The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is turning 50 this year. The event, which runs from September 1-4, features 45 jumping efforts and will have an optimum time of 11:30– longer than last year’s event.

Every year Burghley posts a video course walk with course designer Captain Mark Phillips on the home page of its website. You can also read Phillips’ course comments on the Cross Country Section where there is a larger version of the map and details about the individual fences.

According to Phillips:

50 years is a special anniversary for any organisation and there has been a special effort on the cross country this year to reflect just some of Burghley’s history. In particular we have re-created some of the vintage Burghley fences from yesteryear and used a lot more ‘old fashioned’ smaller rails. This has not only given the course a little bit of a ‘retro’ look but made many of the fences look enormous.

Having watched the video, I’d have to agree. The jumps definitely look enormous!

The video below is an abbreviated version of the full course walk video (5 minutes vs. 30) but still gives you a sense for what’s in store for the riders.

And here’s a nice compilation video of Burghley memories.