MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Olympian Mary King MBE

Mary King, 55, is an international three-day event rider and has represented great Britain at six olympic games. She lives in Devon with her husband, David, and their two children, Freddie, 18, and emily, 21. MY FIRST pony, Magpie, wasn’t mine, he belonged to our local vicar. My father had taken a job as the verger of the church after a motorcycle accident meant he had to leave the Navy.

My parents weren’t ‘horsey’ people at all, but I quickly became obsessed. Every day from the school bus I could see a girl on her majestic horse. I was so jealous! I could never imagine being part of that world — at the time, we lived in a rented cottage that didn’t even have an inside loo.

My light bulb moment came while I was on a trip to Badminton Horse Trials. I watched eventing (dressage, cross-country and showjumping) for the first time and totally fell under its spell.

I was 12 and can remember gazing up at the shiny, magnificent horses and marvelling at the bravery of the riders. I knew then and there that, somehow, I had to break into that world.

After I left school, I took any job I could find to fund my training. Finally, I made my Badminton debut in 1985, and now I’ve been the British champion four times.

I think part of my determination was born out of seeing my father cope with life-changing injuries. He was very focused, and so am I.

There are huge ups and downs in sport. One minute you can be winning, then you can fall. I broke my neck in 2001, but it didn’t put me off, I concentrated on how lucky I was to be living this great life with these wonderful animals.

It’s easy to let anxiety get the better of you, but you can’t give those emotions time to grow — I guess that’s why people talk about the need to ‘get back on the horse that threw you’.