In a move from its familiar Wednesday slot, Olympian Pippa Funnell and fellow eventer Ailsa Wates consider Balancing the Needs of the Horse With the Pressure of Competition in the latest Welfare Wednesday Webinar from World Horse Welfare which will be held at 7pm on Monday, December 12th – moved from the usual Wednesday slot due to The World Cup.

Pippa will be joining us once again in our program of webinars to talk about how she and her team ensure the needs of their horses remain the number one priority whilst training and out competing. Life as a top athlete – human and equine – comes with immense pressures but ensuring that the fundamental welfare needs of a competition horse are not overlooked is crucial to ensuring success both as an individual and for the sport as a whole.

Pippa is being joined by Ailsa Wates, an eventer who is also proudly putting horse welfare at the forefront of her ambitions. From training and preparation, to transport and overnight stays, there are a lot of factors that Pippa and Ailsa consider to ensure that their horses are as happy in their role as possible. As always, the team will be delighted to answer any questions you may have at the end of the webinar.

By registering for the webinars through Zoom, you will be able to take part in the various polls, ask questions during the Q&A and enjoy an interactive experience. If you are keen to be part of the conversation for Pippa Funnell and Ailsa Wates’ webinar on Monday, December 12th, then please REGISTER HERE.

The webinars are free to attend and if you are unable to attend via Zoom they can be viewed as a Facebook Live session. If you have missed any of the previous webinars – which have tackled subjects as fascinating and diverse as keeping horses fit, weight management, euthanasia, biosecurity, horse mental wellbeing and travelling – they are all available to watch on the World Horse Welfare YouTube channel

More about the presenters

Pippa Funnell is one of the world’s leading eventers and the first holder of the Rolex Grand Slam of eventing which she won in 2003 with Primmore’s Pride and Supreme Rock. Pippa is a dual Olympian achieving team silver in Sydney and Athens as well as an individual bronze in Athens. She also has had multiple wins at Badminton, Blenheim and Windsor Horse Trials. In 2005 her tremendous achievements were recognised in the Queen’s birthday honours list, being awarded an MBE for services to equestrian sport. Pippa continues to be consistently placed at top level international competition and she also produces sport horses at the Billy Stud farm which she runs with her husband William.

Ailsa Wates is a 24-year-old rider who has competed at junior Europeans eventing and up to 5*. She has around 15 horses in work at the yard ranging from 3-year-olds through to top level. Ailsa has had the fortune to work for some wonderful riders including Michael Jung and Shane Breen – where she learned a lot about how to ensure sport horse welfare remains a priority.

Visit the World Horse Welfare website here.