7 ways top riders deal with nerves
“I always make myself remember how lucky I am to do this sport, we are just so fortunate”
MARY KING
NERVES happen to the best of us. When Emily Philp was contesting her first Burghley, in 2019, she passed Pippa Funnell’s lorry en route to the cross-country. Bear in mind Pippa has a dozen Olympic, world and European medals, six five-star trophies and 30 five-star starts under her belt. Pippa leaned out of her lorry window to wish Emily good luck and check she was OK.
“I said, ‘No, I feel dreadful,’” Emily says. “And Pippa laughed, and said, ‘Trust me, it gets worse, not better.’”
Pippa went on to win, proving that nerves are no barrier to success. But how familiar her angst is to so many riders, whether we’re at British novice or Badminton.
On online equestrian forums, discussions about how to cope with competition
