Preview of the Badminton Horse Trials 2026

The first conformation test was on the program today at the Badminton Horse Trials 2026, where Arne Bergendahl’s Luthien NRW aka “Lucy” has already caused a stir with her spirited performance. “Wow, Arne Bergendahl has a racing car,” marveled the British commentator. He was right. But you also need it for the classic of classics in the bush. This year, Bergendahl and Luthien are the only German pair to take on the classic of eventing par excellence.

They competed here once before in 2025, but a stumble at the entry into the first water proved to be their undoing. However, they then impressively proved that they have the quality for badminton in Luhmühlen and Pau, where they finished 14th and 13th – with outstanding cross-country rounds.

The statistics speak for themselves: according to Equi Ratings, Lucy has mastered 80 percent of her XC performances without an obstacle fault. And if her nerves play along, the La Calido daughter, who was bred by the family, can also do a very decent dressage test. Her average fault rate on the course in her last six appearances: 0.7.

First a wedding, then training

Last year, Caroline Kalthoff was Arne Bergendahl’s fiancée when they set off on their journey across the English Channel from Hamminkeln. This time they are traveling as a married couple. They got married a few days ago. However, there wasn’t much time to recover from the hangover after the party. After all, a difficult task awaits them this weekend in the Duke of Beaufort’s Park.

His wife Caro plays a major role in Arne Bergendahl’s sporting ambitions, and not just as moral support. She also helps train the 35-year-old’s horses, because unlike most of his colleagues, against whom he competes at the highest level, he is a flawless amateur. If you enter “Bergendahl” and “Wesel” into the search engine, you will get to know the other side of Arne Bergendahl, the side that has a civil servant job with the city in “real life” and is an industrial engineer for environmental technology who deals with permits for wind turbines.

Horse as a family matter

For the Bergendahl family in Hamminkeln, horses are a family affair in the third generation. Love led Arne’s grandfather from the Ruhr area to the current family farm in Hamminkeln. The Bergendahl couple didn’t actually have horses on the farm, but cows. But son Helmut, Arne’s father, had caught the horse virus somewhere and couldn’t get rid of it. His enthusiasm quickly spread to his father. Unlike his son, he did not start riding, but otherwise supported his son in every conceivable way and also appeared as a breeder for some of the horses. This is also the case with the great-grandmother of his Badminton partner Luthien NRW.

The 14-year-old Westphalian gray mare belongs to the third generation born at Hof Bergendahl in Hamminkeln. Her dam Taramanga by Tempel xx-Sir Shostakovich xx is also the dam of Ingrid Klimke’s former young horse world champion Cascamara. And Luthien NRW is also already a dam. Her son Bronco NRW by Blockbuster is successful up to CCI4* with Arne Bergendahl. Incidentally, the lineage behind the family is that of the Hanoverian mare Sportsmama – how fitting!

The competition

“I’m not unambitious, but I want to enjoy it,” said Arne Bergendahl 2025 in an interview with Rheinlands Reiter + Pferde before his Badminton debut. The fall in the cross-country was just really bad luck. Hopefully things will be different this year! In any case, he and Lucy will meet some of the best eventing riders and pairs in the world in the Duke of Beaufort Park.

First and foremost are Rosalind Canter and Lordships Graffalo (“Walter”). The two are on a par with Laura Collett/London as the most successful British bush duos in recent times. They were victorious in Badminton in 2023 and 2025. Another triumph would be a record. They are also the only pair in the world ever to win Badminton and Burghley twice in one year. This weekend will be the first major outing for the pair since their victory at Burghley last year. Ros Canter was already pregnant at the time. Her second daughter was born in January. In preparation for this weekend, she and Walter competed in the CCI4*-S at Thoresby Park at the beginning of April.

The two Luhmühlen 2024 winners, Lara de Liederkerke-Meier and Hooney d’Arville, also came from the continent. The 38-year-old is the first Belgian rider ever to win a five-star class. With her gray mare by Vigo d’Arsouilles, she is a well-played team. Hooney is home-bred and her dam was already highly successful with Lara. Together they were 14th in Badminton last year. Lara won 21 international competitions in the 2025 season. That is more than any other rider since records began in 2008.

The number one in the world rankings, Harry Meade (GBR), is listed with three horses: Et Hop du Matz (3rd Kentucky, 9th Burghley 2025), Cavalier Crystal (3rd Burghley 2024) and Annaghmore Valoner (two CCI5* starts, twice placed fourth).

Harry Meade’s pursuer and predecessor at the top of the world, Tim Price (NZL), has named the now 17-year-old Hanoverian Falco by Cardenio, who was victorious in Pau in 2021, finished second at the CCI5* in Maryland in 2024 and carried his rider to double bronze at the 2022 World Championships in Pratoni.

Tim’s wife Jonelle Price is also part of the party. She knows the feeling of leading an award ceremony at Badminton. In 2018, she was the first woman from New Zealand to win here with the legendary Classic Moet. This year, she has a son of Chilli Morning with her, the twelve-year-old Chilli’s Midnight Star. The two have been a team for three years and finished ninth at the CCI5* in Maryland last year.

Prominent no-show couple

However, it’s not just the favored couples who are in, but also those who have withdrawn that are worth mentioning. A last-minute exit came from Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent, probably the toughest rivals of Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo. Townend and the twelve-year-old Irish mare would have won last year had they not had a knockdown on the course. Two days ago, Townend announced that he would not be taking the grey mare to the start, but without giving a reason.

All information from Badminton can be found here.