‘Riders need to know their horses well’: watch Kitty King walk key fences on the Blenheim European Championships cross-country course

Kitty King, who has competed at five European Championships, winning four medals, previews Mark Phillips’ course for the forthcoming 2025 Agria Blenheim European Championships cross-country course, with the event taking place between 17 and 21 September.

Course-designer Mark Phillips is in charge of Blenheim’s track for the first time this year and has made some alterations to previous years although the direction in which the track runs remains mostly the same.

“T year’s course has a similar feel to past events at Blenheim,” says Kitty. “The direction it takes is mostly the same, but Mark Phillips has introduced and re-introduced some questions.”

The 2025 Blenheim European Eventing Championships cross-country course features 31 numbered fences.

“I feel the course is appropriate for the level given it has to cater for lots of different nations with varying levels of experience,” says Kitty. “I think it’s of a similar level of technicality to other European Championship tracks I’ve seen. It’s difficult to say how strong some of the angled combinations will be without the brush inserted at this stage, but it could make it look a lot more tricky.

“Mark is testing the rider’s ability to know their horse and their horse’s footwork and their ability to maintain a line at the correct speed – it’s very clear for the horses what the questions are, as long as riders can achieve this.”

Kitty has assessed and rated each of the fences in an exclusive Horse & Hound course walk in the current (11 September) issue of the magazine – out now.

Kitty King walks the Blenheim European Championships cross-country course

Watch below as Kitty walks the direct routes at three key combinations on the 2025 Agria Blenheim European Championships cross-country course…

The Suregrow Dew Pond (fence 6abc)

After jumping fence five, you are suddenly into the throngs of tradestands, cameras and spectators, with a lot for horses to look at.

The direct route involves going up a mound to a narrow triple bar where horses will be able to see the water at the bottom of the bank behind.

“How they jump this and use their footwork down the bank will determine how many strides they will get to the final part, which is another narrow triple bar,” explains Kitty. “Although the distance walks on four strides, many will get five and maybe even six if their horse scuttles cautiously down the bank.”

There are long route options here that will add a minimum of five seconds.

Churchill Corners (fence 11abc)

Built on a straight line in front of the palace, this combination includes a box-type fence, followed by a moving four strides to a tricky corner, followed by another moving four strides to another tricky corner.

“This should ride OK if horses stay on their line,” states Kitty. “As you get closer to the corners, the angle becomes more severe and this is a serious test. There are alternatives to parts b and c, but each option will take five or six seconds.”

FEI Mounds (fence 22ab)

This combination comes at the top of a two-minute climb and marks the highest point of the course. There is a right-handed rollback approach to part a, which is an open oxer on top of a mound, before horses run back down the mound and up another mound to an open corner on a tight angle.

There will be some strategically placed trees on the right-hand side of the base of the bottom of the second mound, which will mean riders won’t be able to ride a curve to reduce the angle to the corner.

“The oxer is big, so horses will still have to be jumping well at the top of the climb in order to jump it well,” says Kitty.

Again, there are options here, but they are twisty and time-consuming and will take even more petrol out of the tank.

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