“A good Three Day Event course is like a story” says Eric Winter “It has a beginning, a middle that’s exciting then it lulls a little bit, then it picks up again and a bit of a thriller at the end. And that’s the way the top level of the sport should be, but you can’t run at that level all the time”
At the very start of his tenure as cross country course designer for one of the most iconic events in the world, Eric Winter declared that he wanted to course to retain its traditional look and feel and he has kept that promise for three years now
It may be his third year at Badminton but he isn’t one to get comfortable in the role “I like to feel a little bit like the riders do, that you’re challenged, it will be interesting to do and you don’t quite know what’s going to happen” and this is a man who takes inspiration from many sources including, unusually, restaurants
Following the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton preview of the course last week, Samantha Clark talked with Eric about his ‘obsession’ with Badminton and his thoughts on ERM-style courses versus traditional 5* courses such as Badminton and Burghley
“Badminton and Burghley go back to the very core of rider feel, the ability to ride your horses over a distance and to recognize that you might be a little bit down at one stage, up at another stage and it’s not all about being flat out”
Nereo and Classic Moet are ‘classic Badminton horses’ says Eric and, although all riders don’t need to be going out hunting, they do need ‘to be training over the right types of ground’ to tackle Badminton
“I think that there are horses that move too well and jump too well to be proper 5* horses ….. that little quality horse that does just enough is good enough”
And for those who think it’s all over on Saturday evening, Eric starts the next year’s planning with a walk of the course that’s just been jumped on Sunday morning
“You can learn more from walking those footprints than you ever do on a pre-course walk”
Enjoy a fascinating insight into Eric’s thoughts thanks to Samantha Clark ….
