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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

    https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/equine-atypical-myopathy-horses-461130

    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

    Bits and Pieces Pippa Funnell

    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

    WOODSTOCK, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: British rider, Pippa Funnell takes part with her horse Ensign in trotting up at the vet inspection on the final day of the Blenheim FEI Petplan European Eventing Championship 2005 at Blenheim Palace on Septemer 11, 2005 near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)

    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.

    4. Billy Be Cool

    Billy Be Cool, pictured winning the four-year-old Burghley Young Event Horse final in 2008.

    5. Supreme Rock

    Mandatory Credit: Photo by David Ashdown/The Independent/REX/Shutterstock (2469595a) BADMINTON HORSE TRIALS SHOW JUMPING 5/5/2002 Pippa Funnell ON SUPREME ROCK AFTER WINNING. BADMINTON HORSE TRIALS BADMINTON HORSE TRIALS SHOW JUMPING 5/5/2002 PIPPA FUNNELL ON SUPREME ROCK AFTER WINNING . BADMINTON HORSE TRIALS

    This picture captures the moment Pippa won Badminton on Supreme Rock in 2002.

    6. Supreme Rock and a second Badminton victory

    Pippa funnell winning Supreme Rock

    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

    Mandatory Credit: Photo by Cavan Pawson/Evening Standard/REX/Shutterstock (963929a) Pippa Funnell In Action Today During The Cross Country Section Of The Three-day Eventing At The Olympic Games In Greece. The Athens Olmpics 20004....pic Cavan Pawson............ Pippa Funnell In Action Today During The Cross Country Section Of The Three-day Eventing At The Olympic Games In Greece. The Athens Olmpics 20004....pic Cavan Pawson............

    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

    Pippa FUNNELL (GBR) riding Sandman 7, during the Cross Country phase of the Longines FEI European Eventing Championship 2015 at Blair Castle, in Blair Atholl near Pitlochry in Perthshire, Scotland, UK , on 9th September 2015

    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

    PIPPA FUNNELL riding BILLY THE BIZ during Cross Country phase of the CIC*** during the Bramham International Horse Trial in Bramham Park, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, UK on 13th June 2015

    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 Funnell Rio eventing dressage

    Pippa and Billy The Biz strut their stuff in Rio.

    13. Majas Hope

    Pippa Funnell riding MAJAS HOPE in the CIC *** Section B during Banbury International at Barbury Castle Estate in the village of Rockly, near Marlborough in the county of Wiltshire in the UK on 9th July 2017

    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

    Badminton Horse Trials fashion Pippa Funnell Billy Beware

    Pippa trots up Billy Beware at Badminton this spring.

    15. Billy Congo

    Billy Congo and Pippa Funnell in the 1.35m (class 143)

    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

    Pippa Funnell (GBR) riding MGH GRAFTON STREET during the showjumping phase of the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials with MGH GRAFTON STREET in the grounds of Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire in the UK between 5 - 8th September 2019

    Sixteen years on from her first Burghley victory, Pippa adds a second title, this time with MGH Grafton Street

    For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

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