MTC

Twenty years after winning her first National Championship with Sir Barnaby, Pippa Funnell is firmly established as one of the world's leading three day event riders. 

Throughout a long career, Pippa has consistently been at the top of 3 Day Eventing having cemented her place back in 2003 when she achieved a landmark record by winning the Rolex Grand Slam.  As well as a healthy bonus from Rolex, Pippa earned herself a place in the history books as the first person to achieve this feat. 

A year later she broke yet more records when she became the first person to win the Blenheim International Horse Trials for an incredible fourth time. This was followed by success at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where she helped the team to Silver before taking the individual Bronze medal. Her list of achievements has continued to expand, with Pippa repeatedly placing well at all the major events, and includes claiming both the Badminton and Windsor titles on more than one occasion. 

With her best selling autobiography and her range of ‘Pippa Funnell' computer games continuing to top the game sales charts it's clear that Pippa's determination, drive and devotion to her sport, is proving an inspiration to many. 

Pippa's appeal has been elevated further with the release of ‘Tilly's Pony Tails', a collection of children's books. First published in 2009 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. Pippa was inspired to become a children's author by the memory of one of her horses Viceroy. On his death Viceroy's owner gave Pippa a bracelet made from the horses tail hair. This lead to the creation of Tilly and her Pony Tails. Pippa was determined her stories would not be based in fantasy, instead providing practical riding advice alongside fictional tales of a child's amazing connection to horses.

Away from eventing Pippa has also received many awards which include the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year Award, the Sports Journalist Association Pat Besford Award for Outstanding Individual Sporting Achievement, as well as being named BBC South's Sports Personality of the Year and reaching the last five of the overall BBC Sports Personality of the Year. 

Pippa was awarded an MBE in 2005. 

Pippa is married to international show jumper, William Funnell.