All hail Pippa Funnell! 18 moments that helped define her stellar career
Legendary event rider Pippa Funnell added another Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials victory to her list of achievements yesterday (8 September). To celebrate we round up just some of the highlights from her remarkable career at the top of equestrian sport…
1. Sir Barnaby
Sir Barnaby, who was Pippa’s first horse, launched her career, taking her all the way from the Pony Club Championships to Badminton, Burghley and a win in the four-star at Luhmühlen in 1991.
2. Bits And Pieces
Pictured competing at Burghley in 1996, where he was fourth, this diminutive horse won Blenheim CCI3* (now CCI5*) in 1995 and was ninth at Badminton in 1997 with Pippa.
3. Ensign
This former racehorse, pictured at the 2005 European Eventing Championships at Blenheim, was a prolific three-star horse, clocking up several top 10 placings and was also third in the inaugural CCI5* at Pau in 2007.
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4. Billy Be Cool
Billy Be Cool, pictured winning the four-year-old Burghley Young Event Horse final in 2008.
5. Supreme Rock
This picture captures the moment Pippa won Badminton on Supreme Rock in 2002.
6. Supreme Rock and a second Badminton victory
In 2003, Supreme Rock won Badminton for the second year in a row, which marked the first leg of her Rolex Grand Slam victory.
7. Making history
In 2003, Pippa became the first person to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, thanks to consecutive victories at Badminton (Supreme Rock) and Kentucky and Burghley, where this picture is taken, on Primmore’s Pride.
8. Primmores Pride
Pippa and Primmore’s Pride at the 2004 Athens Olympics, on their way to winning team silver and individual bronze.
9. Redesigned
Pictured competing at Great Witchingham, Redesigned won Bramham CCI4*-L in 2010, among other good four-star results and also jumped round Badminton and Burghley a handful of times.
10. Sandman 7
Pictured competing as part of the British team at the 2015 European Eventing Championships at Blair Castle, which earnt them a team silver, Sandman 7 also won Chatsworth CCI4*-s in 2015 and was sixth in the CCI4*-L at Bramham a few weeks later.
11. Billy The Biz
Pictured bouncing his way to third place in the CCI4*-S at Bramham in 2016, this result helped secure Pippa another place on the British squad at the Rio Olympics.
12. Rio Olympics
Pippa and Billy The Biz strut their stuff in Rio.
13. Majas Hope
Pictured in the CCI4*-S at Barbury in 2017, Majas Hope recently made his four-star debut at Burghley where he finished 13th.
14. Billy Beware
Pippa trots up Billy Beware at Badminton this spring.
15. Billy Congo
Pippa took over the reins on showjumping stallion Billy Congo last summer. They are pictured finishing third in a 1.35m open class at Hickstead in June.
16. The Queen Elizabeth II Cup
If being a top eventer wasn’t enough, Pippa has also proven herself to be a successful showjumper too. Here she is pictured finishing second in a hotly contest Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Billy Congo at the Royal International Horse Show 2018 at Hickstead.
17. A late Europeans call-up
Pippa en-route to a team silver at the 2019 FEI European Eventing Championships in Luhmühlen aboard Majas Hope
18. MGH Grafton Street
Sixteen years on from her first Burghley victory, Pippa adds a second title, this time with MGH Grafton Street
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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.