Badminton Revisited

Julian Seaman first went to Badminton as an autograph-hunting fan in the 1960s. He later decided to become a competitor. In his first year, his horse became lame. Year two, he completed the dressage in a rainstorm in a coat made in his tailoring class at college. Third time he fell. Indeed, he fell off several times on national TV and achieved immortality as the ‘What happened next?’ feature on BBC’s A Question of Sport. Meanwhile, Julian enjoyed the splendour and history of the event – watching Mark Phillips win four times, the grand daughter of the Viceroy of India, Lucinda Prior-Palmer win six times and has enjoyed watching both Princess Anne and daughter Zara riding the classic course. And over the years, he’s witnessed some odd happenings, for example, in 1973, one-third of all constants failed to get past the third obstacle. On another occasion, Gurgle The Greek clambered, unpenalised, under a jump, to officially clear it.On another, dual Olympic Gold medallist, Mark Todd, rode a chance horse, lost a stirrup and competed ‘one-legged’! Julian is now Press Officer at this magnificent event and cantors us through the history of Badminton regailing us with fascinating facts and marvellous memories that brings the event to life. A beguiling book, this will be enjoyed by horse lovers and history lovers alike. Scriptwriter, broadcaster and Press Officer at Badminton, Julian Seaman was once a competitor at Badminton Horse Trials. His previous book, Sixteen Hands Between Your Legs was a best-seller.