I couldn’t get to Badminton this year but I still had a brilliant weekend. At first I thought there was going to be as little coverage as usual  – the BBC was only showing the cross country and a highlights show on Sunday which usually includes about five show jumping rounds.  It is especially annoying because if I didn’t live in the UK I could get a subscription to FEITV and watch the entire thing.

Right at the last minute though – Wednesday evening – I discovered that Badminton were live streaming everything not being shown on the BBC – amazing news!  I was working on Thursday and Friday but my breaks were basically spent in the staffroom watching the dressage.  I even managed to time one break perfectly to watch Emily King’s test – it was beautiful.

Saturday afternoon was spent entirely on the sofa watching the cross country. It seemed to be a really good course and was certainly exciting to watch!

This morning we actually got a livestream of the trot up which is something I love to watch.  We made ourselves the picnic we would usually take to watch it at Badminton and just ate it inside this time.

I was very pleased to see all of the show jumping – the last five is just not enough.  It was nail biting right to the end.  Literally – I got very worked up!  I am always disappointed when a Brit doesn’t triumph but Michael Jung definitely deserved to win and Gemma Tatteersall had an amazing round to be best of the Brits.

A huge bonus – because I wasn’t expecting it (although I hoped for it) – was being able to watch the prize giving.  We even got to see the parade of hounds.  It has always seemed such a shame that the broadcast cuts off as soon as the jumping stops.  The livestream has been amazing all weekend and I am so glad it was there.