Crowds make Badminton a challenge, but the shopping's worth the crush

As with the rest of the British Season, Badminton has become so crowded that it takes some work to enjoy it. Unless, of course, you're in one of the hospitality tents, which have expanded in proportion with the overall rise in gate entries.

If you're after a pleasant walk through rolling countryside, punctuated by passing riders tackling impressive jumps, you might actually enjoy one of the much smaller events on the circuit. But if you're after a piece of glorious tradition, Badminton is hard to beat, so prepare to queue and jostle along together.

For the uninitiated: The Badminton Horse Trials is a three-day equestrian competition comprising dressage, show jumping and eventing. The last, always held on the Saturday, sees competitors gallop over a four-mile course, dotted with challenging jumps, that winds through the Duke of Beaufort's sumptuously landscaped estate. It's one of six Trials classified as four star, attracting the best competitors in the world and contributing to their international ranking. The fact that we're just months away from the Rio Olympics no doubt contributed to the crowds. Performance today mattered even more than usual.

Any eventing day is a joy for fans of horse, hound and countryside. The tradition is casual and laid-back. It's customary to bring your dog, and a picnic if you wish, and drift gently between course and trade stands. On a beautiful day, as this was, there are few things more glorious than settling on the grass beside a jump with a jug of Pimm's, soaking up the sun and watching a horse and rider emerge into your line of sight every few minutes to vault over the obstacle before you.

Two problems. First, our young and troublesome spaniel Bruno barks with gusto at the sound of galloping hooves. This is not the done thing, thus one of us always had to stay well back from the course while the other one went up to check out the action. Second, the crowds were so intense there was no chance of seated observation. It was more like viewing a Chelsea Flower Show display garden: a 10-deep crowd stands at the barrier, shuffling forward patiently as people at the front depart, until you finally get to the front and get your turn to see what's going on. As it's not polite to hog the spot for too long, and it's not the most comfortable of situations to stand in the press of bodies for the minutes between horses, you probably only end up watching one or two riders. For me, an appreciator of the sport but not expert enough to differentiate much between the top riders and the youngsters, I actually prefer watching the action at our local Wellington Horse Trials.

But it's not just about horses. Especially at Badminton. It's about shopping. Badminton is renown for its shopping village, where a massive, open-air mall dedicated to crafts, artisan foods, country clothing and every item imaginable for horse or hound pops up from the fields. We emerged with goodies as diverse as well-cut tweed jackets, specialised brushes to clean garden pots, laser-cut three-dimensional greeting cards and custom-created shoe insoles. You could easily enjoy Badminton without ever seeing a horse.

As with all of these things, I'm sure that frequent attendance yields secrets to enjoying yourself and beating the crowds. There's a 12-foot-wide stretch of open grass between the two main hospitality areas, for example, on which the general public can stake a claim. We discovered it far too late to take advantage of that patch. To avoid frustrating hours in traffic, it's critical to get there early. We arrived by nine even though the first horse didn't take off until almost noon.

Given the crowds, I'm not sure we'll make the effort to get to another four star event any time soon. Then again, with Blenheim happening a few weeks after the Olympics close, maybe interest will have eased off a bit. Maybe. In between, we'll inevitably head up the road two miles to the Wellington Trials on 27 August. Without the irritating spaniel.