Raising the game
Horse & Hound|March 07, 2024
Fourteen years after the grassroots championships moved to Badminton, Pippa Roome examines how they have developed and their place in the sport
Pippa Roome
Raising the game

"BADMINTON prospect" is seen on numerous for sale ads - but over the past 14 years, we've become accustomed to checking whether this refers to an equine athlete destined for the five-star competition or the grassroots. Either will be worth their weight in sticky pound notes to the right rider.

The grassroots championships moved from Aston-le-Walls to Badminton for the 2010 event, giving the country's best BE90 and BE100 combinations a run at one of the most prestigious venues in Britain.

Hugh Thomas, then Badminton's event director, said: "To be able to host the championships for the grassroots riders alongside our international event will be quite a challenge but we very much look forward to making them feel part of our Badminton family."

The event was sponsored by Badminton's headline supporter Mitsubishi Motors - and was for a while rebranded the Mitsubishi Motors Cup, with winners given a car for a year - while more recently Voltaire Design has taken on the title sponsorship.

Event organiser Ollie Bush says that not a great deal has changed in terms of the layout, with the stables and first two phases across the road from the main site, and organisation. She modestly describes herself as a "minor cog in a big wheel" of the "united team effort" of the organisation.

The big change since that first running has been the timetable. In 2010, the grassroots cross-country took place alongside the first day of five-star (then four-star) dressage (on the Friday), causing consternation as some top horses were upset by whistles and galloping hooves.

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