With the world’s premier three-day event taking place in the UK this week, we have teamed up with Badminton and Burghley winner Piggy March to offer HorseSport.com readers a FREE video from Piggy’s training platform, Piggy TV.
In the beginning
Something lots of people find funny is that I’d never planned a career with horses, but they were all I ever thought about. Growing up, my sister and I were lucky to have a pony each and I can remember just getting stuck in at Pony Club and we’d just enjoying flying about with our friends, it was really great fun.
At the time we had the ponies we could afford and luckily my Mum had a very keen eye for picking out those with potential. Lloyds Gamble was one of those, and despite stopping twice at a cross pole when she went to try him, home he came! I was more scared of her than any naughty horse, so on we got with our training!
We spent years building our partnership and sure enough, as Mum said he would be, he turned out to be an incredible horse.
Horses are the greatest teachers
Years later I first represented Great Britain at the 2001 Young Rider Europeans on Flintlock, a hunter owned by a friend who asked me to compete him whilst she was at university. He also took me to my first 5* at Burghley in 2002 and my first Badminton a year later in 2003. Then came Done To Order, a little dun cob with the heart of a lion. The experience they gave me was invaluable and I realised very early on that our sport isn’t about having the most talented horse, but the best partnership.
What I’ve learned
I like to live in the moment, and I think this is a good trait to have. In fact, I wish more people had it, too. It’s all too easy to win regional competitions and then focus on the World Games, but can be too big a jump and far too much pressure to put on yourself, I’m not saying don’t reach for the stars, but I like to tell people to take stock and focus on what is in front of them in that moment. Eventing can be so unpredictable and if and when things don’t go to plan, the disappointment can be crushing, so I like to remember to live in the moment!
There is also a passion in me to try and find the good in every horse. Each one will have a key to getting the best out of them; you just need to find it. I think, ‘this horse is my friend and my teammate. We go to battle together. He trusts me and together we do our very best.’ If my horse is happy, confident and does his absolute best, that’s just as wonderful as a win to me – that’s definitely how I get my thrills!
I really do feel it’s important that we share the real-life ups and downs and not just the wins and celebrations – that’s why I am so proud to be able to bring Piggy TV to you all!
An introduction to Piggy TV
An introduction to Piggy TVPiggy TV membership takes you behind the scenes at my yard with training videos, event reports, virtual yard visits to other top riders and so much more. Piggy TV is the ultimate membership for the equine enthusiast, whether your goal is competing at the grassroots level or if you would like exclusive access to see what makes my five-star event yard tick.
Here’s a little taster of what you can expect from Piggy TV!
Follow the link HERE and add your email address to watch the FREE video of Part 1 of Piggy’s visit to eventing legend William Fox-Pitt’s yard. William is the most successful event rider ever with no less than 14 5* wins to his name and his experience of the sport and horses in general are immense. This is the first part of our tour around his purpose-built yard in Dorset and covers the stables and their design, feeding, tack room, saddles, bits, bridles and so much more.
