For the first time ever, Gladwells Rutland made an appearance at Burghley Horse Trials.
Burghley Horse Trials is an annual four-day event which takes place on the grounds of the magnificent Burghley House, situated in the beautiful historic town of Stamford, which was voted as the ‘Best Place To Live’ in the 2021 Sunday Times List. This year 180,000 people attended Burghley Horse Trials across the four days, with 90,000 people coming to watch the cross-country on Saturday.
This year saw a new course designer, which added to the excitement of being back at Burghley. First place was taken by Piggy March, a British Olympic athlete who has come second twice before at Burghley. For these three achievements she has ridden the same horse, Vanir Kamira.
Horse trials have been held at Burghley House since 1961 when its owner the 6th Marquess of Exeter, an Olympic gold medallist in athletics and IOC member, heard that a three-day event at Harewood House could no longer be held. Since then, no other international horse trials site has staged as many championships, a record ten in all including the first World Championship in 1966. It is the longest continuous running international event.
Our setup took place on Wednesday, with Rebecca, Glenn and Graham creating our beautiful stand. Graham’s wonderful flower display using old saddles was hard to miss, his creativity always brings excitement and energy to the stand. We had a huge selection of paintings, from Walker's to Seago's to Munnings' and, of course, our beloved Jacob's and Robin's. Our stand was perfectly located opposite the sponsors of the show, Land Rover, and some fabulous neighbours including Boodles and Weaver Green, who also exhibit at The Chelsea Flower Show in May.
The first day of the Horse Trials commenced with a beautiful display of dressage, with Piggy March taking the lead. The showground was already bustling, and we were excited for the weekend ahead with the popular cross-country and show jumping events!
We met some amazing new people from the local area and beyond on Thursday, as well as familiar friendly faces. A favourite of our collection was ‘A Huntsman and Hounds’ by the highly acclaimed Sir Alfred James Munnings.
We were lucky enough to have the incredibly talented Peter van Breda painting on our stand on both Friday and Saturday. He is currently working on some more paintings of Stamford, where he has recently relocated to. Peter is fantastic at taking the time to explain to onlookers what he sees and what he is trying to create; his warm personality draws people in and leaves them mesmerised by his impressive skills. If you see a friendly artist with his easel and palette in the streets of Stamford, make sure you stop and say hello!
On Sunday, Ed Waites was our artist of the day, who is currently working on a buffalo head. Completely self-taught, Ed has dedicated himself to his craft since leaving school and despite his young age, his distinctive sculptures have already earned him international recognition and acclaim. Ed attracted a lot of admirers at Burghley, who were mesmerised by his skill and his incredible attention to detail.
We are very grateful to everyone who came to see us and we are delighted that we were able to meet so many amazing new people.
We look forward to seeing you at Burghley Horse Trials next year!
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