Pippa Set On A Return To the Top

NEWS

Pippa Set On A Return To the Top

In a recent interview with the London Evening Standard Pippa Funnell discussed her return to Eventing, her hopes for 2012 and the inspiration behind her series of children's books, Tilly's Pony Tails.

Pippa Funnell has had an extremely successful career to date. The only Eventer to have claimed the greatly converted Rolex Grand Slam in 2003, she also became the first person to achieve an impressive 4 consecutive wins at Blenheim International Horse Trials later in the same year. Pippa also has 3 Olympic medals to her name as well as a host of podium positions at the famous Badminton Horse Trials. In the last few years Pippa's focus changed from winning competitions to writing children's books.

As with everything Pippa try's her hand at, the series of books titled Tilly's Pony Tails has been a resounding success, resulting in the books being translated into several different languages. The stories centre around Tilly Redbrook, an adopted child with a gift for communicating with horses. Each title in the series tells a new story of adventure for Tilly at Silver Shoe Farm. Alongside the fictional story, each book contains a tip section with expert advice from Pippa.

With 2012 approaching fast Pippa is now looking forward to competing for Great Britain on home turf and claiming the only medal to elude her - Olympic Gold. Pippa will commence her campaign with a return to Badminton in April on her new horse Redesigned. Pippa is confident that Redesigned can take her all the way to London and the Gold medal. And why should she not be? Last summer she was picked along with Redesigned to represent GB at the World Equestrian Games where she came 5^th, her first GB selection since riding Primmore's Pride in 2005. This call up came only a month after Pippa made her return to eventing, marked by a win at the Bramham International Horse Trials on Redesigned. Being selected for the British team reignited Pippa's passion for competition.

"The selection was with a view to the Olympics. It felt like a rebirth. It reminded me how special an honour it is to represent my country, the special camaraderie, the feeling when the flag is raised. It reignited my hunger for competition."

Despite having competed in 2 previous Olympic Games Pippa knows that competing in London 2012 will bring a greater amount of pressure and the weight of the countries expectations shall be resting, in part, upon her shoulders. Despite her determination to compete in the Olympics Pippa knows that anything can happen between now and July 2012.

"You have to deal with life's ups and downs. Tonight, Redesigned could bang his leg against the wall of the stable and suddenly he is lame. You can't stop that. They are animals. Our sport is not like formula One, the drivers can just tweak their cars. In our sport the horse is the athlete. I never forget that."