How to watch Badminton Horse Trials 2023: what you need to know

Find out how to watch Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian, from 4–8 May 2023.

How to watch Badminton Horse Trials

• Badminton TV is the only way to watch all the live action, from the first horse inspection through to the showjumping, from anywhere in the world.
• Visit watch.badminton-horse.tv to sign up.
• Badminton TV is an internet TV channel. The live, as well as watch-again, streamed programmes from the whole event will be hosted by the Brightcove platform.
• Check out the course preview with Eric Winter, Alice Fox-Pitt and Tina Cook, live from 14 April.
• At home with the Prices, live from 21 April – Badminton TV becomes one of the first to visit Tim and Jonelle’s new home. We spend the morning with Tim as he prepares for Badminton and Jonelle shares her tips with Badminton first-timer Hollie Swain.
• As a Badminton TV subscriber you will have 365 days of access to all of the content in the Badminton TV library, as well as being able to rewatch all of this year’s action for just £19.99.
• Badminton TV can be viewed using a variety of different devices including your smart phone, PC, Smart TV, Firestick and via the soon-to-be launched Badminton TV app.
• A highlights programme on BBC2 on Monday, 8 May will also broadcast the final 10 showjumping rounds live – British viewers will need to switch over from Badminton TV to BBC2 or the BBC iPlayer to watch this. International subscribers will be able to watch the top 10 live on Badminton TV.
• Badminton TV does NOT include coverage of the Voltaire Design Grassroots Championships, but there is a Badminton grassroots live stream on Equireel.

How to follow Badminton Horse Trials with Horse & Hound

Horse & Hound will have three journalists and a photographer on the ground at Badminton throughout the competition.

Website

Horse & Hound will be creating extensive online coverage of Badminton in addition to what will be included in the magazine report. Our coverage on HorseandHound.co.uk will include:

• Course photos of the five-star track on Thursday, 4 May.
• Course photos of the Voltaire Design Grassroots Championships’ cross-country tracks are already available, plus updates showing the fully-dressed course on Thursday, 4 May.
• Times for the next day’s competition so you know when your favourites compete.
• Breaking news and numerous reports on all the action as it unfolds throughout the event.
• Interviews with first-timers, comeback stars, British heroes and more.
• A daily interview with a groom.
• Daily video round-ups of the action and video features

To keep reading our Badminton online coverage after five articles, readers will need to buy a subscription. A Horse & Hound website subscription gives you instant access wherever you are, to all of our coverage with no limits on how much you can read, all from as little as £1 a month. Sign up now. Alternatively, if you’d like to take advantage of our great value combined magazine and website subscription, visit magazinesdirect.com/XHH-brandsite . If you are already a magazine subscriber, the cost to upgrade your subscription to include full website access is minimal – call 0330 333 1113 to find out more.

Magazine

• 27 April issue: full five-star course walk with 2019 Badminton winner Piggy March, plus a feature on past Badminton winners’ memories and the advice they are giving to this year’s competitors
• 4 May issue: form guide with details of every horse and rider competing.
• 11 May issue: 22-page special report, containing the best photos, analysis and insight from our team on the ground at Badminton, as well as from experts including Nick Burton and Mark Phillips. We will also report on the grassroots championships in this issue.

Podcast

• Find all our podcasts at horseandhound.co.uk/podcast or search “Horse and Hound podcast” in your podcast app – and then hit subscribe or follow to ensure each new podcast automatically downloads so you don’t miss any episodes.
• Listen to Felicity Collins talking about her Badminton debut last year and her hopes for this year on the episode released on 27 April, supported by Spillers.
• You can also listen to many riders talking about their Badminton experiences in our back catalogue, including Laura Collett on her 2022 Badminton win (episode 103, released 19 May 2022) and Piggy March on her 2019 Badminton win (episode 49, released 6 May 2021).

Take out or renew a Horse & Hound subscription at Badminton

• Badminton show special subscription offer: subscribe from only £60.99 and receive a free Ariat half zip sweatshirt, worth £100. Visit horseandhoundsubs.co.uk/badmintonspecial or call 0330 333 1113 and quote code and size (small – B69A, medium – B69B, large – B69C, extra large – B69D).
• Pick up a free copy of the 4 May issue of the magazine at Badminton from the organisers’ office or the on-site box office.

Radio Badminton

• Listen live on frequency 87.7 FM or online at badminton-horse.co.uk/badminton-radio/
• Broadcasting starts from Thursday afternoon at approx 12.30pm and and then runs from 8.30am-7pm daily Friday through Monday.

Badminton tickets

All tickets for the event must be bought in advance.

To find out more about how and what options are available, visit H&H’s ultimate guide to Badminton Horse Trials tickets.

Date change

The dates of Badminton have been altered this year because of The King and Queen Consort’s Coronation on Saturday, 6 May. The five-star dressage takes place on Friday and Saturday, the cross-country on Sunday and the showjumping on Monday.

The dressage timetable on Saturday will include a break in the action so people can watch the Coronation, which will be shown on the big screens.

How to watch Badminton: why do the event charge you to watch?

Badminton was first broadcast via a paid-for, online streaming service in 2022.

On the InsideBadminton podcast released in January 2022, created by the EquiRatings Eventing Podcast, the event’s commercial director Andrew Tucker explained that the reason for the paywall was a commercial one.

“The TV is currently a big cost to us, so we have had to take the decision to offset some of that cost,” he said, adding that the same production team pull together both the Badminton TV and BBC coverage.

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Keep up to date with all of the breaking news, behind the scenes insight and the best of the action throughout Badminton Horse Trials with no limit on how much you can read from as little as £1 per week with a Horse & Hound unlimited website subscription. Sign up now. Plus enjoy our full 22-page magazine report on Badminton, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from Nick Burton and Mark Phillips, in Horse & Hound magazine (on sale 11 May).