Less than Half of Badminton Riders Riding After Cross Country

 This year's Badminton cross country course was very difficult and grueling, and many riders were disqualified or retired from the course. There were quite a few falls as well. William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk had been doing well, but were disqualified after William fell of on one of the last fences. I was also disappointed to here that leading American Rider Clark Montgomery retired from the course after Loughan Glen refused a fence. Now, only one US rider, Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister are left, sitting in 21st place.

 With the cross country now over, the scoreboard shows Australian Paul Tapner and his mount, Kilronan, to be in the lead with a total of 56.4 points. In second place is Newzealander Tim Price and his horse Ringwood Sky Boy. They have a total of 61.6 points. French rider Pascal Leroy is in third with his horse, Minos de Petra, and scored 62.5. The fourth placer is British rider Oliver Townend and Armada with a score of 62.7. Sam Griffiths and Paulank Brockagh are is fifth with a score of 63.9. A score of 66.3 puts Pippa Funnel and Billy Beware in sixth place. They are closely followed by Tim Lips and Keyflow Nop, who scored 66.5. Harry Meade and Wild Lone are in eighth with a score of 67.4. I'm excited about the person in ninth, a Swede name Ludwig Svennerstal and his horse Alexander. They scored 72. He is tied with Lucy Jackson and Willy Do. Finally, in tenth is Merel Blom and Rumour Has It with a score of 73.8. For the complete score list, click here.

 Unfortunately, many of the riders I have been following either retired from the course or got disqualified. Mark Todd nearly fell of at the lake, but he is still competing and is currently in 17th with Leonidas II. However, his other horse, Quimbo, was retired from the course. Andrew Nicholson and his mount, Nereo, were also disqualified after falling at one of the jumps. Even William Fox-Pitt fell of today. Now, only 35 horse and rider pairs remain, less than half of the initial number of 85. There is no doubt that the Badminton course is a really tough four-star course. It should interesting to see how tomorrow's show jumping round will go.

Badminton Horse Trials Dressage Results

 The Badminton Horse Trials in the UK is officially underway, and the dressage scores for day one are up on the website. Australian rider Paul Tapner and his mount, Kilronan, are in first place with a dressage score of 36. Kilronan is a 2001 Irish Sport Horse gelding that Paul hopes will make it to Normandy this year for the World Equestrian Games. Just behind Paul in second place is Francis Whittington, who scored 36.2 on Easy Target, a gelding also foaled in 2001. In third place is Lucinda Fredericks, who rode Flying Finish. They scored 39 on their test.

 As for the other riders I wanted to follow, Mark Todd is currently in fourth place with NZB Campino, scoring 40.5 in his dressage test. Andrew Nicholson and Quimbo are in seventh with a score of 44.7, Clark Montgomery and Universe are in 18th place with a score of 50.8, William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain are in 28th with a score of 53.8, and Peter Atkins and Henry Jota Hampton are in 36th with a score of 62.2. Tomorrow, William Fox-Pitt will be riding Parklane Hawk, Canadian Rebecca Howard will be riding Riddle Master, Mark Todd will be riding Leonidas II, and Andrew Nicholson will be riding Nereo. I'll put there scores up after they ride. For a complete list of riders' scores, click here.

   

  How do think these riders will do tomorrow? I believe that William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk will do well, seeing as Hawk has been placing in several four-star events. 

Riders to Watch for in the Badminton Horse Trials

 The Badminton Horse Trials over in England starts today. It is a big four-star event and will help decide who will go to Normandy this summer, so the pressure is on for everyone. There will be over a hundred horses competing, with some riders bringing several horses. This year, only a few riders from the United States are competing, with some of them living and competing in England.

Clark Montgomery
 Clark Montgomery, a US rider, will be riding two horses at Badminton this year. The first is named Universe. Universe began competing in four-star events at Badminton last year, placing 27th with only 6.4 cross-country penalties. He even placed tenth at Pau CCI4 last year. Clark Montgomery is also competing with Loughan Glen, who will be competing in his first CCI4 event. Loughan Glen has successfully competed in three-star events so far.

Tiana Coudray
 Tiana Coudray, the second US, will be competing with Ringwood Magister, who finished 17th last with only a few faults. Tiana and Ringwood Magister moved to England after 2012's Olympics and have since improved.

Rebecca Howard
 Rebecca Howard will be riding Riddle Master in this year's Badminton. She, too, is based in England and placed 12th in last year's Badminton and 11th at Burghley.

Peter Atkins
 Peter Atkins will be riding Henry Jota Hampton, who has been at Rolex and the WEG in 2010, as well as Rolex 2013 with Peter. He place tenth last year at Rolex.

William and Parklane Hawk credit

William Fox-Pitt
 William Fox-Pitt will be riding several horses this year: Parklane Hawk, Cool Mountain, and Chilli Morning. Parklane Hawk is a one of the best horses there, seeing as he has never placed out of the top five in all five of his fourth-level competitions. He won his first CCI4, Burghley, in 2011. Then he won Rolex in 2012, came third in Burghley, placed fifth in Badminton 2013, and then placed third at Burghley yet again. William Fox-Pitt will also be riding Cool Mountain, an experienced fourteen-year-old who has earned silver at the WEG with Fox-Pitt. The final horse he will be competing on is Chilli Morning. Chilli Morning has never won a four-star event before, but has performed well at three-star.

Mark Todd
 Mark Todd will be competing with NZB Campino, a horse who placed twelth in the London Olympics before taking last year off due to injury. Campino will be competing in his first Badminton this year. Mark Todd will also be competing with Leonidas II, another of his horses.

Andrew Nicholson 
 Andrew Nicholson will be riding Nereo in this year's Badminton. Nereo has been competing at four-star level for five years now and has competed in both the Olympics and World Equestrian Games. So far in his career at CCI4, he hasn't placed worse than twelth, and since Burghley 2011, he hasn't placed worse than fourth.


 These are just a few riders that I think will do well at Badminton. Is there any horse/rider pair that you think have a good chance of winning? Let me know!