:00:10. > :00:15.laid floral tributes. Now it is time for HARDtalk. Mary King is a
:00:15. > :00:23.sportswoman like few others. She's 50-years-old and still at the
:00:23. > :00:27.pinnacle of her sport. That sport is three-day eventing. Next year,
:00:27. > :00:29.she's hoping to collect her first Olympic gold medal at what will be
:00:29. > :00:33.her sixth games. But is equestrianism, as its enthusiasts
:00:33. > :00:43.insist, the toughest sport in the world? Or is it less a test of the
:00:43. > :00:58.
:00:58. > :01:03.person, more of the horse, and a preserve of the rich? Tel-Me how
:01:03. > :01:13.you came to was riding? It was not the usual route, was that?
:01:13. > :01:15.
:01:15. > :01:24.total. I was one of those young girls who wanted to ride ponies and
:01:24. > :01:30.Beanie a maul that time. -- be near them all the time. My parents were
:01:30. > :01:38.not involved with horses. Weaved in a small cottage in Devon with no
:01:38. > :01:46.land and very little money. It was difficult at the start. You took on
:01:46. > :01:52.a lot of different jobs to to afford this pursuit. Yes, that
:01:52. > :01:58.was after I left school and decided to start up my and business. I had
:01:58. > :02:05.to start from scratch. Added not mind what I did. I always had lots
:02:05. > :02:12.of energy and did not mind working hard. I did a butcher's rounds,
:02:12. > :02:21.some gardening jobs, cleaning work. On I did not mind what I did as
:02:21. > :02:29.long as there was paid money which helped to pay in tree fees, a new
:02:29. > :02:34.boots etc. After you placed quite well at Badminton, one of the big
:02:34. > :02:40.event in tournaments, you were first offered some money. -- event
:02:40. > :02:47.in tournaments. You were quoted as saying that she would rather be
:02:47. > :02:54.famous and rich. I used to buy young horses, bring them on and
:02:54. > :03:00.sell them to make money. I had one horse who I could tell was very
:03:00. > :03:06.special and would be the cause that would fall from my childhood dream
:03:06. > :03:12.of riding at Badminton Horse trials. That was the top event to aim for.
:03:12. > :03:20.I could tell this was was going to get to the top level and I was
:03:20. > :03:24.offered a decent amount of money for him. I knew I should sell
:03:24. > :03:31.because I needed the money, but I knew he could take me to that top
:03:31. > :03:35.level. Still, to this day, I get teased by other people. They
:03:35. > :03:41.remember when I said I would wipe the be famous and rich. It was a
:03:41. > :03:48.good move, definitely, because I kicked him. I will ask you about
:03:48. > :03:52.the costs involved in a minute. But before we get with that, because
:03:52. > :04:00.there are US who are not for me with three-day eventing, tell us
:04:00. > :04:07.about it. It comprises three very diverse disciplines and uses just
:04:07. > :04:11.one horse to do all of them. A bit like a try athlete in human terms.
:04:11. > :04:21.One is stress large, where you perform and obedience test within
:04:21. > :04:24.
:04:24. > :04:33.an arena. Three judges assess you. Precision, training, obedience.
:04:33. > :04:37.Then you have the cross country phase way you gallop over five
:04:38. > :04:46.miles and you jump solid fences that do not fall down if you knock
:04:46. > :04:51.them. And to jump into water, over banks, over hedges. It is a time to
:04:51. > :04:57.cause, so it is important that you gallop at speed to get around the
:04:57. > :05:04.course inside the time. That is a be exciting phase which tests the
:05:04. > :05:09.bravery of the cause. The final phases showjumping. The general
:05:09. > :05:15.public are more used to seeing that. You jump coloured fences in an
:05:16. > :05:21.arena and you are penalised if you knock a fence down or up if you
:05:21. > :05:27.have a refusal. It is a unique sport in that it is the only one
:05:27. > :05:34.way men and women compete on equal terms. If anything, the women are
:05:35. > :05:41.definitely as good as the men, sometimes better. Dressage itself,
:05:41. > :05:51.a very arcane, complex sport. Very difficult to follow unless you are
:05:51. > :05:55.
