Hell bash the stable door until I give him the attention he wants.That swift glance we shoot towards the memorial to another accident victim and the contemplation, if only momentary, of our own mortality, if not necessarily our vehicles velocity.Every show-jumping fence, every cross-country hazard, can resemble a monument to the fallen.
They include friends like Polly Phillips, a vet and member of the British eventing team who died when her horse, Coral Cove, fell on her during a cross-country in Scotland. Quite possibly both, when the medals are presented on Wednesday. Yet she does so in the knowledge that just one moment of indecision by her mount, Primmores Pride, one false stride, could be fatal for one or both members of the combination. ![]() For Funnell it is a passion, yet one in which she acknowledges that the margins between triumph and tragedy can be discomfortingly narrow. It is tough. Of course it is; desperately tough for their families. But the one thing that I can say is that, as tragic as those accidents were, it was their choice, just as its my choice, to do this sport. But Im not going to change my whole way of life and start sitting in an office behind a desk. Its not a sport to take part in if youre feeling apprehensive. Why should she Last year, the 35-year-old from Surrey became the first rider to win her sports most prestigious three events - at Burghley, Kentucky and Badminton - back-to-back. It was a feat which also secured her the Rolex Grand Slam bonus of 250,000 during a year in which she was almost inevitably world top-ranked. The latter, a veteran at 42, is a late substitute for Sarah Cutteridge, whose mount The Wexford Lady was withdrawn after injuring herself in training on Monday. Certainly, morale has risen immeasurably since the 1998 world championships in Rome, when the aforementioned Polly Phillips Coral Cove failed a drug test (the horse had been administered with a forbidden anti-inflammatory drug) resulting in the loss of two bronze medals. Funnell has not only to concern herself with every twinge in her own 59kg frame, but ensure every bit of the 550kg, 17.1 hands (5ft 9in at the shoulder) of Primmores Pride is healthy and sound, too. Out of the welcoming icy tentacles of air conditioning, the heat is oppressive, suffocating. The horses have been here for 10 days, and research shows that should be enough, says Funnell. We have also done a lot of work at home with special fleece rugs that they wear and which go right up to their ears. If I feel my horse is tiring because of the heat I will slacken off. To prosper under such varied conditions, the relationship ideally should have been developed as early as possible in the horses life. He is now 11. Hes a horse that I really thought right from the word go had serious ability, she says. Hes a real athlete, jumps superbly and hes got a wonderful brain in him. By that, I mean he can be quite rude if Im chatting in the stable yard and he thinks Im ignoring him.
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