Fresh off his win at the Land Rover Kentucky Rolex event, Oliver Townend is again sitting in first place after the first day of Dressage at the Badminton Horse Trials on his first ride, Cillnabradden Evo. The two logged an incredible 19.7 — the lowest score in Badminton history and a personal best for both rider and horse.
Luckily, you can watch the ride on Badminton’s website, where they have both free live streaming and on-demand videos. Townend’s ride is in Part One of the dressage on Day 1, and starts at the 50 minute mark. I love being able to watch these events on demand as my work day doesn’t always allow me to watch the live stream.
Another cool feature of the Badminton website is the interactive tour of the course. It’s almost as good as walking the course yourself.
As an interesting comparison, Badminton posted the course from 50 years ago. It really lets you see how much the sport has changed over that time. The Cross Country phase of Eventing has seen huge changes over the years, not least the loss of the roads & tracks and the steeplechase phases.
