ondon 2012 is important sporting event for British Equestrian Sports and a busy build up to the Olympic Games for Event Rider William Fox- Pitt.  The final team is yet to be decided but William is a sure contender for the British Team, we visit his home to find out what preparation he undertakes to secure his place at Greenwich.

‘’I am never so bold as to expect to win; I go with the intention to perform at my best and not let down my horse. London Olympics will increase media attention which adds pressure and certainly is a disadvantage, it not like going to Beijing where you can go quietly and compete alone. Here all eyes are on you. It’s great for our sport and it ups my game.’’ Said William

William and His wife Alice (Plunkett) a popular Channel 4 Racing Presenter live in Hinton St Mary, Dorset along with their mischievous boys Thomas and Oliver. They moved into Wood Lane Stables in 2005, they built the impressive working yard which was formally a working farm. The out buildings were all in place making planning much easier. The outdoor school was once a silage pit, and the indoor stables cow sheds. The roof was too low and a new roof was put on top giving the space an airy spacious feel which now houses the competition horses, wash bays, tack room, office and a space for the lorry which is always clean and ready to go on its next outing.  Upstairs there is a lounge and further office, where Hannah Vowles the PA manages things behind the scene. The lounge has had its uses too; it’s held the odd party, been a fitness room and hosted ladies yoga sessions.

Wood lane Stables is currently home to 22 horses, not all competition horses,  staff have a couple horses there too, and Jackie Potts Williams Head Groom of nearly 20 years has Stunning  now retired(Williams ex event Horse) and her new Little Hunter whom she plans on enjoying some days out with The Portman Hunt. Alice also a member of The Portman has a hunter and brings in Pointers too. The main attention is on the Competition Horse for whom the facilities were designed for. They are treated like the top athletes, with care and attention to detail you would expect for find in a yard of this calibre.

Jackie Potts lives on site with her trusty dog Tatts. He was given to her by William at Tatterstalls in Ireland and he has been by her side ever since. Jackie runs a tight ship, she has the respect from her staff and the trust from William and Alice. Jackie works closely with William to ensure things are always running like clockwork and nothing is missed.  Jackie and her team provide William with the support and efficiency that enables him to concentrate on his sport. Alice a former Event rider and National Hunt Jockey also gets involved in the yard and business and provides the important cog to the wheel. Together the team are strong and in times of pressure they pull together ever tighter working to get to the end goal, the London Olympics.

William tells us he was born in 1969 and rode from an early age, he also admits to losing some interest as a boy but it was part of everyday life and he was glad he continued to do even if it was down to a bit of encouragement from parents who both competed in Badminton and Burghley.

As a teen William represented Great Britain, he achieved individual Silver at the Junior Europeans in 1987, Young Rider Team Gold medals in European Championships in 1988 and 1989.  At 20 years he competed in Badminton Horse Trials.  Only 5 years later he won Burghley Horse Trials and established himself on the senior British Team for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. William has a long list of achievements and his known as the most successful Event Rider in History. He has been the World No 1 in the FEI Rankings on two occasions (currently No2 behind team mate Mary King) he has been Britain’s No 1 rider an unbelievable nine times. He has represented Great Britain consistently for over 15 years and his long list of medals include : team silver (2004 Olympics and the 2006 World Equestrian Games), team bronze (2002 World Equestrian Games, 2008 Olympics and the 2011 European Championships) and team gold and individual silver at the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

For further details of Williams many accomplishments please visit his website: http://www.foxpitteventing.co.uk/team/williams-profile/

With three horses qualified William has one of the strongest contingents in the country. He confirmed the unfortunate news that his World Equestrian Games double medal-winning horse Cool Mountain is out of contention for London 2012 after sustaining a tendon injury last season. "It is particularly sad to have Cool Mountain off this year, in a way he was my banker.’’

His other hopefuls include Lionheart, Oslo and Parklane Hawk, all relatively young horses, having only done their first CCI***event last year.  ‘’ I am very lucky to have 3 horses in contention for Greenwich, each one has its strength and weakness but they are all very capable’’ Said William


ParkLane Hawk winning Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2011, by Kind Permission of Nico Morgan This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lionheart (Lion) and Neuf Des Coeurs ( Smurf) stood in the wash bays as Williams team tacked them up, all a little hairy and fluffy this time of year it is hard to recognise these as top event horses, ‘’ this time of year some of them look like this as they are just coming back into work, just walking their way back into fitness and sometimes they look like this’’  and William points to Parklane Hawk (Parker) who stands clipped and trimmed. Due to the Olympics William has brought in some horses into fitness early in order to get a head start on this year’s preparation and Parklane Hawk is one of them.

