Burghley Review: Day Two

Friday dawned cloudy but warm over Stamford, with the sun starting to break through as we were finishing breakfast. Doubting the British weather (as any sensible Brit will do), we packed our wellies (and wellibobs) into the boot of the car and set off towards Burghley House again, determined today to spend a little less and watch some more dressage.

We were greeted by a steady-moving queue of cars that reached a whole five cars in front of us, and I was starting to wonder what all of the fuss was about. I had been warned of traffic queues from the A1 all the way into Stamford, but so far the only evidence I had seen of that was when the sat nav had had me driving around the town for an hour when leaving the previous evening - and I fully blame the sat nav for that. Knowing in hindsight that this year's Burghley saw record crowds of over 180,000 spectators, I'm quite happy to attribute this to excellent planning, as we didn't arrive there until just gone nine o'clock again.

Using my, quite frankly, brilliant Burghley iPhone app, I already knew the running order of dressage tests, and had earmarked Mary King (I was still giddy over meeting my teenage hero) and King's Temptress as the test I really had to see, no excuses. Anything else was a bonus, and whilst my non-horsey mother fancied another look in the Joules tent, she was strictly moved on at around half past ten after buying a couple of things, and we settled into our seats in a much busier North Stand to watch the combinations before Mary King go. When she came out, it was to polite but restrained applause - you got the feeling that the spectators were waiting to give her an almighty welcome after the Olympics - and she produced a good test that put her fourth at that point in the day.

We stayed on to watch about another hour's worth of the dressage, which included the overnight leaders of Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville, who produced an outstanding test that you just knew would take them to the top of the leaderboard. Nothing was laboured or overly obvious, they were a picture of harmony and lightness as they floated around the dressage arena, and the applause they were met with upon finishing showed that the crowd already knew where she would be placed.

The rest of the day was interspersed with a little more shopping (to keep the mother happy), and also having a look at the horse simulator, which I was desperate for somebody to have a go on in front of me! We also walked a bit of the cross country course, including the Leaf Pit, which my mum declared no horse could physically jump (I tried to remind her that it's been a staple of the Burghley course for some years now, but she was adamant that she couldn't believe it until she'd seen it), and we also watched some of the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse finals in Ring 2. After all of this walking, it would've been rude not to have stopped for a Pimms by the Anniversary Splash cross country fence, and laugh at the Land Rover test track when over-zealous men kept getting some incredibly expensive cars wedged over a bit of 'terrain' that may well have finished my little car off!

We decided to call it a day at about quarter past four, knowing that we would have to be up early for cross country day, and after getting sunburnt on my nose, I was keen to get my hands on some after-sun. Getting out of Burghley House was once again incredibly quick and easy, and we were back at the hotel (after a quick detour to Tesco) in about half the time we'd thought it would take us, slightly sunburnt but at least not quite as laden down with shopping as the day before!

Top Tips:
- Picnic by your car - So many people bring extravagant picnics with them, including tables and chars, and there is even a picnic competition going on over the event. We settled for the picnic blanket that came with our backpack, but because it comes with plates, knives, glasses (and even a corkscrew if you're not the unlucky driver as I was) and a whole host of other things, it wasn't a poor substitute. Tables and chairs are in short supply with the vast amount of people at the event, and with the ground still slightly muddy from the rain the previous day, you're better off going back to the ground that people haven't churned up and enjoying the sunshine and a bit of peace and quiet for half an hour.
- Download the Burghley app - I can't stress how helpful I found this app, which is also free from the iTunes store. It provides start times for all competitors, a detailed course walk for the cross country (including videos at each fence), information on riders, shopping village map and a whole host of other features.
- Stop by Ring 2 - I enjoy dressage a lot, but even I have my limits when it comes to two solid days of the same test. Unless you're a dressage fanatic, note the times that the riders you want to see will be doing their tests, and when you have some free time pop over to Ring 2 to take in the competitions there. We also watched a parade of stallions, some of whom were the most beautiful horses I have ever laid eyes on, and my mum particularly enjoyed the Burghley Young Event Horse final, which combines a short dressage test, and a course of showjumps and cross country style fences - perfect if you're visiting with somebody who doesn't know much about horses and will probably find watching the same dressage test over and over a little tedious.

Purchases
1 pair of taupe/check Harry Hall jodphurs, £19.95 in sale

Rydale Melton 3-in-1 jacket, £35 from Rydale (although I am a UK size 8 and managed to fit into the cheaper children's version, definitely worth a try!)

Striped fleece polo top from Joules, £29.95