Mary King - British Olympic Equestrian HARDtalk


Mary King - British Olympic Equestrian

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laid floral tributes. Now it is time for HARDtalk. Mary King is a

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sportswoman like few others. She's 50-years-old and still at the

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pinnacle of her sport. That sport is three-day eventing. Next year,

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she's hoping to collect her first Olympic gold medal at what will be

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her sixth games. But is equestrianism, as its enthusiasts

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insist, the toughest sport in the world? Or is it less a test of the

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person, more of the horse, and a preserve of the rich? Tel-Me how

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you came to was riding? It was not the usual route, was that?

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total. I was one of those young girls who wanted to ride ponies and

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Beanie a maul that time. -- be near them all the time. My parents were

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not involved with horses. Weaved in a small cottage in Devon with no

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land and very little money. It was difficult at the start. You took on

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a lot of different jobs to to afford this pursuit. Yes, that

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was after I left school and decided to start up my and business. I had

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to start from scratch. Added not mind what I did. I always had lots

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of energy and did not mind working hard. I did a butcher's rounds,

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some gardening jobs, cleaning work. On I did not mind what I did as

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long as there was paid money which helped to pay in tree fees, a new

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boots etc. After you placed quite well at Badminton, one of the big

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event in tournaments, you were first offered some money. -- event

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in tournaments. You were quoted as saying that she would rather be

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famous and rich. I used to buy young horses, bring them on and

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sell them to make money. I had one horse who I could tell was very

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special and would be the cause that would fall from my childhood dream

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of riding at Badminton Horse trials. That was the top event to aim for.

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I could tell this was was going to get to the top level and I was

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offered a decent amount of money for him. I knew I should sell

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because I needed the money, but I knew he could take me to that top

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level. Still, to this day, I get teased by other people. They

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remember when I said I would wipe the be famous and rich. It was a

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good move, definitely, because I kicked him. I will ask you about

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the costs involved in a minute. But before we get with that, because

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there are US who are not for me with three-day eventing, tell us

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about it. It comprises three very diverse disciplines and uses just

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one horse to do all of them. A bit like a try athlete in human terms.

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One is stress large, where you perform and obedience test within

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an arena. Three judges assess you. Precision, training, obedience.

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Then you have the cross country phase way you gallop over five

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miles and you jump solid fences that do not fall down if you knock

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them. And to jump into water, over banks, over hedges. It is a time to

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cause, so it is important that you gallop at speed to get around the

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course inside the time. That is a be exciting phase which tests the

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bravery of the cause. The final phases showjumping. The general

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public are more used to seeing that. You jump coloured fences in an

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arena and you are penalised if you knock a fence down or up if you

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have a refusal. It is a unique sport in that it is the only one

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way men and women compete on equal terms. If anything, the women are

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definitely as good as the men, sometimes better. Dressage itself,

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a very arcane, complex sport. Very difficult to follow unless you are

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and any Shi'ite. -- initiate. It is quite popular. We wear a

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traditional top hat and tails and the horses are turned out

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beautifully. The whole picture looks very, very smart. Two people

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who do not understand, you cannot really work ally work s going on.

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When you do get to know it, it is fascinating how the course will

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perform various movements, going sideways, it's, going at different

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paces. Doing things within the paces. They do it so precisely and

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calmly. As a rider, it is so fine. The little things that you ask the

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horse. The Aids to ask the horse to do these movements. An onlooker

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would wonder how the horse knew what to do. That is because the

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indications are same minute. A little pressure from your legs, a

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slight movement of your body. what do you say to people who say

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that it cannot be considered a true sport because you cannot

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standardise the horses. It is not a true test of the Capalabar of the

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sports person because so much depends on the standard of the

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courses. -- Capalabar of the sports person. You could not to a three-

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day event without a rider on top, and a good rider. But as a

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professional rider you need a talented horse. But the forces need

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to be produced. It takes years to take a young, five-year-old was up

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to the top level of competition. The EU need to be fit to be a top

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rider? In your autobiography, I was struck by a quote. You describe how

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the team was instructed to take out running. You said it was probably

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the first time that any of us had a really worked on our fitness. That

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sounds remarkable, it was only 15 years ago. We did not have to be

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incredibly a rogue refit. I think we are up all naturally strong

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because of the general work. Day after day I am working mainly with

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the horses, riding six was as a day. That is not many. Other riders ride

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with more horses every day. So, you are feet. Your core strength is

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very strong. You have had very good balance. But, as far as running, I

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am not very good at that. In terms of the cost of maintaining the

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courses, breeding them, buying them? What does it take to compete

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at the top level? It is a very expensive sport. It gives the

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impression therefore of being an elitist. I promise you, that is not

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the case. But it is mostly rich people who take part in it. No, it

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is not. The money comes in with the owners and the sponsors. Most

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riders are not wealthy people. The majority are, like myself, who have

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had an urge to want to ride and have worked hard and then have

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attracted owners and sponsors. of them, you are the glaring

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exception, come from families that can afford the land and the courses

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to get them interested initially. Not most of them, no. Obviously,

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there are sum, but an awful lot of riders are 20 yards, trying to make

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ends meet. It is not as it seems. - - riders are renting yards. It is

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not rich people. We have backing. All the horses I ride are and by

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other peopleher people own any horse as myself. That is the

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majority of how it works in house is bought. One of the things I

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think many people do not have a correct conception about when it

