Interview: Bill Levett looks ahead to Badminton

Event rider Bill Levett grew up riding in the wide-open spaces of Australia. He moved to the UK in 1994, and competed at his first Badminton soon after. We caught up with him ahead of this year’s Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials.

What makes Badminton special?

Well, first of all, like Burghley – the other four-star event in Great Britain – there’s a real sense of occasion created by the history of the event. There are all those things that as a rider I read about when I was younger, like the cocktail party with the Duke and the trot-up in front of Badminton House – they all create the sense of stepping into another era.

Then there are the demands put on me as a competitor. There’s the buzz and excitement of putting myself up against the big track. If I’m lucky I get to do at best two or three of these competitions per year, so it’s special.

Most of the time as a professional I’m riding lots of different horses and have objectives other than winning, so to have four or five days to concentrate on just one horse and one test… Well if you’re competitive, then that’s exciting.

I love the preparation, production and training of horses; that’s most of what a professional does, and it’s the most important part to me. And over the years, working with a top horse like Shannondale Titan, a horse I believe in, we’ve developed a bond, and putting all that to the test over that track… Well it’s just the ultimate.

Tell us about Shannondale Titan

‘Alfie’ is an Irish horse by Limerick. He’s 17.2hh and 12 years old. He’s a horse I’ve had since he was at two-star level. He’s a big rangy horse, and it took a while to build up his strength enough to do the higher-level dressage movements. But then he won the three-star at Saumur in France in 2013; it was nice to win because I’d finished third and fourthbut that was my first win there. Then I took him to Badminton the next year, in 2014.

He’s the sort of horse you want to take to Badminton. He’s a very nice horse, nice-moving, very genuine. He’s big striding, straight to the fences, makes the lines, and he’s got bags of scope. But the ground has to be good for him to have a chance.

What is going to be your Badminton strategy?

The going was very deep last year, and this horse needs good ground because of his build. Of course I knew going into the cross-country that the ground was deep so I didn’t go for the time. I knew if I went for the time I would have a spent horse.

Later in 2014 we went to WEG in Normandy. He was 12thafter the dressage, but again the cross-country was a bog. Again I knew this going in – I’d seen good horses falling or pulling up really tired – so I just nursed him around and stayed well off the time.

Because he’s had these two discouraging runs at four-star level, it’s very important to me that he has a really good experience at Badminton this year. If we get there and the ground is going to take too much out of him, I’ll withdraw. After these runs, I don’t want to give him a third four-star run on bad ground. I want to go quickly; I want him to come out of it feeling confident. I want a good fast run on good ground to give him a chance.

You competed in your first Badminton 20 years ago. How has it changed since then?

At that time, the fences were in a sense more punishing: not as good ground lines, not as inviting. And the standard of dressage and show jumping was so different – less demanding. So although the cross-country was more demanding in one way, the rest wasn’t as demanding. The sport has changed so dramatically.

How are you feeling as the event draws closer?

I’m looking forward to it. My horses are going better than last year, and it’s nice to go into Badminton thinking you could have a top-10 placing. Alfie has a good test in him; he’s good in the brain. I’m hoping I can get a very competitive dressage score, and really hoping we get good ground this year.

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