This year was my second visit to the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials and as with a lot of events I’m fortunate enough to work at, it’s incredibly different the second time.
As most British events are, Burghley was absolutely defined by the weather. As spectators, riders and journalists all feverishly checked weather apps on their phones, the rain came early on Saturday and blew the competition wide open.
Three-day eventing is impacted by the weather in a similar way to motorsport. The best will still be the best, but those just off the top are given a real chance to prove themselves. Christopher Burton went on to produce a masterful display throughout dressage and cross country, before nearly throwing it away in spectacular fashion in the show jumping finale.
The workload at Burghley is the best kind: fast paced and non-stop. After the relatively slow start that dressage afforded us, Rupert and I felt like we had cracked it by day two of competition and became a well oiled machine of gathering material and sending it out.
Variety was the key as we alternated between roles interviewing after competition and gathering podcast content. We traded blows over who got the best roles but I maintain to this moment that my food tasting feature was every bit as enjoyable as his interview with Olympic gold medallist Nick Skelton. Different tastes.
This year’s competition again proved a real learning experience and one that I enjoyed thoroughly.
Having interviewed the riders consistently over the last two years I’ve developed relationships with some of them that I think has benefited both my interviewing and relaxed their answers. Tim Price in particular kept asking me where my shorts were for the first two days, amazingly though he forgot to ask on Saturday in the pouring down rain. Trust me Tim, my legs are better off covered!
By Josh Peacock