Pippa and William Funnell snowed in at Gleneagles
Pippa and William Funnell’s Funnell Factor Tour ground to a halt on Sunday when the pair and their entourage were snowed in at Gleneagles in Scotland for two days.
The tour started at Arena UK on Thursday 25 November and the Funnells travelled up to Gleneagles the following day for a show that night.
However the two horseboxes, seven horses — including Billy Congo, Billy Mexico and Mondriaan, four Jack Russell dogs, four grooms, secretary and press officer, could not leave on Sunday morning because of 4ft of snow.
Spokesman Elaine Welsford told H&H: “It was quite snowy when we arrived at Gleneagles on Saturday but the Scots are a stoic lot and the show went really well.
“But there was about three feet of snow overnight and by the morning the snow was over the wheels of the lorry. Then a blizzard raged all through Sunday and all the roads were closed.”
Police managed to reopen the A9 on Monday and the Funnells took their chance to leave on a single track ploughed in the snow.
“They had to dig a path for the horses from their stables to the lorry,” said Elaine, “and once we were on the road we decided to go straight to the next venue, Hartpury, a day early.”
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Feed merchants Allen & Page had to deliver feed to Hartpury for the Funnells’ horses as the feed had run out.
And after a successful show at Hartpury last night, the Funnells are now en-route to Grange Equestrian Centre, Okehampton, Devon, where they perform tonight.
“William and Pippa are due to fly to Prague tomorrow where they are supposed to be teaching, but we shall have to see what the weather is like,” said Elaine.
The Funnell Factor Tour is a series of entertaining, educational and fun demonstrations, where Pippa and William share their knowledge and years of experience gained by producing horses to compete at the very top level of international competition.
The final engagement of the tour for 2010 is at Merrist Wood, in Guildford, Surrey, on 8 December.
For tickets, ring 01428 601020.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.