‘A true five-star test’
RIDING cross-country is about feeling your way across the country. You have a plan, but you have to feel your way.
I can’t see anywhere you can take a breather on this Badminton course, it’s a real five-star and don’t think anyone can underestimate it. The track runs anticlockwise and is a true test of rideability and fitness. There is no room for error and no room to burn energy, and that is down to the rider.
People think of Badminton as being flat, but course-designer Eric Winter has made use of the terrain and designed a great track. Riders are going to have to ride with their minds, have a fit horse and work as a combination.
Until The Lake (fences nine and 10ab), the course is quite open and allows riders to get into a good rhythm and to build confidence.
How The Lake rides is going to be determined by the approach, the balance on the turn and the jump in. Riders will have to feel their way through. There is an alternative, and I will say that I have never regretted taking a long option, but I have regretted going direct!
“The learning curve was vertical”
ANDREW HOY ON HIS EARLY BADMINTONS
The Ford Broken Bridge (fence 13) is a jump people may remember from Badminton’s history. It shows creativity
