THE Duke of Beaufort opened the gates to the historic Badminton Estate this week for a first glimpse of the new cross-country course to be used in this year’s Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials.

This is Giuseppe Della Chiesa’s second year in charge of the 4* course, but the first time travelling this way around the track, as every year the direction of the course is reversed.

Badminton director Hugh Thomas is hoping that riders, horses and spectators will enjoy the track, which is at the heart of the competition.

Says Hugh: “Equestrianism is the most inclusive event in the country. It is the only sporting event where men and women take each other on on completely equal terms, and we want to make it the most inclusive event for spectators, too.”

The Italian course designer has set out to produce a flowing route which gives the feel of a real journey across the countryside, over rustic-looking obstacles that blend into the terrain.

At this level of the sport serious technical questions must be asked of horse and rider, but Giuseppe has endeavoured to make them look natural not artificial.

For many riders, the first really testing question for the riders this year is fence 8, the Irish Sport Horse Huntsmans Close, which comprises two enormous brush-topped box corners a few strides apart, making the line and direction between the two big fences critical in successfully clearing the jumps.

The most popular part of the course for spectators is, of course, the Lake (fences 11 to 13), and although Giuseppe believes most riders will opt for the direct route, there is, as always, plenty of room for mistakes to be made. The questions begin with the Mitsubishi Pickups L200s before a left turn to the willow wave drop, when the serious contenders will head right up the bank to a willow ‘skinny’. They then loop left back into the water and jump the upturned boat from last year.

Local rider Harry Meade, from Luckington, who achieved third place in 2014, commented: “It’s always quite fun when the course designers force you to throw a rule out of the window – like always jumping into the water dead straight. This fence has obviously been designed to really test the rider – you can’t just pop over the first fence and then quietly canter across and into the water. You’ve got to really think about how you are going to approach it.”

Giuseppe has this year taken a bit of the sting out of the relentless crossings of the ditch with a nice inviting PHEV Oxer (fence 19) over a dip in the ground, but the imposing Vicarage V is still on site as a reminder that it will return!

It is then up what is probably the only noticeable gradient in Badminton Park to the ‘new found’ Gatehouse New Pond complex from last year (fence 20). This time the direct route is over a birch rail, down into the water, over a brush skinny, out of the pond and left to another single birch rail.

The final big question of the course is, most probably, The Sense Silver Birch Treble (fence 25), when riders will need to slow down and high tune their steering over three large birch parallels on a very tight right curve. This is one of the few obstacles on the course where arena jumping skills will pay off.

“You have to jump both at an angle,” says Harry. “If you cheat at one, you simply can’t get to the other!”

Statistics could probably show whether a clockwise or anti clockwise course proves the most challenging, but any horse and rider who comes out on top after Giuseppe’s second ‘first’ Badminton design will have certainly earned the Mitsubishi Trophy.

The first inspection of horses taking part in The Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials takes place at 4.30pm on Wednesday, May 6 in front of Badminton House. The competition begins on Thursday, May 7 with two days of dressage competition, followed by Cross Country day on Saturday, May 9 and the culmination of the competition on Sunday, May 9.

The Grassroots Championships at Badminton (for amateur riders) precedes the main competition and takes place on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 May.