‘A lot of people thought I was mad for doing it, which I probably was’: Bubby Upton on juggling university with five-star eventing

Gemma Redrup's avatar
By
Published In Features
BUBBY-UPTON-RIDING-COLA-III.jpeg
(Image credit: Trevor Holt)

Young event rider Bubby Upton tackled her first five-star a year ago and has now completed a handful of these top level events, including finishing 14th at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in September. Up until May 2022, she was juggling eventing at the top level with studying a degree at university.

“I studied at Edinburgh University for four years and my home is just outside Newmarket, so for the past four years, it’s been non-stop commuting back and forth twice a week so I could ride my horses,” explains Bubby to H&H’s Pippa Roome on episode 124 of The Horse & Hound Podcast. “By the end, I was managing to do the trip door-to-door in three-and-a-half hours from Stansted Airport, which was pretty good going given the distance. I think a lot of people thought I was mad for doing it, which I probably was, but it made sense as I was able to work for two hours of that journey.”

Gemma Redrup
Gemma Redrup
Former web features editor, point-to-point editor and digital racing editor

Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.