Burghley!

I had the good fortune to be able to attend the Burghley Horse Trials this past weekend and it was truly an incredible experience! The British know how to do things just right and always with class. With my two boys in tow we had a bit of an adventure getting to Burghley what with finding a car to rent and figuring out how to work the Nav which circled us back to the rental place the first time! Oh, and did I mention driving a stick on the "wrong" side of the road? I figured I had got it once I was able to drink my latte and steer and shift at the same time! I only crossed into the wrong lane once and popped the clutch once so all in all did alright.

Back to Burghley. To get to the estate you travel through a quintessential old English village and I couldn't help but think I was in Sherwood Forest. The road was narrow and twisty and the shifting got a bit challenging. Upon entering the grounds we saw a large pasture full of the most beautiful deer. Small but with big antlers they have lived on the castle grounds for centuries and are rounded up for the event. The drive up was lined with massive trees with trunks about six feet in diameter. Again, I couldn't help but think of Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest as these trees were certainly around back then!

This was the first four star I had gone to so I can't compare it to anything else, but Burghley is legendary. It has the toughest terrain of any of the four stars and as Mark Todd said, "You need a horse that is a fighter". The backdrop is spectacular with Burghley Castle sitting prominently on the grounds, Union Jack waving proudly.

It took a bit to get our bearings since the signage was not the best and the crowds were huge, about 150,000 to be exact, but we found the Member's tent and got some much needed lunch. It was the perfect setting. People had "parked" their dogs outside the members area. There was a 1920's style band playing (tuba, banjo, those white hats, you get the picture) and in front of that there was a grassy area for people to hang out and watch the cross country from one of several jumbo-trons located throughout the grounds. There was no shortage of food and drink (alcohol). You could buy everything from wood fired pizza to caviar to Pimm's and champagne. There were bars set up around the grounds and I think some people just came to drink and watch the festivities!


It was a very festive atmosphere and it was great for people watching. Everything from jeans to British tweeds with a lot of Dubarry boots. The cross country course was beautifully constructed and without so much of the artificiality you see on some of today's courses. The turf was in pristine condition as it is only used for the event and it was a joy to see the expert riding and bravery of the horses over some very big jumps. Land Rover is the title sponsor and so there was a Range Rover parked next to every jump for the fence judges to sit by and the officials (of what type I don't know) all wore black suits with black bowler hats. Oh, so British. No wonder I love England so much!

While we didn't hear of any great difficulties on course while we were there, there was one lengthy hold on course when Nicola Malcolm fell from her horse and had to be airlifted out. Fortunately she was released from the hospital the next day and her horse was uninjured. Too bad because they appeared to be doing quite well on course. Well, what to do when there is no action? Did I mention SHOPPING? There was a dizzying array of shops, 500 to be exact and one would need at least a day to see all of them. From feed to luxury home goods there was something for everyone. I thought to myself a few times "what recession?" as it seemed as though everyone held a bag containing some treasure they had purchased. I was actually glad in a way that I had the boys with me as it limited the number of shops I could go to. My AMEX was burning a hole in my pocket and I could have done some serious damage to it! I did score a pair of beautiful pig suede jodphur boots - the only pair left and they fit. It was meant to be! In my giddiness from being in shoe heaven I lost my son Declan. Woops, but not like he hasn't done it before. He knew to go to one of the cafes and ask for help and we quickly found him. Yep, a bit embarrassing but a trip to the toy store cured that (I told you they had every kind of store there)! There was so much to see, you almost forgot there were horses going cross country!


It was time to go and of course I couldn't remember what the rental car looked like! Fortunately my other son Liam, whose brain replaces mine on many an occasion, came to the rescue and we were soon on our way back to London, already looking forward to next time. Congratulations to Caroline Powell for winning the 50,000 pound first prize!

Stay tuned for my next post which is a wrap up of my first visit to the Spoga Trade Show in Cologne, Germany!