An impressive international line up has descended on the 21^st running of the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials. Entries include all six members of the British squad heading out to WEG in Kentucky – Nicola Wilson, Piggy French, Pippa Funnell, Tina Cook and William Fox-Pitt competing in the CCI*** and Mary King in the CIC***.

Pippa has won Blenheim on four previous occasions, while William Fox-Pitt won in 2000. The only other former winner entered is New Zealand's Andrew Nicholson.

 Two full days of dressage will take the 80 competitors forward to the demanding cross country phase.

Course designer Eric Winter said: “My aim has been to set a real test both for horses' ability and training; they need to be brave and keep their concentration to the very end.”

Virtual couse walk

The course starts with three simple big fences to settle the nerves. The first combination at fence four are two big stone decks on a slight curve. This will need controlled power to avoid reaching the second deck too quickly. Fence five is a rider frightener. A big ditch and hedge over a ha-ha up into the tradestand area looks enormous and will require positive riding. Fence six parts abc and fence seven are the first real questions on the course.

Horses run up a steep bank to a rail on the top then down through the dew pond to two offset roll tops requiring boldness and accuracy. From the dew pond area they move up towards the arena to the Fidelity Investment Platform and Duke of Marlborough's Lions. This is followed by a long gallop with only one jumping effort before the next section. This starts with two brush corners with two strides in between – the space for the horses to jump through is very narrow and demands full control after a long gallop.

A steep descent through the woods to a very large drop and over a narrow house angled on top of the opposite bank. After the Horse and Rider Footbridge it's downhill to a skinny approaching the water complex. A pair of angled brush top logs with one stride between each – the second has a maximum two metre drop into the water. A lengthy water crossing and over either of the blue birds obscured by the nest.

The next big question is the wooden top heads on top of the mounds at fences 21 and 22 – these will demand a selection of the right get to get up the mound with enough power to jump these truly enormous fences and stay accurate in between both elements. Fence 23 should be a let up fence but not to be disregarded as it is very upright. The rail, ditch, rail again demands a good deal of respect as there are three elements with two strides between each, jumping from light into dark. Approach too fast and they could be in trouble, approach too slow and they won't have the power required to get up the bank.

The next fence, an angled raised log, looks very imposing and again will require positive riding but should ride well. It's then back though the water to the Trout Leap. The course then follows a new route to a narrow brush road crossing at 27. Being towards the end of the course the horses are beginning to get tired making it difficult to keep their focus on these three narrow brushes – so a silly run out may be on the cards for those without sufficient preparation. The last real question is fence 28, the ditch and rail to barrel corner. There are two ways to jump this fence, both of which are fairly simple but the corner is a very big fence in it's own right made even more difficult by it's situation near the end of the course. Competitors will be glad to see this fence out of the way as the last two are fairly simple.

Dressage standings after day one:

Piggy French, Chase The Moon, 46.2
Neil Spratt, Upleadon, 46.4
Peter Thomsen, Cayenne, 46.6
Clayton Frederics, Brookleigh, 49.8
Marie Ryan, Steeling Time, 49.8
Pippa Funnell, Blue Horizon, 50.2
Andrew Nicholson, Shady Grey, 50.2
William Fox-Pitt, Oslo, 50.6
Jeanette Brakewell, Ideal Sebastian, 51.6
Lucy Jackson, Animator II, 52