One Big Thing: MARS Badminton takes a top honor
MARS Badminton just became the richest prize at the CCI5* level of eventing, taking the title from Defender Burghley for now with news that the overall prize fund will increase by nearly £50,000 to £451,500. £125,000 of that fund will be disbursed to the winner this year, up from £117,500 in 2025.
Defender Burghley has not announced any changes to its prize money for 2026 (yet), so this top honor could change as the year progresses, but for now nearly $2.3M USD is now on offer at the CCI5* level globally. The two English 5* events lead the way with just over $600,000 USD for MARS Badminton and just over $500,000 (£375,250) at Defender Burghley. Defender Kentucky is the third-highest prize with $400,000 on offer in the flagship 5*, followed by MARS Maryland 5 Star which came in at $325,000 for the 5*. Longines Luhmühlen (Germany) and Les 5 Etoiles de Pau (France) both offer €150,000 (roughly $173,000), and the Adelaide Equestrian Festival 5* offers about A$150,000 (about $100,000 USD) for its April event.
Why this matters: As Harry Meade put it on an episode of The Go Eventing Podcast, prize money isn’t necessarily the end all, be all goal for every rider — but let’s be honest, of course it helps to have a big fund to compete for on the world stage. With the addition of another $200,000 total prize fund for the US Equestrian Open series and Final — which is on the calendar through at least 2027 — prize money is slowly growing at the biggest events in the world.
U.S. Weekend Results
Stable View Aiken Opener HT (SC): [Website] [Scores]
Other Links & Reading
- Congratulations to the winner of our $50 SmartEquine gift card! Check your email as our winner has been notified. Thank you to all who filled out our 2026 Community Survey!
- Farewell to an Eventing First Lady — One of eventing’s first gold medal winners was Penelope McAuley (née Moreton), who was a part of the Irish team who won gold at the first World Championships, held in 1966. Penelope passed away recently at the age of 93, and Horse & Hound penned a tribute to her legacy.
- Dream job: sourced? — The organizing group behind events like Defender Kentucky is hiring! Three positions are currently listed on the Equestrian Events, Inc. site and one might be a good fit for you.
- How to help a green horse find their balance — Because helping a horse like an off-track Thoroughbred is an ongoing exercise in patience and understanding, as well as allowing a horse to find their own balance (literally and figuratively) in their new life.
- The latest in the developing Maryland 5 Star story — Did checks made out to vendors for the 2025 5 Star bounce? The Equiery has sourced information indicating this may be the case, and meanwhile we have a date for the upcoming hearing that should determine the event’s funding for 2026.
Training Tip of the Day
Does the way you sit affect your horse’s way of going? Well, of course. Sometimes, though, you can make deliberate changes in your horse’s execution of an aid using this notion, and dressage pro Amelia Newcomb is here to tell us how:
Go Eventing
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