Badminton Horse Trials 2019 - Underway

Sunshine and showers get this year's Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials underway.  The black skies adding an air of drama to proceedings as Wednesday afternoon's first horse inspection got underway.

A veritable fashion parade of country collections, Fairfax & Favor boots and a torrent of tweed were the order of the day.  

The dramatic back drop of Badminton House in all of it's glory wasn't the only thing to add an extra element of drama to the afternoon.  Tamra Smith (USA) & Wembley were sent to the Holding Box, along with Sweden's Hanna Berg & Quite Survivor.  Both were subsequently withdrawn.

Izzy Taylor's Springpower decided that trotting was far too civilised and that the lure of the cross-country course was far too much, with a sudden break for freedom.  Luckily Tim Price was on hand to athletically leap into action to help anchor the runaway bay.

With the majority of equine athletes being well behaved Louise Harwood's imposing grey Balladeer Miller Man gave the expectant crowd something to look at with a display of aerial acrobatics.