“ It is with immense sadness that we announce the cancellation of Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2021 which was due to be held later this year from 2nd - 5th September.”
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I get it. But man, these sting every time. Especially as I sit here missing Badminton. It turns out there is a part of my heart that is reserved only for breaking when 5*s are canceled.
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Really gutted for the Brits. They are really holding onto hope right now.
If Fair Hill runs in the fall I really hope we can travel because I want to be there to see it. There is going to be an epic line up of riders there.
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Unlike Badminton, this seems to have been driven by financial motives
The severe financial implications of a potential cancellation of an event of this scale and magnitude at a late stage, without available pandemic insurance, are too great to risk for all involved.
I have essentially no understanding of eventing and the culture in the UK, but I wonder if there will be a fundraising effort to “uncancel” similar to what happened with Kentucky.
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At least it looks like Luhmuhlen is still running at this point.
Both Badminton and Burghley are vast. Crowds of 200,000 people, shopping that goes on forever with literally hundreds of traders - who need to plan and commit to their stands and staff, various supporting competitions and equestrian displays - which all require organisation, catering for the many food courts, marquee hire, generator hire, permission for aircraft landing, road closures and police manpower for traffic control, printing, media links … the list is endless. Both Events are run on green field sites, with no permanent infrastructure (unlike Kentucky), that also happen to be significant historic ones too, with all the constraints that imposes. The longterm planning is difficult enough but in these unpredictable times it is even harder. Contracts needed to be signed and the risk needed to be covered. Unfortunately, lack of insurance is having a chilling effect on many big UK events this year and I’m sure there will be more victims to come.
Sadly for many of the traders, Burghley provides their peak sales (some people go for the shopping and totally ignore the horsey thing) and it is likely that many will now go out of business. It was estimated that the cancellation of Badminton in 2012, due to bad weather, cost the local economy £33 million.
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Thanks for the explanation. I apologize for my ignorance, but is there a way to separate the cost of running the event itself from what would have gone into the trade fair, concessions, shopping, etc., and possibly crowd-fund for that alone? I would happily pay for a live stream, even a pricey one. Think of all the people who have NOT spent money on air fare, hotels, and on-site admissions and seats in 2020 and now 2021. Is there a way to get this going?
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Valid question. Badminton was planning to run behind closed doors this year, with no spectators, no shopping and a planned free live stream, but it ended up cancelling anyway. Circumstances proved too difficult. The UK is only slowly coming out of a national Covid Lockdown. Even if you stripped out all the ancillary sporting and commercial activities the running costs are still enormous - 5* international has minimum FEI requirements to be met, and, I believe, these are carried by the (private) Badminton and Burghley estates, not by BE. The contracts need to be signed sooner rather than later because it takes months to set up the facilities in the parks. Five months off, there is no certainty that paying spectators will be allowed to attend, there is no certainty that the contractors will even still be in business, no insurance is available to cover the risk, BE has no resources to cover any losses - eventing remains predominantly an amateur sport - and the Government is unlikely to even give a polite chuckle of incredulity to a request for any support. Kentucky, in the Horse Park, is on a public facility, with permanent infrastructure and government support. Different kettle of fish.
The British attitude is ‘heigh-ho, these things happen, never mind, there’s always next year. Lehmuhlin 5* here we come.’ The difference being, travel to both Germany and France for Pau 5* already figure in the calendars of most top European-based riders.
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Same here.
I have been having a spontaneous thought that is ridiculous because I’m always over-scheduled … “but what am I going to do with that weekend?” The Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley weekends are always on hard reserve for the livestream – for 4 days of my life. 
I suspect that B&B are epic enterprises that each financially tower over Kentucky.
Badminton & Burghley, now missing 2 years in a row, have to be sliding into a massive financial hole. Scrambling out, hopefully starting next year, is going to be a fight.
There is no making up things that did not happen. It will have to be a matter of doing what it takes to go on financially from wherever the re-start spot will be.
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