With Zara Phillips’ world champion Toytown out of action and her chances of making the World Equestrian Games (WEG) uncertain, she is now focusing on the 2012 Olympics.
“At the moment, all four of Toytown’s legs are keeping us from making plans,” said Zara. “He is in light work and he loves it, but he doesn’t owe me anything.”
While her other four-star contenders, Glenbuck and new ride Poilu (formerly ridden by Clayton Fredericks), are entered for Badminton Horse Trials in April, she is not hopeful that she will be attending WEG to defend her title.
“If we get good results this year and do get to the Worlds then that will be a bonus, but I wouldn’t say the chances are massive — there are a lot of good combinations at the moment,” said Zara.
“Glenbuck probably wouldn’t showjump well enough for WEG, as his stride is so long, and Poilu and I need some time to get to know each other,” she added.
“He can get quite tense at competitions.”
Zara admits to struggling with the loss of Toytown as her top horse, but is now aiming the rest of her string at London 2012.
“Toytown was definitely a one off. I’ve had to re-train myself, because you can’t expect every horse to go like him,” she said.
“All the horses are working to get to Olympic level and be good enough for 2012, but in horse time it’s still a long way away. A lot can happen before then.”
