Our Invest in the Future athlete Emily Hamilton is competing at this year’s Badminton Grassroots Championships!
We spoke to Emily before she competes at this year’s Badminton Grassroots Championships on Thursday 4th May 2023, to find out more about the Badminton Trials and how she is feeling about the event.
What are the Badminton Trials?
The Badminton Grassroots Championships brings together winners from Regional Finals from around the country to contest the overall British Eventing Championship held at BE90 and BE100 level.
How did you quality?
To gain a place at the prestigious horse trials, you must place in the top 10% of a National Qualifier. I gained my qualification back in August 2022 at Frickley Park where we scored a 30.3 dressage and a double clear to win my section.
How did this make you feel?
I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to compete at Badminton, it is a dream come true for every Grassroots competitor to have the chance to compete at such a high-profile event with an amazing backdrop. I felt more inspired after watching Moneyweb Invest in the future rider, Lois Teal in 2018 win the 100 championship. The atmosphere was fantastic, it was great that a local girl brought home the trophy too! I’d love to be able to follow in her footsteps.
What makes it extra special for me is, I will be competing on my homebred horse, Peppa so whatever happens I feel proud of what we’ve achieved together! Just to say I have ridden at Badminton is enough for me and most importantly to have fun and stay safe.
We recently competed at Breckenbrough BE as a pre-run where we placed 2nd. This has given us both a huge confidence boost. We just can’t wait to get there now!