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‘I thought I’d lost my mojo’: five-star event rider Simon Grieve on bouncing back to the top tier of the sport

Pippa Roome Pippa Roome

    • The event rider – who scored his best five-star result yet at Burghley last year – talks about returning to the top level after losing his mojo, the “chalk and cheese” friend who taught him to breathe across country and making the most of life after losing close friends, in this exclusive interview for H&H subscribers

    “Not that I’m saying I’m a top sportsperson, I’m an also-ran,” grins Simon Grieve as he finishes talking about all the elements of sport and business event riders must juggle.

    An also-ran? I want to stop him and say no, no, you’re not, you’re much more than that. But on paper, I know what Simon means. He’s started 19 times at five-star and had his best result last season when he finished 18th at Burghley on Autograf. With that profile at 44, it’s unlikely he’s going to win at the top level or ride at the Olympics.

    Yet just competing at five-star puts you in eventing’s elite top tier and it is the stalwarts like Simon Grieve who make up the lifeblood of the sport.

    “When I was younger I went to Badminton and Burghley and I was inspired. I always wanted to compete there. I always wanted to go and jump a good clear round, be part of the buzz, really enjoy it, but I never dreamt about winning it,” he says, naming eventing vet Tim Randle as an early hero.

    “More than the winners, I was inspired by people like Tim, with Legs Eleven, or Helen Bell and Troubleshooter – those sorts, who weren’t super-famous and didn’t win everything, but did quite well. It’s weird, that’s kind of how it’s materialised for me.”

    Does Simon want to go and do better at Badminton now, after that Burghley result?

    “Of course. I’d love to be top 15, if not top 10 at Badminton – that would be insane. But as long as the horse has gone as well as I hope he can, then we’ve had a great time,” he says.

    “It goes back to a conversation on my first day of my first job, with Debbie and Patrick Edmundson. I went hacking with one of their owners. She said, ‘To be honest, as an owner, what I want is to go to an event with somebody I like, watch my horse and hope that it goes as well as it possibly can that day. Then I’m going to have had a great day. And if it wins a prize, then that’s an added bonus.’

    “It has always stuck with me that it’s about enjoying it and that’s even more in my head now.”

    The road to Burghley 2025

    The more five-stars you report, the more you realise it’s not always the winner who has the best story (though Ros Canter’s pregnancy was a pretty good yarn at Burghley). Sometimes, the best stories come from the self-styled “also-rans” and Simon Grieve’s tale of progression to Burghley is a fascinating one.

    The background is that after his then most recent five-star in 2021, the Leicestershire rider thought his days of top-level competition were over.

    “I thought I’d lost my mojo – I was getting very nervous and I was doing more showjumping, coaching, media, presenting,” he explains.

    “I carried on eventing but my attitude changed – before it was very intense and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. I’ve been eventing since I was 16 and spent most of that time chasing my tail. Doing this as a job is all-consuming and it takes over to the detriment of everything else in your life. My family, my partner’s family, my friends, they’ve all taken a back seat at times, which is not how it should be.”

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    Pippa Roome
    Pippa Roome

    H&H magazine editor and eventing editor
    Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
    Pippa Roome

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