The Badminton horse trials.

What is it?

The world's most important horse triathlon - though we should stress that's not our claim but that of the organisers.

In fact, the first staging of the event, in 1949, advertised itself as "the most important horse event in Great Britain". Considering that claim was made before the competition had ever been held, it may be wise to take the more recent "world's most important" claim with a similar pinch of salt.

So what do I need to know?

Badminton takes place each May in the park of Badminton House, the seat of the Dukes of Beaufort in Gloucestershire, England.

But, first, it would be handy to understand what Horse Trials are.

Eventing, as it is more commonly known, goes back to the days when horses were still a major weapon in any war, and an obedient and receptive horse was a prized animal - with the three parts to the sport, Dressage (where a horse's bad behaviour is directly proportional to the number of watching spectators), Show Jumping and Cross Country, designed to demonstrate these necessary attributes.

So it's worth watching?

The three-day event was a disaster last year - with practically everything that could go wrong, going wrong.

The awful facilities weren't a surprise, but the apparently poor organisation and the rock-hard ground, which resulted in a raft of withdrawals, spoiled the event for many.

It was the worst edition of the trials since 1963 (apart from 2001, when it didn't take place at all due to foot-and-mouth) when the weather was so bad some of the media unwittingly stood at a fence which wasn't part of the circuit, a rider managed to get lost and a horse managed a full cartwheel over the second fence.

With a £100,000 makeover completed at Badminton in time for this weekend, hopefully this edition - which includes six Irish riders (Niall Griffin, Michael Ryan, Jayne Doherty, Austin O'Connor, Sarah Wardell and Michael Owen) - will go a little more smoothly.

Is it popular?

Believe it or not (and we were leaning towards not when we first heard this) the cross country day at Badminton attracts a crowd of up to 250,000, which makes it the largest attendance for any paid-entry sport event in Britain.

The locals in Badminton have long been complaining about the poor reception their mobile phones get - except for one week each year, when temporary masts are erected for the trials, which are part of the elite, five-member Grand Slam of Eventing - send the bars on their phones skywards.

So if you happen to know anyone living in that part of Gloucester, now would be a good time to call.

- Damian Cullen