Felicity Collins

The breakout star of Bicton five-star talks to Pippa Roome about beating mental demons, making a business viable and next year’s Badminton

- Pippa Roome

THE top 10 at Britain’s only five-star this year, Bicton, was littered with the who’s who of eventing, but rounding out that leading group was a rider who is just 23 years old and was achieving her first completion at five-star.

Watching Felicity Collins that week, a slight figure on a big bay horse punching out an assured double jumping clear, spectators probably thought this was a natural, easy progression for her. Daughter of Vicky Collins, who was shortlisted for the Atlanta Olympics, Felicity is already a three-time medallist at under-21 level. Success at five-star was the next inevitable step on the ladder, surely?

But in reality, Felicity’s Bicton placing was a hard-won result, encompassing hard work as well as talent and a gritty battle to beat the demons in her own mind.

Significantly, Bicton was Felicity’s first five-star completion, but not her first start at the level. That came at Pau in the autumn of 2019, when she took both RSH Contend Or (Mickey) and the second-generation home-bred Just Amazing (Mazie) to France.

“I underestimated Pau. It was huge and so technical, it caused a lot of problems that year,” she reflects. “My brakes failed on Mickey and we had three fly-bys. He wasn’t going badly or stopping, but by three-quarters of the way round I had to go home.”

She also pulled up Mazie, who lost a shoe early on. It wasn’t a disaster, but Felicity struggled through the following winter, seriously considering giving up eventing.

“I was so disappointed, so embarrassed. I felt I’d let everyone down,” says Felicity. “I felt it was going to ruin my business, everything I’d worked for. You do have to talk yourself up, then I thought everyone would be laughing at me.”