Pippa Funnell by Author

Author:Author
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-28T16:00:00+00:00

9

Can It Get Any Better?

T he Christmas of 2001 was a much happier time than that of twelve months earlier. I was worried about how William and I would put our troubles behind us – and I suppose one never completely forgets an episode like that – but I knew I had to look to the future. Our ‘reunion’ was, in fact, surprisingly easy. My gut instinct had been that everything happens for a reason and I knew we would now be closer because our problems had made us talk to each other properly and appreciate one another more.

We spent Christmas Day on our own, doing the horses together, and in the evening we went around to Roger and Bridget Stack. At that stage, when we had only just got back together, the news wasn’t entirely public and we didn’t want to make a big thing of it because we didn’t know yet if it was going to work; so we avoided too much socialising over Christmas. Also, my family, who had gone through the mill over the split, were lukewarm about William’s return, especially Dad and Tim, who were doubtful that I’d done the right thing. So, as we were still finding our feet again, we spent a quiet New Year in Norway with Geir (Jimmy) and Elizabeth Gullikson in their lovely chalet in the mountains near Kitsveldt, site of the Olympic downhill run.

The championships of 2002 was the World Equestrian Games at Jeréz in Spain, and both William and I were in contention for the British teams. But for me the main focus was Badminton. I was really looking forward to it. Rocky had missed the last two Badmintons, first because he was being saved for Sydney and then because of foot-and-mouth, and now I felt he was actually ready to win it. I knew that a horse with two European titles had to be capable of winning, and I was really excited at the prospect.

I also had four other competitive advanced horses of the calibre any rider would give their right arm for: Primmore’s Pride, Cornerman, Walk On Star and Jurassic Rising, all of whom I knew were all capable of putting up good performances at their international spring events.

So I had much about which to be optimistic. However, with every January comes the nightmare of working out a programme to suit all the horses. It’s like a massive jigsaw. First, I decide which three-day event I plan to do with each horse, and then I work backwards from those dates to decide which one-day events they should do to prepare. Every horse is different and needs a different prep run. All this, of course, has to be balanced against owner expectations and the places at which it suits them to have their horses run – and on top of that, you have to be aware that you might be balloted out of a particular event, which will throw the whole pattern out. The interests of the horse have to come first and, as a result, it’s not always easy to keep everyone happy.

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