:05:55. > :05:58.and any Shi'ite. -- initiate. It is quite popular. We wear a
:05:58. > :06:05.traditional top hat and tails and the horses are turned out
:06:05. > :06:13.beautifully. The whole picture looks very, very smart. Two people
:06:14. > :06:20.who do not understand, you cannot really work ally work s going on.
:06:20. > :06:28.When you do get to know it, it is fascinating how the course will
:06:28. > :06:35.perform various movements, going sideways, it's, going at different
:06:35. > :06:43.paces. Doing things within the paces. They do it so precisely and
:06:43. > :06:50.calmly. As a rider, it is so fine. The little things that you ask the
:06:50. > :06:58.horse. The Aids to ask the horse to do these movements. An onlooker
:06:59. > :07:02.would wonder how the horse knew what to do. That is because the
:07:02. > :07:07.indications are same minute. A little pressure from your legs, a
:07:07. > :07:12.slight movement of your body. what do you say to people who say
:07:12. > :07:18.that it cannot be considered a true sport because you cannot
:07:18. > :07:20.standardise the horses. It is not a true test of the Capalabar of the
:07:20. > :07:28.sports person because so much depends on the standard of the
:07:28. > :07:36.courses. -- Capalabar of the sports person. You could not to a three-
:07:36. > :07:40.day event without a rider on top, and a good rider. But as a
:07:40. > :07:47.professional rider you need a talented horse. But the forces need
:07:47. > :07:52.to be produced. It takes years to take a young, five-year-old was up
:07:52. > :08:00.to the top level of competition. The EU need to be fit to be a top
:08:00. > :08:04.rider? In your autobiography, I was struck by a quote. You describe how
:08:04. > :08:10.the team was instructed to take out running. You said it was probably
:08:10. > :08:16.the first time that any of us had a really worked on our fitness. That
:08:16. > :08:24.sounds remarkable, it was only 15 years ago. We did not have to be
:08:24. > :08:29.incredibly a rogue refit. I think we are up all naturally strong
:08:29. > :08:39.because of the general work. Day after day I am working mainly with
:08:39. > :08:39.
:08:39. > :08:46.the horses, riding six was as a day. That is not many. Other riders ride
:08:46. > :08:53.with more horses every day. So, you are feet. Your core strength is
:08:53. > :08:59.very strong. You have had very good balance. But, as far as running, I
:08:59. > :09:04.am not very good at that. In terms of the cost of maintaining the
:09:04. > :09:11.courses, breeding them, buying them? What does it take to compete
:09:11. > :09:16.at the top level? It is a very expensive sport. It gives the
:09:16. > :09:23.impression therefore of being an elitist. I promise you, that is not
:09:23. > :09:31.the case. But it is mostly rich people who take part in it. No, it
:09:31. > :09:39.is not. The money comes in with the owners and the sponsors. Most
:09:39. > :09:43.riders are not wealthy people. The majority are, like myself, who have
:09:43. > :09:50.had an urge to want to ride and have worked hard and then have
:09:50. > :09:54.attracted owners and sponsors. of them, you are the glaring
:09:54. > :10:01.exception, come from families that can afford the land and the courses
:10:01. > :10:07.to get them interested initially. Not most of them, no. Obviously,
:10:07. > :10:17.there are sum, but an awful lot of riders are 20 yards, trying to make
:10:17. > :10:18.
:10:18. > :10:27.ends meet. It is not as it seems. - - riders are renting yards. It is
:10:27. > :10:33.not rich people. We have backing. All the horses I ride are and by
:10:33. > :10:38.other peopleher people own any horse as myself. That is the
:10:38. > :10:43.majority of how it works in house is bought. One of the things I
:10:43. > :10:47.think many people do not have a correct conception about when it
:10:47. > :10:57.comes to three-day eventing is that it is not a genteel sport. It is
:10:57. > :11:00.
