Badminton unveils its new cross country course

For the 2023 edition, which will be held from May 4 to 8, riders and spectators at the CCI 5*-L in Badminton will tread new ground on the cross-country course, which was unveiled this week. Course designer Eric Winter has used a new hilly area of ​​the park where the topography will give the course a facelift and provide better views.

This year the course will run clockwise, with the combination of stairs negotiated at the start of the course and downhill. The possibility of changing direction each year in Badminton offers a wide range of possibilities for the course designer. “When you have such expectations and a huge audience, not to mention thousands of viewers around the world, you have to try to come up with something new every year”explique Eric Winter. “The advantage here is to be able to organize a different competition each time. The 2023 track doesn’t have as many big ditches as the 2022 track, but will require obedience and adaptability, as the volley obstacles will be interspersed with combinations that will require control and adaptability.”

In terms of safety, MIM-clip technology will be used more and more on the course this year, including in the two spikes that make up the 25ab. At this stage, the competitors will be encouraged by the crowd as soon as they arrive on the field of honor, to finish their course on number 30, the crowning obstacle. “It’s a track that will rightly test the strength that binds horse and rider”says former competitor Tina Cook who, as a member of the commentary team, got to see the course for the first time. “The course has a flavor of yesteryear, with big, impressive and challenging obstacles”