Who won the Badminton Horse Trials trot-up fashion stakes? As the event presented by Mars Equestrian got underway this afternoon, riders pulled all the stops out with their clothes at the first horse inspection.
Check out this selection of our favourite outfits…
Tom McEwen opts for a classic look as he presents his double Olympic medallist Toledo De Kerser, owned by Fred and Penny Barker, Jane Inns and Tom’s mother Ali.
Nicola Wilson puts on a pop of colour and accessorises with an ostrich-print Peachy Belt to show off Lady Milnes Coates and Rosemary Search’s Erano M.
William Fox-Pitt dons blue trousers and a red tie to lead up the syndicate-owned Oratorio.
Hats are in vogue: Pippa Funnell with Billy Walk On, owned by Barbara and Nicholas Walkinshaw. Pippa wears a Hicks & Brown Hemley fedora and Fairfax & Favor Regina boots.
A dark suit, a pale horse – Oliver Townend and Paul and Diana Ridgeon’s Swallow Springs.
Piggy March wears the Holland Cooper Regency coat with a metallic buckle on the back and a beige rollneck to trot up Trevor Dickens’ Vanir Kamira.
US rider Tamie Smith sports a patterned dress and over the knee boots to present Mai Baum, owned by Alexandra Ahearn, Ellen Ahearn and Eric Markell.
Rose Nesbitt cut a dash in an orange jacket as she starts her first Badminton with her own EG Michaelangelo.
Amanda Pottinger brings forward her family’s Just Kidding in a floaty patterned skirt.
Italy’s Arianna Schivo wears uniform as she trotted up Quefira De L’Ormeau.
It’s a bow tie all the way for Ben Hobday as he takes to the strip with his own, his father Stephen and Jane Chambers’ Shadow Man.
The blue lining of Sofia Sjoborg’s patterned coat catches the eye as the Swedish first-timer leads up her own and her mother Juliet’s DHI Mighty Dwight.
Mollie Summerland kept to the black and white theme in head-to-toe Holland Cooper with her own Charly Van Ter Heiden.
Kitty King sports the Hicks & Brown Suffolk fedora and a short jacket, styled with Fairfax & Favor Regina ankle boots and Hampton belt, as she came forward with Diana Bown, Sally Lloyd Baker, Sally Eyre and Samantha Wilson’s Vendredi Biats.
Hector Payne’s tartan trousers catch the eye as he trots up Dynasty, owned by David and Margie Hall plus his grandparents Jeremy and Judith Skinner.
Felicity Collins kicks off her first Badminton in a white dress and a pale blue coat from Welligogs with Fairfax & Favor Amira boots. She rides her mother Vicky and Avrina Milton’s RSH Contend Or.
Austria’s Katrin Khoddam-Hazrati opts for a dirndl as she comes forward with her own DSP Cosma.
Canada’s Karl Slezak wins the male prize for best outfit, given by Hiho Silver, as he leads up Kirk Hoppner’s and his own Fernhill Wishes.
Meanwhile Laura Collett takes the female award from Hiho Silver. She wore a complete Holland Cooper outfit, which included the Knightsbridge blazer, silk scarf and reversible belt. She will ride London 52, owned by Keith Scott, Karen Bartlett and his rider.
Red trousers are the order of the day for France’s Cedric Lyard, with Marie-Christine Duroy De Lauriere’s, Renaud De Lauriere’s and his own Unum De’Or.
Another French rider, Cyrielle Lefèvre, sports a tied patterned shirt and loose blue trousers to bring forward Charline Guerin’s Armanjo Serosah.
Harry Meade wears a royal blue suit to bring forward Charlotte Opperman’s Away Cruising.
The youngest rider in the field, Alice Casburn, puts on a white dress and a blazer to show off her mother Caroline’s Topspin.
Pictures by Peter Nixon
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