Horse & Hound’s hero to hero: Piggy March and Mary King in conversation

In this article, first published in Horse & Hound‘s 135th anniversary issue, 2019 Badminton winner Piggy March (neé French) gets together with her childhood hero Mary King to talk about the fan mail she sent her, combining motherhood with competing and Mary’s future in the sport...

Piggy: I must have been your most persistent fan — there can’t have been anyone who beat me in the fan status, surely?

Mary: You were the most consistent and it was such an easy name to recognise. Before social media, I used to get lots of fan mail. Occasionally someone would write a second time, but you just kept going. I tried to send different pictures, to remember which ones you already had.

As told to Catherine Austen and Pippa Roome

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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.