World Equestrian Brands Helmet Cam: Burghley XC

Watching all twelve-plus minutes of this video is enough of a workout for most folks… imagine actually riding it!

Like many young equestrians whose abilities were limited to 18″ crossrail equitation on the trusty lesson pony in the local 4H arena, but with ambitions of galloping four-stars all over the world, my good childhood riding friend and I spent a lot of hours playing Equestriad. You remember — the computer game that let you pick your favorite eventing hero and then go tackle the monster cross-country courses in Kentucky, Badminton, Burghley and Sydney. (I think you could also ride the dressage and show jumping, but come on, people… you played for the cross-country. Much like a real eventer.)

But when I loftily say, recalling my 12-year-old self mashing buttons on my friend’s keyboard, that I’ve “been around the Burghley track,” you know what I really mean. And let me tell you that Burghley, much like 12-year-old me, has grown up considerably from those pixellated days. Watching this video alone was exhausting — I can only imagine how Joseph Murphy and Sportsfield Othello actually felt on course.

Ride along and see for yourself:

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Murphy and Sportsfield Othello ultimately finished in 22nd — this impressive cross-country performance was a clear round with 10.8 time penalties. For more Burghley coverage, don’t miss our sister site Eventing Nation!

Go riding.