William Funnell and John Whitaker hero-to-hero interview: on confidence, patience, falling off and more H&H Plus

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11 Feb 2021 15:00

John Whitaker has inspired generations of riders, not least William Funnell. The pair sit down to discuss horsemanship, riding Milton, keeping motivated and years of friendship...

Robert Smith on mariums Claudius, WHITAKER Michael (GBR) & MOZART DES HAYETTES, William Funnell on Cortaflex Mondriaan, John whitaker on PEPPERMILL

William: I have admired your quiet consistency with horses since I was a kid, so it made a big impact years later when you sent your horse Barry Bug for me to ride.

To go on to win the leading showjumper at Horse of the Year Show on a horse owned by you was a big thrill; I was in my twenties, I’d not done many internationals and had Comex as my top horse but nothing else, so I really felt like I’d made it. Was there a moment you thought, “Yes, I’ve made it”?

John: That night was a great experience for me, too, because I’ve never been on that side of the game – usually I’m on the horses’ backs. But, yes, aged about 18 when Ryan’s Son was seven and I had another seven-year-old called Singing Wind we went to Yorkshire Show. The first day was a big step up from what I’d been doing at the small county shows and it was a complete disaster.

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