Double Burghley winner Pippa Funnell has given her exclusive insight into the 2025 CCI5* Burghley cross-country course ahead of this year’s event (4 to 7 September).
Defender Burghley Horse Trials course-designer Derek di Grazia has reversed the track for this year’s event – the last time it ran in this direction was in 2017.
Pippa said that the psychological effect of the course being reversed surprised her when walking it.
“Riders have a lot to think about this year,” she says.
The 2025 Burghley cross-country course features 31 numbered fences. The Defender Lion Bridge and Defender Dairy Mound come up early this way round, while iconic fences such as Defender Valley and the Holland Cooper Leaf Pit are towards the latter stages of the course.
“One of the arts of riding around Burghley is understanding that it’s not just about the jumps, but how well you ride and keep the horse balanced over the terrain. We see that tested right from the early stages of the course,” adds Pippa.
Pippa has assessed and rated each of the fences in an exclusive Horse & Hound course walk in the current (28 August) issue of the magazine – out now.
Pippa Funnell walks the Burghley cross-country course
Watch below as Pippa walks the direct routes at three key combinations on the 2025 Defender Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course…
Defender Dairy Mound (fence 9abc)
Competitors have a long pull uphill from the lake to this fence. The direct route is up a mound to a parallel (9a), followed by four or five strides to a brush corner (9b), then a run down a slope to an arrowhead brush (9c). Pippa walks the direct route here; there are also longer mix and match alternatives at 9b and 9c.
Trout Hatchery (fence 21abcd & fence 22)
There are a lot of different options at the Trout Hatchery this year.
All routes jump the house at 21a and then swing right-handed to splash through the first pond. From there, riders have options. Pippa walks the most direct route, which is over a roll-top with a drop into water (21b), then up a slope to an arrowhead brush on dry land (21cd), followed by a left-handed turn to another arrowhead brush (fence 22).
“The terrain here is a big factor, and riders need to ride with their heads, keep reading what their horse is telling them and have a plan a, b, and c here,” says Pippa.
Holland Cooper Leaf Pit (fence 26abcde)
“It’s a long time since the Leaf Pit has been so near to the end. I’m told that Tom McEwen’s route at the Leaf Pit in 2024, where he nipped up the other side, will be closed off this year,” says Pippa.
The most direct route, which Pippa walks in the video below, comprises the iconic drop, followed by two arrowheads on a related distance.
Again, there are long routes, which have more jumping efforts. Competitors can avoid the drop altogether by jumping two houses at the top of the hill, followed by three arrowheads on related distances. Or they may choose to jump down the drop and then join the longer route.
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