What Will Be

"He is an absolute legend. We are good friends, and I think he is the better rider than I. Even though last year I finished world number one and he was world number two, I still think he is the better rider. He just is. He has such fantastic affinity with his horses. He is soft and quiet with them. The way he runs his yard and the life his horses have is very natural. They are turned out into the field a lot, and have a lovely time. And it is extraordinary how he performs at top level events. He has success after success. Yes, and if you get all the top riders together we are all similar in a way. Inside, you have a steely determination and the will to win, but you have to be very calm, relaxed and ready to accept what is thrown at you. It is an exciting and dangerous competition to be in, and to cope with that year in and year out you have got to have a calm mind. If you were a nervy sort of person it wouldn’t work at all. That’s right. The horse needs the rider to be calm, relaxed and confident because that will transfer through to the horse. William is very much that. He has an amazing balance, especially considering how tall he is. He is something like six foot five, yet he is always soft and balanced on a horse, and gives them plenty of freedom when they are galloping and jumping. “The horse needs the rider to be calm, relaxed and confident because that will transfer through to the horse.” Some riders are very tight with the reins and hard on their horses, and a bit aggressive. He is not like that at all. Because of that the horses go very sweetly and confidently for him. The team will do things like share views on the cross-country course. When we walk around the course together, we will be discussing how you think a certain fence is going to ride. We will discuss what angle or approach you should have to each fence. Even though you are timed, sometimes we might think it is wise to take a slightly longer option, which might waste a few seconds but will get you a clear round. So we pool our knowledge to get the best for the team. I wasn’t competing when I broke my neck. I was just riding a horse at home in a field. That shows that it is not the competing itself that is dangerous. Whenever you sit on a horse, something could happen. It was a young horse that spooked sharply at a pheasant in a hedge, and I fell off and landed awkwardly. It can be risky because they are animals with minds of their own, and they are unpredictable. But that is what makes it so exciting, so it didn’t put me off."