The Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials is one of the most prestigious events in the eventing calendar and takes place over 4 days in September each year. It is a "3-day" eventing meeting, though - as is now normal across equestrian - it takes place over 4 days. The fixture includes FEI-accredited and internationally-recognised competitions.
The first and second days feature world-class dressage. The third day features CCI4*L competitors taking on a series of challenging solid fences and the famous water complex across the River Glyme. The 8-year-old and 9-year-old horses will complete the showjumping phase of their competition. The final day sees the horses completing their competition in the cross-country phase. Showjumping and the final phase of the CCI4*-L will also take place, where horses and riders will jump in reverse order of merit. The competition will come to a close on Sunday afternoon with the crowning of both the CCI4*-L and CCI4*-S champions.
For an event such as the Blenheim Palace Horse Trials, the riders and their horses have to have proven ability and have achieved a recognised level of success at lower levels of competition in order to be qualified to enter. The event phases are each marked and penalty deductions awarded. The marks are cumulative and elimination in any one stage means elimination from the whole competition. The horse and rider combination with the lowest number of penalties at the end is the winner.
Please dress appropriately for the conditions and wear what you are most comfortable in. It is advised that if the weather has been wet, to wear wellington boots or a similar form of waterproof footwear as the course is walked on by up to 60,000 people and therefore can become muddy. Sufferers of hay fever and horse allergies are advised to remember their antihistamines or other relevant medications.
For events, Blenheim offers quality outdoor catering and are proud to be at the forefront of this. There will be concession stands and street food eateries around the venue.
You are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy at the event, however, you are restricted from taking your food into the Palace Pavilion. There are rubbish disposal facilities located all around the grounds, so please do use these when you are finished with your picnics so that litter is kept to a minimum.
You are welcome to visit the palace but you will need to purchase an additional ticket to access Blenheim Palace.
There are toilet facilities conveniently located around the venue.
Baby changing facilities are located around the event site within the disabled toilets. These are in all key areas so you should never be too far away from one when needed.