COUNTRY LIFE

Jemima Howden, a rising talent in eventing, tells HELLO! about her Olympic hopes - and why Cornbury is 'the craziest place to live'

- MIRANDA THOMPSON

Being a three-day event rider comes with a multitude of challenges.

It is a tough, unrelenting sport, and competitors – who have included Princess Anne and Zara Tindall – experience thrills and spills as they take on three different equestrian disciplines.

For Jemima Howden, competing at Cornbury House Horse Trials in the Cotswolds takes the challenge to the next level: Cornbury is her family home.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” she laughs. “I have to keep my eyes on what I’m doing - if I look around, there’s about 50 of my mum and dad’s friends watching.”

Two years ago, she was nearing the end of the competition when disaster struck in the showjumping ring: Jemima had jumped the first fence before the bell rang. “I managed to eliminate myself,” she groans. “That was really depressing.”

Last year, she managed “to turn it around” and won. “That was definitely quite nice.”

HELLO! is meeting Jemima, 21, in the sweeping grounds of Cornbury Park, near Charlbury - a favoured Cotswolds destination for celebrities - as the estate gears up for this year’s event, which begins on 10 September.

Dressed in flowing black, Jemima poses outside the honey-coloured stately home with her “little rocket” Oreo, whom she is planning to ride at the event. “And hopefully win it!” she says.

BIG FAMILY MOVE

Formerly a fixture in the eventing calendar until 2001, the event was revived in 2020 by Jemima's father, the insurance magnate David Howden, after the family - who include Jemima's mother, Fiona, and her sisters, Talitha, 26, and Kitty, 18 - moved several years ago to Cornbury, which they lease from Lord and Lady Rotherwick.