The tricky narrow house on the mound to the white corner fence at The Maltings in 2011 may be part of the course changes in 2012
The 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials was blissful – fabulous weather (until the last day), great riders with top horses and wonderful shopping. It was our first visit to the event in a year where the cross course was BIG and many changes had been made to it to celebrate the event’s 50th anniversary.
This year therefore there were not many changes anticipated but it seems that course designer Capt Mark Phillips has been unable to resist a few tweaks and the latest news from Burghley is that there will be some changes at the Leafpit, Discovery Valley and the Dairy Mound fences and that The Trout Hatchery and the Maltings will also be slightly different. The straightforward big Burghley fences will apparently be much the same as last year (Burghley Station, Waterloo, Cottesmore Leap and Winners’ Avenue) which means huge!
The 1.45m Cottesmore Leap in 2011 - Capt. Mark Phillips said "This is the biggest fence I've ever seen in horse trials"
Another change that sounds really exciting is that the Main Arena will feature an Olympic theme, using some of the cross country fences from the Olympic course at Greenwich Park. Now that’s what I call recycling! It makes a lot of sense as there will be many people at Burghley who didn’t get the chance to see the cross country in Greenwich Park and the recycling of fences also reflects another theme at Burghley this year – the Green Lifestyle.
Burghley has some great pavilions which showcase products such as the Burghley Lifestyle Pavilion and the Country Living Magazine Pavilion; in 2012 these will be joined by the Green Lifestyle Pavilion presenting a select group of exhibitors retailing innovative, natural, recycled, sustainable, ethical, organic and eco-friendly products, together with expert advice ranging from conservation to sustainability. As well as housing a collection of unique lifestyle products there will be greener alternatives in riding wear, horse bedding, and even biomass boilers that run on the contents of your muck heap (can’t wait to tell you more about that one!)
Let’s just hope that all of the rain will have fallen and the weather gods are finally kind to a major event in the UK. The general opinion is that, due to the suburban nature of Greenwich Park, it will be spared the soggy problems generally associated with large country estate events (for once tarmac may have its benefits!); after a season of cancellations and wet weather, it’s time for an Indian summer and for Burghley to look like this
Burghley House bathed in sunshine during the 2011 event
