alan Willis; Alan Willis and Gilbert Thornbury; Alan Willis and
his sons, James and Tim. Alan and his sons are
internationally acclaimed and were coursebuilders at the Sydney
Olympics in the year 2000 and built the World Equestrian Games
course for 2002. |
The date for the 2008
Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials is the 1st -
4th May.
The date for the Event in 2009 will be 7th - 10th
May. |
|
HISTORY
|
| In 1948 the Olympic
Games - the first of the post War era - were held in Great Britain,
based in London. |
| The Three Day Event took place
at Aldershot, with the Cross Country at Barossa, Camberley. A
British team competed, without much success - before the War the
competition had been largely confined to cavalry officers and the
only training for the team was their normal cavalry exercises.
Women were naturally not allowed to take part! |
| The 10th Duke of Beaufort
attended the event as a spectator and immediately recognised that
the hunting and racing traditions in Britain should enable riders
to do well in this Olympic competition. He suggested that an annual
competition be organised on his Estate at Badminton, to give riders
experience and assist in the training and selection of an Olympic
team. |
| The Duke was involved with
horses all his life - his major passion being fox hunting. He was
Master of the Horse for the Royal Family, responsible for the
organisation of the equine side of all ceremonial occasions. He
asked the recently formed British Horse Society to organise the
proposed Trials and Col Trevor Horn agreed to act as Director,
assisted by Col "Babe" Mosely. |
| The Badminton Estate has been in
the possession of the Beaufort family since 1608. The family itself
is descended from John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III. The house
and parkland date from the 17th and early 18th centuries, when huge
expenditure for the times produced the house as we see it today and
the park modelled by William Kent and Capability Brown. |
 Badminton in the 20th century
was probably best known as the centre of fox hunting for the whole
country - the 10th Duke being seen as the expert on all matters
relating to hound breeding and the art and science of the
chase. |