In this week’s issue of H&H fiercely competitive event rider Gemma Tattersall guest edits the magazine. She shares her thoughts on prize money in eventing, interviews her hero, Pippa Funnell, among other topics.
In the meantime, here are a few facts you probably didn’t know about the British eventing star…
1. Aged 16, Gemma was accepted on to the Lottery-funded World Class programme when it was first set up, and she is one of very few riders to have been supported by World Class ever since.
2. She first rode on the British team in 2003 at the junior European Championships in Pardubice on Balfern Milly Molly Mandy, and won two young rider team gold medals in 2005 and 2006 with Jesters Quest.
3. Jesters Quest also took her to her first Badminton in 2007, where she won the under-25 prize.
4. Her biggest victories to date are winning the 2017 British Open Championships at Gatcombe on Arctic Soul — her team gold medal-winning ride at the 2018 World Equestrian Games — and taking the Event Rider Masters series title in 2017.
5. Gemma loves going to the theatre
6. Her hero is Pippa Funnell. “She’s been close to me for a long time; I went to her yard when I was young and I’d always ring her for advice,” says Gemma.
7. Her first pony, a dun Connemara-type, was called Hamish.
Continued below…
Meet Gemma Tattersall’s top horse Arctic Soul [VIDEO]
Watch a video of up-and-coming British event rider Gemma Tattersall talking about Arctic Soul, the horse with whom she finished
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8. She hates food shopping but loves shopping for clothes and shoes. “My favourite thing ever was going into Jimmy Choo and buying some shoes for my brother’s wedding,” she admits.
9. Her favourite meal would be a roast, or steak.
Read Gemma’s guest edited issue in Horse & Hound magazine, out on 14 November