THE best piece of advice my dad gave me was: “Be nice to people on the way up because you might meet them on the way down.”
My parents had nothing to do with horses when I started out but they became massive supporters. John Whitaker and I first met when we were 12 and our parents became good friends, so they used to travel to all the shows together.
Harvey Smith and David Broome were our heroes. I started watching the Horse of the Year Show on television when I was about nine and they were the most prominent riders then. At that age, I don’t suppose I dreamed that one day I’d be riding against them but it’s funny how life goes – we became fellow competitors and then good friends.
The biggest change in my riding is that I always wear a hat now. In the old days, nobody wore one unless you were in the ring and, before chinstraps, if your hat was wobbling about you’d just throw it off. But I’ve seen enough accidents for it to have been an important lesson, and I’d never get on a horse without one now.
FINDING THE KEY
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
New Year Honours for those who change people's lives
Bob Champion and leading figures in racing, the Riding for the Disabled Association and equine therapy are named
New horizons
Covid has put huge pressure on the job market, but some horse owners have diversified and reaped the benefits of different roles, writes Stephanie Bateman
Sports psychologist
Michael Caulfield on why any form of sport helps make a person whole
High And Mighty
The dun gelding took consecutive Badminton titles in the 1950s, and put the “glamour girl” of eventing Sheila Willcox on the map. Madeleine Silver charts his swift – and turbulent – rise to the top
Katy Green
The showing rider draws huge inspiration from her mentors and has big plans for the working hunter scene. Alex Robinson checks in with Katy Green to find out how she juggles business and competition
First ladies
Male and female riders may now compete as equals, but a few skilled horsewomen paved the way in a historically masculine sport, finds Jennifer Donald
Louise Hoadley
The East Essex hunt secretary is the first person to offer a helping hand, and has passed her love of hunting on to her “mad keen” daughter
Aimee Devane
The mountain and moorland specialist on pursuing her dreams, her laid-back personality and what motivates her to get out of bed in the morning
Better out than in
A diseased or damaged molar that is beyond repair is best removed, but how? Neil Townsend MRCVS explains
7 ways top riders deal with nerves
Even the world’s elite riders aren’t immune to competition nerves. Martha Terry discovers how they channel their jitters into a winning performance
COVID-19 PANDEMIC CHANGING INDUSTRY CONFERENCES & EVENTS
The global COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world and many industries and businesses.
Do the Olympics really need an audience?
With a $5.9 billion budget and a decade of planning behind it, the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo had been expected to draw 11,000 of the world’s elite athletes and more than 600,000 tourists when it starts in late July.
A Different Path
I ran track in high school. Was I pushing my daughter too hard to follow in my steps?
GOING FOR ANOTHER GOLD
OLYMPIC SHOOTING LEGEND KIM RHODE TALKS SHOOTING, TRAINING, AND BRINGING ANOTHER MEDAL HOME FOR THE U.S.
AHEAD IN THE CLOUDS: ALIBABA PLANS TO CHANGE THE OLYMPICS
Alibaba’s promise to the Olympic family is to bring its technological might to help organizers, broadcasters and fans.
Pointers From The World's Top Climbers
You’ll never get to the destination happy, or at all in certain cases, if you don’t enjoy the process. —Sean McColl, CAN, 2020 Sport Climbing Olympic Athlete, 2016 Villars Lead World Cup Gold Medalist
Doping - With The Olympics Comes Temptation
With the Olympics comes increased scrutiny of the anti-doping policies of competition climbing
BHCS students challenge their fitness in PACER Olympics
BLUE HILL—Stretched across one end of the Blue Hill Consolidated School gymnasium October 29, 31 students were poised to take offrunning—not for speed but for endurance, in a program where students compete against their own level of fitness.
Aly Raisman 'We Have To Change The Way Our Society Views Women.'
In her fight to end sexual abuse, the Olympic champion is challenging the very institutions she led to glory.
Stan the Man: Wawrinka Takes Aim at Another Major Title
Drama seems to find Stan Wawrinka, and failure once dogged him. But at 31, he's learned how to survive, and thrive, in the era of the Big Four.