Lily Attwood

Showjumping's rising star tells Martha Terry about lessons learnt from going solo, the feisty veteran that propelled her to the top of ponies and her latest move to the Continent

- Martha Terry

IN football, a major upheaval – like a new manager – is proven to reap immediate results. And so it was with Lily Attwood’s first fivestar victory, in the Pearl Stakes at Royal Windsor last month aboard Cor-leon VD Vlierbeek Z. The win was just a few weeks after she moved her entire string from Buckinghamshire to Belgium, having spent the previous three years competing from her family home.

Lily was already catching the eye in 2022 as she established herself on the CSI5* circuit. Since her late teens, she’s earned herself a berth on the senior British team, a smattering of top placings and a regular slot in the Global Champions League (GCL). But Lily, now 21, is hungry for a lot, lot more.

“I know I’m still young, but I feel I’ve been around for long enough,” says Lily, as if she were in some way underachieving.

While showjumping is an individual sport, it’s very hard to get to the top all by yourself, as Lily has learnt since Covid. Fresh from a multi-garlanded pony career, she spent three years based with Guy Williams. But the pandemic brought her back home, where she spent the past couple of years trying to fly solo.

“Last year taught me I’m not able to do it on my own,” says Lily. “It was good that I did it. I learnt a lot by watching other people and figuring things out, so it made me mentally stronger, but I do need to follow a trainer.”

Even as a teenager, Lily was “making all the decisions, the entries, the training at home, on my own”, while her mother sorted the paperwork. Last season was her first on the GCL circuit, and however much she felt ready to compete at the highest level, the experience was daunting.