Putting the show on the road
This weekend’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is one of the biggest sporting occasions in Britain. Julie Harding meets members of the team behind this huge undertaking
Liz Inman (below) Event director
The event has become so diverse that I rely on my brilliant team to be in charge of their own areas. Ultimately, however, the buck stops with me, whether that relates to finance, the competition or developing the event.
This is a vocation for me—i’ve been working at Burghley since university—rather than a job. If I wasn’t doing this, I would be putting on a show elsewhere. The whole process gives me a buzz.
August is the toughest month, but it’s also the best because it’s when the ‘can-do brigade’ comes together—contractors, traders, volunteers, riders and public. As the clock ticks, the pressure builds and the workload increases for me and for the six (and a half) other full-time staff.
The hardest part is after the event. You’re tired and yet you’ve got only 12 weeks to put one fixture to bed and move on to the next before people’s budgets are spent.
Who will win? If only it could be Pamela, the palomino pony belonging to our charity, World Horse Welfare. Andrew Nicholson is always a favourite with me, but I’d also like to see a young gun winning and Tom Mcewen rides beautifully on Toledo de Kerser
Richard Clapham Cross-country controller Job in real life: regional chief executive of DUAL International Ltd
I started helping out in cross-country control 30-odd years ago at Peper Harow in Surrey. At some point, I met the late commentator Justin Llewelyn and it was he who introduced me to Burghley. Every time I walk into control now, I miss his presence.
I see myself as a chief operating officer, as I have an overview of every team—fence judges, timekeepers, vets and medics. I encourage a quiet calm from the 20 people assigned to the control tent, including the ground jury, commentators and scorers. There’s also a team that controls the plotter board, on which the progress of every horse around the course is mapped. In theory, if there are no incidents, this will be the only movement in the room. It’s a very intense day for everyone. I start two hours before the first horse leaves the start box and finish half an hour after the final one has completed, but we enjoy a laugh, not least the time one of the commentary team was caught on TV during his break getting rather amorous with a friend. You can plan for almost everything, but invariably the unexpected happens. On each of my first three years, that was a loose dog chasing a horse. Bizarrely, on every occasion, my predecessor, Stuart Buntine, appeared as if from nowhere in hot pursuit.
Who will win? Surely it will be the double Olympic champions and 2015 winners from Germany, Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam?
Caroline Bailey Chief cross-country timekeeper Job in real life: National Hunt trainer
There has been a revolution in timekeeping since I started at Burghley decades ago, initially as assistant to my mother [Pam Saunders]. In those early years, the timing was solely manual; now, it’s electronic and the team of four timekeepers (which includes me) is just a back-up in the event of an electronic failure or a dispute.
Two sit in the start box, noting down each starter’s time, and I sit opposite the finish line with the other member of the team and press the button as each horse completes. My one dread is that I’ll miss one, but I haven’t yet. Before the rule that a fall means elimination, riders often finished out of order, but, since the rule change, the order of finish is generally the same as the start, which has made life easier.
Even after all these years, competitors’ expressions fascinate me. You see the composure of the seniors, for whom finishing is just another day at the office, and the
If I wasn’t doing this, I would be putting on a show elsewhere. The whole process gives me a buzz’
elation of first-timers, who beam from ear to ear.
Who would you like to win? I’d love a new face, but I think it will be a tussle between Michael Jung and Andrew Nicholson
Peter Glassey (right) Head of forestry, park and gardens
On cross-country day, I’m a member of the fence-repair team and I don’t mind admitting that it’s such a dull job that I long for a callout. My day job, however, is far from boring. Burghley was Capability Brown’s largest commission. Every day, I see examples of his work and how he ensured that all views led to Burghley House.
My main aim is to return the park to Brown’s vision, opening up the vistas that have become obscured over the centuries. This may, for example, involve felling woodland and replanting it elsewhere. I realise that I’m an incredibly lucky boy to have such a job, but I do worry about visitors driving their 4x4s over the roots of my trees. As I get a little fretful, everyone indulges me when I erect signs and ropes requesting that people keep their distance.
Sometimes, I’m required for a last-minute job, such as the year a TV producer requested the pruning of some branches near Lion Bridge. It was a Friday evening and, with an audience of about 100, I was showing off—until I gouged a piece out of my thumb and had to make a swift exit with blood oozing everywhere. Now, when I do eleventhhour pruning, I make sure that I keep my back to the audience.
Who would you like to win? Ben Stokes. Yes, I realise he’s a cricketer, but I’m no horse fan
Richard Jewson Event chairman Job in real life: chairman of Tritax Big Box REIT plc
My wife, Sarah, and I have owned event horses for half a century, which could have been one of the reasons I was asked to be chairman in 2010. One of my most memorable moments was seeing our coloured horse, Bits and Pieces, finish fourth with Pippa Funnell in 1996. I understand what a serious business the sport is and what a long and stony road it can be.
Burghley begins for me with supper with the ground jury (judges) on the Tuesday and I always feel a sense of relief on Sunday evening when another successful fixture is behind us and no one has been hurt.
I’m involved in a certain amount of handshaking and I accept the numerous compliments on offer. I’m very proud to be associated with the finest three-day event in the world held in the most striking of settings and run so well.
Although I’m part-time, I stay in touch with Liz Inman constantly and I chair six committee meetings annually.
