Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials — Local services in West Oxfordshire

The event was 'ok' , so so much more could have been done for children. I appreciate it's a national horse trials eventing day but there are so many children (who especially came to meet YouTube stars such as Harlow). Surely there are many families who are new to the world of horses and eventing (and many of us parents know much less than our children in this regard as they've come to know so much through YouTube and other various channels) The only things for children to do was the Ferris wheel and mini land rovers (which my daughter was too big for?) There was no opportunity to pet horses/ride horses/learn about horses for children/demo horses (talk about caring for them)...it was just shopping and food. I appreciate the event was not a 'family day' but just confused as to why Harlow was invited in that case? (We love you Harlow and this is no shade on you!) I think the organisers got this quite wrong this year and can hopefully take this feedback for improvement. Provide horsey things for kids to do and they will come...

This event has changed so much in the last 4-5 years and not for the better. It used to be a great family day out with extras such as inflatables for the kids, bmx stunts and more going on in the arenas. This year I felt like the main thing I was paying for was to shop or buy food. The cross country event was good but that’s it there really was not much else at all yet the ticket price does not reflect this. The organisers definitely need to look for improvements to try and make this a great event again. My last point would be that all the stewards were great except the two ladies who stood near the bridge… talk about power crazy, I agree the section needed to be kept clear for horses but shouting and hollering at people like they were dirt was a disgrace and they really need to learn...

Thoroughly enjoyed the day but was not so enamoured with some of the organisation. The programme was exorbitant and did not give me the information that I wanted which was a start list for the Cross Country. Was not told to get it on my phone, but various people said that the signal was very variable and so useless for a lot of the time. The map at the back was so small that those of us of advancing years could not read it!! When it came to leave we did not find any directions to the overflow carpark or stewards who could help us so spent over an hour trying to find it, and the rain really did come down to add insult to injury. Made us feel all in all that we would not rush back next year which was a shame as we have always had a great tie in...