Date of Birth: 7th October 1968

Birth Place: Crowborough, East Sussex, England

Pippa began riding when she was little – on a pony lent to her by a friend of her mother’s. She and her friends would build jumps in the garden and pretend they were famous riders competing for top prizes at the Badminton Horse Trials. At night, Pippa would lie in bed imagining what it would be like to win a medal at the Olympic Games. She trained full time from the age of 16, and had her first major success in 1987, when she became European Young Rider Champion.

Pippa’s childhood dreams came true when, in 2000, she was part of the British silver medal team at the Sydney Olympics, and then won another two medals at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

In 2003, Pippa won her place in the history books when she became the first person and currently only person to win Eventing's greatest prize, the Rolex Grand Slam, with consecutive wins at Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley. Pippa finished 2003 as the No 1 ranked rider in the world and was awarded the MBE in 2005.

Pippa is still eventing and has 12 horses to compete with this season, some of whom are homebred youngsters who have come up through The Billy Stud breeding programme, managed by Pippa and her husband William, with top breeder Donal Barnwell.

Pippa has recently become a trustee of the charity World Horse Welfare, the international charity dedicated to caring for horses. You can find out more about World Horse Welfare by clicking here: www.worldhorsewelfare.org

Pippa lives with her husband, show jumper William Funnell, on a farm in Surrey.