:11:00. > :11:06.quite dangerous. You, I mean, break your neck. Yes, it is one of the
:11:06. > :11:10.few things you can do these days that is exciting, given all be
:11:10. > :11:16.health and safety regulations. I broke my neck going for a little
:11:16. > :11:20.ride around a field at home. Any one who gets on board a pause is
:11:20. > :11:25.obviously be skiing something going wrong. I was cantering a young
:11:25. > :11:35.horse around a field, a pheasant came up to their heads, the horse
:11:35. > :11:39.was booked, and I fell and broke my neck. He said, fortunately the
:11:39. > :11:47.accident did not dent my confidence, but it did make me think. That was
:11:47. > :11:52.what you wrote. It did not put any of wanting to compete at all. Maybe
:11:52. > :12:02.if I had had a full eventing and broken mind it, that may has made
:12:02. > :12:11.me a little nervous. I don't know. -- broken my neck. If you do fall
:12:11. > :12:18.of, is the ease lucky how you land. One export I spoke to said: Forget
:12:18. > :12:24.boxing, this is the tougher sport in the world. Would you agree?
:12:24. > :12:29.not feel I am a particularly brave person. I just loved doing it. I
:12:29. > :12:35.ride horses that I have trained, that I know are perfectly capable
:12:35. > :12:41.of doing what I have asked them to do. But even then, there is the at
:12:41. > :12:51.risk of things going wrong. That is what makes it so exciting. Do you
:12:51. > :12:56.think it could be too dangerous? The president of the US Open team
:12:56. > :13:04.Association, said the overall risks were too great and it was
:13:04. > :13:09.unacceptable. Riders have actually died during competition. It is
:13:09. > :13:15.about one rider per year. You yes, but if you think of how many
:13:15. > :13:22.millions of people right. It is much more dangerous driving a car.
:13:22. > :13:30.Think about road accidents. It is obviously something that is there.
:13:30. > :13:36.We riders know it is a risk. But it is minimal and the sport is very
:13:36. > :13:44.aware of being as safe as it can be. So, you think he was overstating
:13:44. > :13:53.the case. You yes. A lot of safety measures have come in since those
:13:53. > :13:57.said the accident. Now there are special peans on the cross-country
:13:57. > :14:02.fences that great hit there is enough pressure. The fall with a
:14:02. > :14:06.cause, the one we all dread, and irritation will form where Acors
:14:06. > :14:14.does not peaky his front legs up enough, catches them and
:14:14. > :14:19.somersaults over the fence. If you are a rider then, you are under the
:14:19. > :14:29.cause. It is the worst for you could ever have. These things
:14:29. > :14:34.
:14:34. > :14:38.prevent that happening. -- the If you have something that
:14:38. > :14:43.collapses on contact you are spoiling the sport. They do
:14:43. > :14:50.collapse on contact. They are meant to withstand a certain amount of
:14:50. > :15:00.pressure. But the pressure is quite great. The pressure on the top of
:15:00. > :15:01.
:15:01. > :15:11.the rail it that the rail will suddenly dropped. It is all very
:15:11. > :15:11.
:15:11. > :15:21.rare. I have been eventing for 30 years. You have a lot falls. You
:15:21. > :15:23.
:15:23. > :15:33.have fodder injuries. You have also written through pregnancy. I'll ask
:15:33. > :15:34.
:15:34. > :15:44.you about that if you do not mind. When you're pregnant with your
:15:44. > :15:47.
:15:47. > :15:55.older child in 1995 he said that when the news came out there was a
:15:55. > :16:05.fevered debate. Someone said that they could not make up their mind
:16:05. > :16:12.
:16:12. > :16:22.if you were very brave or stupid. did right up until I was six months.
:16:22. > :16:26.
:16:26. > :16:31.I had the backing of my team doctor. My horse was doing fine. It was as
:16:31. > :16:36.safe as you can get. As safe as you can get is to stop writing. I felt
:16:36. > :16:45.more comfortable on the horse than I did off. My team doctor was very
:16:45. > :16:53.supportive. If you want to do what then just keep getting back on.
:16:53. > :17:03.There was a risk that if you had a bad fall then it could have been a
:17:03. > :17:05.
:17:05. > :17:09.nasty accident. Apparently the most dangerous stage of riding is in
:17:09. > :17:19.those first six weeks of pregnancy. If you have a fall then, things can
:17:19. > :17:21.