Who will win? My money is on the French rider Maxime Livio on Qalao des Mers
Guy Herbert (above) Course builder
I used to event, so course building became a natural career path—my father, Philip, is clerk of the course at Burghley and my mother, Nikki, is a dressage steward. I work here seven months a year, regularly liaising with the course designer, Mark Phillips, who makes his initial plans during winter. From May onwards, he visits once every three weeks.
Building starts at the end of May and, by the first week of August, all the fences are in place, flagged and numbered, even if there is still some tweaking to do. These days, about 30% are built from scratch with the rest recycled by being altered and moved. From early August, my attention switches to the ground. If it’s dry, I water the track regularly. This year, we have a new loop, which has required plenty of attention to bring the footing up to scratch.
My job list is enormous and, frustratingly, I never reach the end. However, I do always find time to drive around the course on the Tuesday evening, when I think ‘this is as good as it’s going to get’. If you don’t stop and appreciate it, every year rolls into the next. Who would you like to win? Someone British—ideally Oliver Townend or Izzy Taylor
Sophie Attwood Operations manager Other jobs: part-time Endurance GB ride organiser, plus Royal Windsor Horse Show
Because Burghley is a greenfield site for 11 months of the year, everything that’s required—marquee, generator, loos and so on—needs to be ordered and coordinated and that is my role (I’m here from June 1 to December). The first couple of weeks of the event ‘village’ taking shape is usually straightforward—it’s the minutiae, such as caterers needing power for their tills, that can be more challenging.
This job wouldn’t be for everyone, but if you like outdoor events and all that they can throw at you, I believe that they choose you. The rewards are great, especially when you see something that you’ve changed work well, such as the introduction in 2015 of the West stand for showjumping day. Some people felt that the seats wouldn’t sell, but they did and the stand’s size has increased every year since.
Who would you like to win? Zara Tindall and High Kingdom Job in real life: partner at Mark Westaway & Son
I oversee Sunday’s arena programme with a team of eight stewards who I’ve known for years. Our remit encompasses the showjumping and collecting ring as well as the band, hounds, prize-giving and laps of honour and my job is about anticipating things going wrong.
There’s plenty of room for error, not least things either over-running or finishing early, often with the added complexity of the BBC broadcasting the last few riders live, followed by interviews with Clare Balding. My biggest headache is the scrum at the arena entrance where the riders’ families, owners and grooms congregate.
‘Any hound relieving itself on the plants, on a dignitary or going AWOL is bound to get Tara laugh’ Chris Main-ring chief steward
The hound parade is definitely the element that’s the most likely to go wrong and the crowd loves it when one goes ‘free range’. Any hound relieving itself on the plants, on a dignitary or going AWOL in the stands is guaranteed to get a laugh. What many people don’t realise is that the packs get pretty mixed up, leaving the hunt staff with a headache behind the scenes.
Who would you like to win? Andrew Nicholson and Qwanza Job in real life: independent occupationalhealth practitioner
My role involves building a medical team, practising incident responses, predicting ‘hot spots’ during cross-country and co-ordinating medical responses. I have to deliver care to the right place, at speed, and I attend and manage each incident. With huge crowds of about 150,000, often the most difficult element is reaching the casualty, although, with doctors at every fence and mobile teams strategically placed, any faller is immediately in safe hands.
Away from the cross-country action, anything can go wrong, such as the year a runaway tractor ploughed into parked cars, thankfully missing a line of people queuing for the toilets.
The final day may appear relaxing, however, I find it anything but. We keep our foot on the gas until the last moment, a major potential risk being the frenzied evening exit. The humorous moment that most sticks in my mind is telling the then chairman, Malcolm Wallace, that the Land Rover I was driving could go anywhere. We had to be towed out after straddling a ditch.
Who would you like to win? I’m not horsey, but friends tell me it will be the New Zealander Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy
William Cross (right) Chief cross-country steward Jobs in real life: farmer and county councillor
I became the late Dick Saunders’s assistant in the early 1980s and stepped into his shoes when he became event chairman. Dick knew that I’m a practical person who doesn’t panic in a crisis. The event begins for me on the previous Sunday with a dummy run with the fence-judging team. They park at their allocated fences and we iron out any issues there and then.
Saturday is the one day I don’t smile. First, I oversee the loading of the Land Rover with all the judges’ kit, such as flags, screens and radios and by 11am, when the first horse leaves the start box, I’m in my car, having made sure the judges are in position. I aim to move around the course throughout the day; I visit each fence and try to speak to every crossing steward. If there are any serious incidents, it’s my job to take the judges and stewards back to base and talk them through it.
If my name isn’t called over the radio all day, I’m a happy man. Once I know that all the judges’ sheets are correct, I take to the gin and tonic in a serious manner. I see myself as a bit of a troubleshooter and I assist in other areas, such as the president’s box on Sunday and, in the lead-up, with tradestand parking, smoothing any ruffled feathers. I offer the traders fruit from a tray. Who can grumble with an apple or pear in their mouth?
Who would you like to win? I’d like to have a British winner, a Kiwi runner-up and a German third
The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials run from August 31 to September 3 with dressage on Thursday and Friday, crosscountry on Saturday and showjumping on Sunday plus excellent tradestand shopping. Admission is £18 or £32 on Saturday plus £10 carparking (01780 752131; www.burghley-horse.co.uk)
‘ I have to deliver care to the right place, at speed, and I attend each incident ’ John Inman Chief medical officer