Guide Dogs are Charity of the Year at MARS Badminton Horse Trials 2025 

We are pleased to announce that Guide Dogs has been selected as Charity of the Year for the 2025 MARS Badminton Horse Trials. Taking place on Badminton Estate in Gloucestershire from 7– 11 May, Badminton is amongst the largest horse trials held annually, attracting the world’s top eventers, and crowds of approximately 180,000.  

We are also very fortunate in being supported at Badminton by world-renowned event rider William Fox-Pitt, who will be hosting a walk around the legendary cross-country course.

William commented: “I have first-hand experience of sight loss after a bad fall ten years ago. I was very lucky that with time and rehabilitation my sight returned, but it really made me appreciate my vision, and the part animals can play in helping to rebuild and recover after something so traumatic. Guide Dogs is an amazing cause, and that sense of connection and working as a team resonates very strongly with me. I’ll be at Badminton as a non-competitor this year, and I’m really looking forward to supporting them there.”  

Andrew Lennox, CEO of Guide Dogs, said: “We’re delighted to have been chosen as this year’s charity of the year for the Badminton Horse Trials. This is an excellent opportunity for us to showcase the work we do to an audience that already understands how valuable the partnership between animals and humans can be. A guide dog partnership is a team – they rely on each other, and build up a strong bond of trust over time, facing all kinds of challenges. It’s a powerful working relationship, and I think that seeing that kind of extraordinary partnership at work will resonate with visitors to Badminton.”