:17:21. > :17:29.be bad. After that things are much safer. But at first to do not know
:17:29. > :17:37.you are pregnant. I felt it was the right thing to do. Maybe it was a
:17:37. > :17:47.bit silly. A couple of years later you had the trauma of miscarrying
:17:47. > :17:47.
:17:47. > :17:51.after 12 weeks. You wrote about that saying that he went to a
:17:51. > :18:00.competition experiencing severe stomach pain and bleeding. Who
:18:00. > :18:09.decided to carry on as if nothing happened. You said after that you
:18:09. > :18:19.won, imagine if I had won a three- day event and it forced a baby all
:18:19. > :18:29.and the same weekend. I did not know how I felt. Miscarrying is
:18:29. > :18:31.
:18:31. > :18:37.nature's way of getting rid of pregnancies this cannot write. I
:18:37. > :18:46.carried on and won the event. It is just one of those things. I was
:18:46. > :18:54.fortunate enough not to be dragged down by it. It was just one of
:18:54. > :18:59.those things that happened. You do not think the fact you have been
:18:59. > :19:06.riding through it could have induced the trauma? Definitely not.
:19:06. > :19:16.The doctors say definitely not. It is very common. It is one of those
:19:16. > :19:16.
:19:16. > :19:25.things. Riding does not come into it. One thing that ride in
:19:25. > :19:32.unfortunately shares with all sport is doping scandals. Some say there
:19:33. > :19:41.needs to be a tougher approach to this problem. For example, banning
:19:41. > :19:48.all herbal supplements for courses. Where you stand? They have a strict
:19:48. > :19:55.programme for not only the horses but the jockeys. We know that that
:19:55. > :20:05.is in place. Years ago you were allowed to give your horse is
:20:05. > :20:09.
:20:09. > :20:18.certain amount of substance, a drug that was a painkiller.ainkiller.
:20:18. > :20:26.allowed to give them a certain amount. Different horses test in
:20:26. > :20:36.different ways. It is now a bend substance. There is no discrepancy
:20:36. > :20:41.
:20:41. > :20:44.about it. Other drugs in the sport? There are not. One of the theories
:20:44. > :20:54.his first boards were the horse has to be under control it would make a
:20:54. > :20:57.
:20:57. > :21:07.lot of sense to give the horse a drug to calm it down. That would
:21:07. > :21:08.
:21:09. > :21:18.not make sense. There could be side effects that would carry on. It
:21:19. > :21:19.
:21:19. > :21:28.could affect the competition for you. There are various horrible
:21:29. > :21:36.things, but there is nothing apart from training the horse correctly.
:21:36. > :21:45.You have a cheap day massive amount. -- achieved. How desperate are you
:21:45. > :21:52.win -- to win Olympic gold? I have been fortunate over the years and I
:21:52. > :22:01.would love to try and get to London next year. I still absolutely love
:22:01. > :22:11.the sport. I have some fantastic horses in my yard. I've managed to
:22:11. > :22:17.win a silver and a bronze. It would be fantastic. You are also 50 years
:22:17. > :22:27.old. You are in remarkable shape. How much longer have you got?
:22:27. > :22:31.
:22:31. > :22:41.not know. My son keeps asking me when I am going to quit. I decide
:22:41. > :22:44.
:22:44. > :22:48.it may be after the London Acklam - - Olympics was a good time. But
:22:48. > :22:55.then I apparently he is a big Rio de Janeiro fan and he does not want
:22:55. > :23:03.me to quit we're to go to Brazil. The London Olympics want more
:23:03. > :23:13.people to get involved in sports. Is there a chance more people get
:23:13. > :23:15.
:23:15. > :23:20.involved? The border for entry is quite high. It is not just buying a
:23:20. > :23:30.pair of shoes are referred for. It is more intensive. A horse is a big
:23:30. > :23:34.
:23:34. > :23:44.commitment. There is a lot of extra expenses. Hopefully the Olympics in
:23:44. > :23:52.London and the horse racing in Greenwich Park, it is fascinating