William explains he uses the walker to increase fitness at this stage of the fitness preparation. They go on in the mornings while being mucked out and then they go for a hack (walking) and again on the walker in the afternoon. William demonstrates a warm up and light schooling session with Parklane Hawk. It is a cold morning and he keeps Parkers’ quarters warm by using a Thermatex exercise sheet. We watch a warm up with a just a  few distractions from Cameras and interrupting Journalists, to finally see William demonstrate how Parker can come together and work. All seeming effortless William shows us some yielding exercises and shoulder In  and after a little request for some more, William gave us a taste of how well Parker moves with a little Medium Trot down the long side of the school. William explains, ‘’it is early in his fitness programme and so we would not push him too much, he will be ready for his first jump soon.’’

Parklane Hawk  had the occasional look at the camera men, however with all the goings on around the arena he proved how level headed he is for an Ex race horse, who so often get a bad press for being hot headed. ‘’ hopefully cameras won’t be as close as this at Greenwich’’ laughs William. Even when a fighter Jet flew extremely low over his head, his reactions were not dramatic and he settled straight back into his work.

Jackie Potts stood with us while William worked Parklane Hawk and she explained a little about the team involvement from grooms to farriers and vets. ‘’ Maximum attention is given in order to get the horses to the Olympics sound and physically ready, it a joint effort’’ said Jackie.  Horses fitness is monitored and the horses are weighed and fed with scientific precision  or as Jackie explains it  ‘’ it all comes with experience and we just know by how the horses look and feel  as to how they are doing, we talk on a daily basis and ensure nothing is missed’’ Said Jackie, and perhaps for someone who has worked in the industry for as long as she has and prepared  horses for major international competitions for 20 years,  it must seem like second nature to just know enough preparation has been done for the challenges of CCI**** star and Olympic competition.

William will consider carefully the plan for the horses throughout the season, he says he expects to take different horses to Badminton Horse trails then he would to the Olympics as the event runs so closely and it does not give him enough time to give the horse the rest it needs after a  4 * event. Selectors do influence decisions if they feel a rider is making risky decisions, but William is well prepared and with years building up to the Olympics all seems to be focused on getting him and a suitable horse there in one piece.

William remained humble and gracious at all times throughout the day and as usual totally unflappable.  Does William fox-Pitt ever crumble under pressure, well a little group of journalist certainly would not faze him. How does he hold that composure, perhaps a skill we can learn from? ‘’ I treat each event the same, this year will be treated like any other year’’ when you remove yourself from the outcome you remove fear of failure and this is what separated William from any other rider. He seems fearless.

The start of the season is looming and preparation well underway the country waits baited breath for Teams and horses to be confirmed. There are plenty of opportunities to follow leading riders on the run up to the Olympics, stay in touch with our calendar of events www.fieldandrurallife.com/events-calendar
Join Williams eventing club at http://www.foxpitteventing.co.uk/eventing-club/
www.britisheventing.co.uk  for all British Eventing  results.

William fox-Pitts horses in contention for the London 2012 Olympics

Lion Heart (Lion) , one of Williams most talented jumping horses

Having competed in his first CCI**** at Pau in 2011, Lionheat made an uncharacteristic mistake in the show jumping  by knocking down the first fence, but finishing 3rd proves he is ready to take on the Olympics.
‘’Lionheart really stepped up his game in France and produced his best test to date to score 46.7.  He had been improving all season but I couldn't have hoped for him to have tried any harder.’’ William Says

Owners:    Judy and Jeremy Skinner
Age:        10 yr old
Sex:        Gelding
Height:        16.3 hh
Colour:        Bay
Sire:        Lancer III
Dam:        Silbrose



Oslo, genuine and very consistent yet still relatively green
What William says about Oslo..    
‘’Oslo has had an exceptional season and is now one of my most consistent horses having won at *,**, *** and **** level.  He has produced a 3rd and three wins out of just 10 starts this year and finishes the season as third highest ranked horse in the UK, as well as putting himself well into contention for London 2012.’’


Owners:    Fox-Pitt Eventing Partnership
Age:        10 yr old
Sex:        Gelding
Height:        16.2 hh
Colour:        Bay
Sire:        Lando
Dam:        Aurelie Du Prieure




Parklane Hawk (Parker)Ex Race horse from NZ,  a Solid and Classy horse
New to the team in 2010 Parklane Hawk is in serious contention for the 2012 Olympics. ‘’Parker stepped right up to the mark at Burghley by winning me my sixth title, even more impressive as this was his first run at CCI****.

Parklane Hawk Winner of Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, By kind permission from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Owners:    Mrs Catherine Witt
Age:        11 yr old
Sex:        Gelding
Height:        16.3 hh
Colour:        Bay
Sire:        Grosvenor
Dam:        DeeBee Lady