When H&C was invited to spend the day with our blogger, three day event rider and Olympic bronze medallist Sharon Hunt, we knew we’d be able to get some of your burning questions answered. We asked our Facebook fans to pose their questions to Sharon, and here are her answers.

How did your training go with Jane Gregory? Terry Lihou
SH: “It was brilliant; she’s great. She’s a nice lady, but quite strict and she worked me hard and I was exhausted afterwards. I really enjoyed it; I learned enough in those three days to keep me going for two months, so I haven’t had a lesson since, although Ian Woodhead helps me out at events. Jane is very good – but she might not suit everybody because she’s quite tough; I like that though.”

Does it [being a professional eventer] ever get boring? Tyler Leigh Stone
SH: “I never get bored, but in the winter it does sometimes get monotonous if the roads are bad and you can’t do this, you can’t do that – then, sometimes, yes, it can be a bit ‘samey’. I never get bored of it, but it can get tiring.”

What is the best thing about you and your horses? Hannah Rankin-Maclean
SH: “The best thing about my horses is that they’re all different and they all try hard. They all enjoy their work. The best thing about me is that I enjoy working hard and trying to get them to progress.”

Do you have a favourite horse and why? Emily Stretch
SH: “No question about it, it has to be Jasper [Tankers Town]. He’s done me proud, and I did say after Hong Kong [where Sharon rode in the Olympics], if he never did anything again, he’s been brilliant, but it looks like he’s going to be good again this year.”

What is the best thing you’ve achieved with your horses? John Pike
SH: “It has to be the Olympics, although it would be nice to do the Europeans. I was picked two years ago, but Jasper [Tankers Town] went lame, and I was also picked four years ago as a reserve, so we’ll see what happens this year. The Europeans seem to elude me at the moment.”

How did you get into riding and how did you get started as a professional eventer? Sally Brompton
SH: “I rode on the beach and then started having lessons at a local riding school when I was seven-years-old. I had my first pony when I was eleven, who was fairly slow and steady and then my first horse at 14. I had a lot of difficult and not particularly nice horses until I was 17, when I got a reasonable horse and started eventing. I took over my dad’s horse when I was 18 and then bought a horse from Andrew Nicholson when I was 20.

I went to train with Ruth McMullen when I was 19 for seven months and she was the person that really got me going, and then I based myself at my current yard. I was lucky that when I got Jasper [Tankers Town], he came on quite quickly.”

How do you find the time for a social life? Gus Smith
SH: “In the winter I have more time for a social life, but in the summer I’m busier. Although, I have to say that eventing is very sociable – especially at the big events. I do try, and I’ve decided this summer that I’ll take a couple of weekends off to do social things, because I think it’s really important.”

If there was one point in your career that you could go back and change, what would it be and why? Sue Crawford
SH: “There’s various things I’d have liked to have done better at; when I went to the World Equestrian Games I got some time faults, and if I hadn’t got those I would have been second and would have won a silver medal at my first games which would have been cool. The same with Badminton – there’s always been little things that have prevented me doing a bit better. But the way I see it is that everything happens for a reason, and it gets you where you are today.

I didn’t have a good horse until I was 25, and I always thought that other young riders had better horses than me and that they were more developed than me. It took me a long time to get there, but once I got there I overtook them by miles and now they’re playing catch up with me, so I don’t think there’s a lot I’d change. I’d like to have done a bit better as I’d gone along but as long as I have another good horse after Jasper, I don’t think my career will be affected.”

Do you think you’ve got your next Jasper on your yard? H&C
SH: “You never quite know, but I have about three horses that I think are really good. You never quite know how they’re going to pan out so I just hope they’ll come good.”

How has Tankers Town’s refusal to enter the starting box at Badminton affected his value? Mikhaela McDonald
SH: “He’s 15 already, and he doesn’t have a value because he’s not for sale. He’s very special to me and his value hasn’t been affected in the slightest.”

Do you feel he’s more of a liability at big competitions and will be less likely to be selected? Victoria Empson
SH: “I don’t think it’s something that can’t be sorted out, and it just has to be managed. All horses have different quirks, and I think the start and finish at Badminton was particularly poorly situated with the finish line crossing right in front of the start and you’ll never find that again, so I think the chances of that happening again are remote.”

Have you had feedback on this from the selectors since? H&C
SH: “I think everyone just felt genuinely sorry for me and for him. But he did well at Bramham and I’m sure he’ll do well at Barbury. Of course, I hoped to do well at Badminton and I’d have been immediately selected again, but now I’ll just have to work a bit harder for it and if they don’t choose us, I’ll understand. He is 15, and they know his form and that he’s generally very consistent. They call him a ‘man of character’. It might affect my selection chances, but I hope it won’t; we’ll see.”

What steps are you taking to overcome his issues with the starting box? Sam Watson
SH: “If you read my blog on H&C<.A>, you’ll see the steps I’m working through. But basically, as soon as it happened, I quietened him and turned him out and did various things to de-stress him. I then went to Houghton and played with the start box myself to get him calmer. He was fine to canter through the start box at Brigstock, and Richard Maxwell helped me a lot. He was really good at Bramham and seemed very relaxed. He actually stopped leading, so we taught him to lead again. I think it should be fine.”

What products do you swear by and why? Ali Hobbs
SH: “I feed my horses supplements to keep them on the road, and they seem to do really well on their Baileys feed and Bailies haylage – it’s ironic I have two sponsors with the same names! I’m so lucky because I have great sponsors and I get kitted out in Ariat and Anky, which is brilliant. I also love my Oakley lorry.”

How was Bramham for you? I saw Tankers Town and he seemed to be going well. Pip Mead
SH: “He was really good and much more relaxed; he did a nice test and was brilliant cross country. He had a fence down show jumping – our first in ages – but he finished third and I was very pleased. I think it’s important to bring him into a higher level competition carefully.”

Can you give me any advice on catching a stubborn, three-year-old cob? I’ve tried everything! Jeanette Shurmer
SH: “I need to know more really to advise! That would drive me mad, but leave a head collar on the horse and read my tips that I gave to Morgan in my Ask the Expert reply to her question ‘Playing hard to get’ . The other thing you can do is only feed him when he’s caught, so if he wants to eat, he’ll be caught.”

What on earth possesses you to jump those big, ugly jumps?! Alex Frith
SH: “By sitting on a very good horse! And it gives you a big surge of adrenaline. There’s nothing more exciting than jumping. I enjoy dressage, but I never get a buzz from it like I do cross country. Show jumping is good, but there’s still not as much adrenaline. When you get a good cross country round and everything is going well, there’s nothing more exciting. I’m really lucky because Jasper makes it feel so easy, and I’ve only had pretty innocuous falls. I don’t tend to get scared, but I get more nervous than I used to just because there’s more riding on it now and I want to do well.”

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