never never never click those links - there is no free livestream of Badminton.
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There was an issue with the live stream of the jog, but the replay was perfect. Replays are included in the subscription. I thought it was worth the price. If the live stream gets wonky, I know I can watch the replay.
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Its been working great today.
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It has not been horrible. The jog had some issues initially, they fixed it. I didnāt notice any issues with the two days of dressage (not watching closely, playing in the background while working,) and the replays are perfect.
Of course dressage is a lot easier to livestream than cross country, so no guarantees for tomorrow but I figure itās worth the $25 to get to watch a 5* from thousands of miles away.
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Worked fine today for the hour I caught live after not much success Thursday. Odd thing is I canāt figure out how to skip back or ahead on the replays that are now available. Thankfully the Americans were clustered in the second session. Iām excited for tomorrow, too wet here to do anything outside!
Laura Collettās dressage test is up on the badminton facebook page. Curious what others thinkā¦
I thought it was wonderful.
I watched it earlier and loved it. his first halt was crooked and the rest was largely just beautiful. I love a big horse that uses themselves so well in the 8m and the corners. his transition to CL from the left 8m circle into S/I left ā¦swoonā¦Pure walks in the extended and medium. Perfect halt. quiet, upward canter depart. gorgeous extended center, nice flying change, half pass work is a joy to watch, etc etc etc. He never got āupā or worried, rhythmic, he COULD have had a better stretchyā¦but meh. Delightful riding.
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thereās a little slider at the bottom of the screenā¦
I thought her position on the horse was beautiful. So balanced, they were so together that she seemed part of him.
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I walked round the xc course today, after watching a bit of dressage. It is full of small details, like rocks or tree stumps carefully placed in the vicinity of fences to subtly help horses keep a line or using a slight rise in the ground to help a horse round a corner but, goodness me, a rider is going to have to think at each and every fence, even at the so-called let-up fences. Eric Winter, the CD, is asking different questions, time after time, the whole way round. He does have a fondness for angled fences and ditches. Fence 5, for example, is a ālet- upā simple skinny log after the Quarry complex but it is placed such that a horse will not have much time to see it before jumping over at a very acute angle. The long route is round the back of a tree but then the horse is being asked to jump directly towards a crowd of people for the first time. Here, the placement of trees and āunjumpablesā is designed to help the horses. The Huntsmanās Close is much brighter than in the past because several trees have been taken out but the three brush hedges, 6ABC, are on a line that takes confidence and a good eye. Much head scratching and squinting at this point of my course walk. The Broken Bridge, 13, isnāt so fearsome when seen straight down the track but the photos should be awesome. One of the most technical fences is the KBIS Brush Village, 14ABC, a big box brush followed by two giant brush corners all on slightly sloping ground. I predict that quite a few horses will have run outs because the riders will need to be on a really good line and offer confident, positive riding. It took me crossing the track from one side to the other and looking backwards and much head scratching before I could even begin to work out the possibilities. The middle section of the course, from 15 to 23 is so quick and intense that I was getting a headache just looking at the fences. By the time the competitors leave this section they will have jumped the ditch along the valley four times, including the infamous Vicarage Vee, 23AB. Well, it is 5*, it is Badminton, it is the toughest in the world. Bold, brave, forward riding with millimetric precision. I expect riders will come into the last third of the track a long way down on the clock and they will then will have to push on to make the time. The later fences on the course are big and they definitely need respect but much of test will be horsemanship, feel, fitness and stamina. It will be interesting to see how many do come home within the time. Most definitely, the scoreboard will look very different at the end of this phase.
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The course walk with Eric Winter and Andrew Nicholson was interesting to watch and is available to subscribers.
@Willesdon how fun for you to be there. It looks like it would be a wonderful time.
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There is also a 1994 Badminton highlight video available to watch. Eventing was still in the long format in 1994.
Iām watching it now.
ETA Itās not a highlight video, itās the 1994 Cross Country and Show Jumping. Quite a notable difference in saddles between 1994 and the present, horse falls as well. 
It was fun to watch a young WFP, Mark Todd, and Bruce Davidson riding, as well as Mary Thomson (King)
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Itās so amazing to see him do such a calm relaxed test after seeing all the videos of him sailfishing during his first jump schools back after the winter off!
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Sure, keep piling on despite me acknowledging and backtracking my comments upthread!! Really mature of you.
During the press conference today, they mentioned āover 100,000ā people for tomorrow 
Cough. Now put yourself in tamieās shoes.
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Just watched it. Honestly if I didnāt know it was the leading test, I wouldnāt have guessed it would be. But, I suppose you donāt need to be elegant, you need to be precise. That halt before the rein back was beautiful. He did make it look easy like they were just riding around a Training level test or something hahaā¦.he didnāt seem stressed one bit. And Laura really went for it on those extendeds! I havenāt seen Tom or Kittyās tests but will look for them on the replay.
Oh please. I made one comment. Youāve made some pretty desparaging remarks and speculations in other threads, so get over yourself.
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Iām not pleading for mercy, boo 
