Pippa Funnell and Tina Cook on pregnancy confidences, nerves and why you need good mates

Pippa Funnell and Tina Cook had the audience laughing from the off at their recent masterclass at Wellington Riding, revealing Pippa had asked outside if she should take her waistcoat off and Tina replied: “Don’t be daft, your tits will be down to your belly button.”

Later, Pippa drew comparisons between their long friendship and the partnership the pair both like to form with their horses.

“It’s up to us to find ways to better our communication with horses, to form that partnership. Mine and Tina’s friendship isn’t quite like a marriage, but we’ve known each other a long time,” she said.

“If you want to have a good friend, you have to be a good friend and likewise, I want my horses to be my friend. That partnership, that friendship, is built up by mutual respect, confidence, trust, patience. They’re not tools, they’re animals and we have to treat them as such.”

Tina added: “I believe my horses do it across country because they want to do it for me rather than because they are frightened of me. It’s all about the partnership.”

Pippa Funnell also revealed that Tina Cook told her she was pregnant when they were hacking around Burghley during competition week, before she’d told even her then-husband or her mother. So Tina’s daughter Isabelle – now a junior individual silver and team gold medallist – has actually already had her first trip round a five-star, albeit from the safety of her mother’s womb.

Although they share many of the same beliefs about training horses, Pippa and Tina also work in different ways.

“I don’t use poles as much as Pippa does – I’m not saying that’s right or wrong. Maybe that’s my failure – she’s won the Rolex Grand Slam and I haven’t!” said Tina.

‘You need a mate’

The two Olympic medallists were asked about coming back from losing confidence during the evening and Pippa said: “You need a mate. What we’re dealing with in our sport – it’s emotionally draining. There are incredible highs, but also big lows and you need mates around you.

“If it’s a case of losing confidence, I’ve been there, I think Tina has been there. If you’ve lost confidence as a rider, you can’t push yourself, you have to go back to basics, go back to the system and gradually build up again.”

Tina added: “Whether you’re competing at five-star or BE100 or BE90 or BE80, it’s got to be fun. I’ve seen too many people having problems with nerves, worrying about it. Yes, we get nervous, but it’s being able to control that and enjoy the experience of nerves.

“There are different pressures – financial, family, owners – but at the end of the day, it’s down to you, you’re the one riding at those fences. There’s been many a time we’ve had to go back to basics and get back in love with the game and for us, we have managed that.

“Growing up, we’d think the Ginny Elliots or Lucinda Greens made it look so easy, but no, we still make mistakes. Hopefully less mistakes than when we were younger, but we’re always working on it the whole time – and working on ourselves, that’s a massive thing.

“You do see quite a lot of people coming out of the ring and saying, ‘Blooming horse this or that’ and you think, ‘Actually mate, look at yourself – what could you have done differently?’”

‘I wouldn’t sleep if my horses weren’t happy’

During her masterclass with Tina Cook, Pippa Funnell also touched on the importance of making sure horses are happy and that people see that.

She said: “You have to treat each horse as an individual. We all want to buy a beautiful horse and conformation is key, but they come in all shapes and sizes. You have to work out their strengths, find out what do they find difficult. A lot of people don’t read their horses and think they’re being difficult, but it’s the way they’re built. We have to ride them, give them exercises to improve.

“It’s about working with what you’ve got and bringing out the best in them. Between Tina and I, we really do put the horse first and we’re passionate about getting the right message across.

“We’re in a tricky time for social media – it’s essential we do everything right by our horses and are seen to do right. As trainers and riders we have a huge responsibility. It worries me where the sport is, it upsets me. I know how I am with my horses, any of you could come into my yard and see the horses are very happy, they trust me, they are confident. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if that wasn’t the case.

“The partnership is key, eventing is a tough sport and why should my horses dig deep if I haven’t done right by them? I’m far from the greatest rider, but one of my strongest points is getting into horses’ minds and how they think.”

You might also be interested in:

Pippa Funnell on training horses: ‘I love mine to bits but I don’t spoil them – I don’t want a spoilt horse’

Killer instinct, Valegro’s nephew and riding all night – Lottie Fry and Anne van Olst’s demo at London

The perfect (human) body for dressage, camels and more: eight insights from Carl Hester

Position, polework and partnership – 13 insights from Pippa Funnell’s demo at London

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