Interview with Laura Collett
The best years
Winner of three Olympic medals, the British rider Laura Collett, 35 years old, once again she reaches the highest level in the discipline of eventing. Winner of a team gold medal in Tokyo 2020, and again in Paris 2024 as well as achieving an individual bronze, all with her exceptional horse, London 52.
Her story as an event rider goes back a long way.
Verdiana Diaris / Susanna Cottica
How does it feel to win two medals in Paris after winning team gold in Tokyo? Did you expect that?
It was absolutely amazing! There was a lot of pressure and expectations from us as a team, so it was great to be able to deliver and coming back with a second team gold medal was unbelievable.
We were very aware of the expectations and hopes for another medal as our team was so strong on paper, but you can never be so confident when it comes to horses.
Horses are horses and it’s the Olympic games, so you can never expect anything to be that straightforward.
We went there with lots of confidence in our horses and knowing that if thing went to plan, we could do really well, but it’s not as simple as that.
It was amazing to pull it off! An individual medal has been something that has eluded me for many years at Senior Championships and it had started to feel like I was never going to achieve it!
So, to win an individual medal at an Olympic Games made all my dreams come true! There was more pressure in Paris as there always is when things are expected of you.
We were the favourites as well going into Tokyo so every time there is pressure.
Talk to us about the road to Paris, how did you get London 52 ready with the end goal in mind?
The key thing is trying to keep everything the same when it has been working for the last few years.
It has been a three year build up this time after Tokyo, so we had less time to think about Paris.
Also, we never know who has been selected until nearer the event, so each event you go to you are trying to earn your place on the team.
You don’t actually have that long when you know that you are definitely going; in one way its stressful but it can also be slightly easier as it doesn’t give you too much time to start overthinking and changing things.
Once you do get selected it’s very much a case of trying to keep things exactly the same, trying to keep yourself and the horse in one piece and perform.
If you got selected, you obviously are doing something right so it’s better not to change anything.
Dressage and show jumping training: how do you tailor this to all the different types of horses?
The main key is to figure out what the single horse needs, what are his strengths and weaknesses.
I very much treat each horse as an individual, so I don’t have a set routine or training programme as it very much depends on what the horse needs to improve.
Once I understand this, I then tailor a specific training programme for each horse, trying to build on his weaknesses whether they are on the flat, jumping or even cross country, so the key is figuring out what each horse needs.
What is your method for cross country training and fitness work?
It always depends on the type of horse you have, some of them are easier to get fit, some are more difficult. I do a lot of hacking and trotting up hills, then I introduce the gallop work.
I gallop twice a week and again it varies, sometimes we gallop a bit slower up a steeper hill, sometimes a bit faster where there is less of an incline.
I also do interval training, or I work on a round gallop, if I have one horse that needs to do continuous slower work.
I am fortunate to have many options fitness wise and I also change my plans depending what competitions the horses have got coming up.
What do you look for in a youngster that makes you realise that he might be your next five-star horse?
I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. I buy a lot of mine unbroken, sometimes from a video so it’s just “if I like them, I like them”.
I want them to be well put together, I think it helps with the dressage; they also need to have a good body the right attitude.
These are the key things I look for. I don’t have a specific type, I go more with my gut feeling.
What is your advice for the up-and-coming young riders that aim to be successful in the sport?
Work hard and never give up on your dreams, dream big.
It is a rollercoaster, it is not all easy and there are not always good days, but the bad days are very worth it when you get to stand on a podium, the feeling is pretty unreal!
What is your aim in 2025?
I think I am going to enjoy not having so much pressure next year.
The main thing is to keep London in one piece and enjoy every moment that we have together.
It would obviously be amazing to win another five-star together, but he owes absolutely nothing so whatever we do together it will be a gift.
Laura Collett
Born on 31st August 1989, Laura Collett was European Champion at the FEI Eventing Championship in Haras du Pin 2023, winner of the CCI5* in Luhmuhlen in 2023 as well as Badminton Horse Trials in 2022, again with London 52, with which she won the three Olympic medals.
Laura’s switch to eventing started with Noble Springbok a 14.2hh pony, when she was selected for the Pony European Championships in Pratoni Del Vivaro, Italy, in 2005, where Team GB won a gold medal, and Laura won an individual bronze medal.
In 2006 she won the CCI** at Tweseldown riding Fernhill Sox and in doing so became the youngest rider ever to win an International Two-Star Three-Day Event. She also became Junior European Champion, again on Fernhill Sox.
From then on Laura won many more medals in her youth and a long growth path led her at just 35 years old, to three Olympic medals. Her stables, Laura Collett MBE, are located at Penhill Farm in Salperton, where she trains and trains her horses.