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comes to three-day eventing is that it is not a genteel sport. It is

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quite dangerous. You, I mean, break your neck. Yes, it is one of the

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few things you can do these days that is exciting, given all be

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health and safety regulations. I broke my neck going for a little

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ride around a field at home. Any one who gets on board a pause is

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obviously be skiing something going wrong. I was cantering a young

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horse around a field, a pheasant came up to their heads, the horse

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was booked, and I fell and broke my neck. He said, fortunately the

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accident did not dent my confidence, but it did make me think. That was

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what you wrote. It did not put any of wanting to compete at all. Maybe

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if I had had a full eventing and broken mind it, that may has made

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me a little nervous. I don't know. -- broken my neck. If you do fall

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of, is the ease lucky how you land. One export I spoke to said: Forget

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boxing, this is the tougher sport in the world. Would you agree?

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not feel I am a particularly brave person. I just loved doing it. I

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ride horses that I have trained, that I know are perfectly capable

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of doing what I have asked them to do. But even then, there is the at

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risk of things going wrong. That is what makes it so exciting. Do you

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think it could be too dangerous? The president of the US Open team

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Association, said the overall risks were too great and it was

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unacceptable. Riders have actually died during competition. It is

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about one rider per year. You yes, but if you think of how many

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millions of people right. It is much more dangerous driving a car.

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Think about road accidents. It is obviously something that is there.

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We riders know it is a risk. But it is minimal and the sport is very

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aware of being as safe as it can be. So, you think he was overstating

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the case. You yes. A lot of safety measures have come in since those

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said the accident. Now there are special peans on the cross-country

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fences that great hit there is enough pressure. The fall with a

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cause, the one we all dread, and irritation will form where Acors

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does not peaky his front legs up enough, catches them and

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somersaults over the fence. If you are a rider then, you are under the

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cause. It is the worst for you could ever have. These things

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prevent that happening. -- the If you have something that

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collapses on contact you are spoiling the sport. They do

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collapse on contact. They are meant to withstand a certain amount of

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pressure. But the pressure is quite great. The pressure on the top of

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the rail it that the rail will suddenly dropped. It is all very

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rare. I have been eventing for 30 years. You have a lot falls. You

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have fodder injuries. You have also written through pregnancy. I'll ask

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you about that if you do not mind. When you're pregnant with your

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older child in 1995 he said that when the news came out there was a

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fevered debate. Someone said that they could not make up their mind

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if you were very brave or stupid. did right up until I was six months.

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I had the backing of my team doctor. My horse was doing fine. It was as

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safe as you can get. As safe as you can get is to stop writing. I felt

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more comfortable on the horse than I did off. My team doctor was very

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supportive. If you want to do what then just keep getting back on.

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There was a risk that if you had a bad fall then it could have been a

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nasty accident. Apparently the most dangerous stage of riding is in

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those first six weeks of pregnancy. If you have a fall then, things can

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be bad. After that things are much safer. But at first to do not know

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you are pregnant. I felt it was the right thing to do. Maybe it was a

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bit silly. A couple of years later you had the trauma of miscarrying

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after 12 weeks. You wrote about that saying that he went to a

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competition experiencing severe stomach pain and bleeding. Who

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decided to carry on as if nothing happened. You said after that you

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won, imagine if I had won a three- day event and it forced a baby all

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and the same weekend. I did not know how I felt. Miscarrying is

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nature's way of getting rid of pregnancies this cannot write. I

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carried on and won the event. It is just one of those things. I was

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fortunate enough not to be dragged down by it. It was just one of

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those things that happened. You do not think the fact you have been

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riding through it could have induced the trauma? Definitely not.

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The doctors say definitely not. It is very common. It is one of those

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things. Riding does not come into it. One thing that ride in

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unfortunately shares with all sport is doping scandals. Some say there

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needs to be a tougher approach to this problem. For example, banning

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all herbal supplements for courses. Where you stand? They have a strict

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programme for not only the horses but the jockeys. We know that that

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is in place. Years ago you were allowed to give your horse is

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certain amount of substance, a drug that was a painkiller.ainkiller.

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allowed to give them a certain amount. Different horses test in

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different ways. It is now a bend substance. There is no discrepancy

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about it. Other drugs in the sport? There are not. One of the theories

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his first boards were the horse has to be under control it would make a

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lot of sense to give the horse a drug to calm it down. That would

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not make sense. There could be side effects that would carry on. It

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could affect the competition for you. There are various horrible

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things, but there is nothing apart from training the horse correctly.

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You have a cheap day massive amount. -- achieved. How desperate are you

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win -- to win Olympic gold? I have been fortunate over the years and I

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would love to try and get to London next year. I still absolutely love

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the sport. I have some fantastic horses in my yard. I've managed to

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win a silver and a bronze. It would be fantastic. You are also 50 years

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old. You are in remarkable shape. How much longer have you got?

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not know. My son keeps asking me when I am going to quit. I decide

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it may be after the London Acklam - - Olympics was a good time. But

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then I apparently he is a big Rio de Janeiro fan and he does not want

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me to quit we're to go to Brazil. The London Olympics want more

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people to get involved in sports. Is there a chance more people get

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involved? The border for entry is quite high. It is not just buying a

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pair of shoes are referred for. It is more intensive. A horse is a big

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commitment. There is a lot of extra expenses. Hopefully the Olympics in

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London and the horse racing in Greenwich Park, it is fascinating

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