Legends of the sport: ‘Remarkable horsewoman’ Anneli Drummond-Hay *H&H Plus*

The consummate horsewoman followed up a Badminton win with a stellar showjumping career, and was shortlisted for the Olympics in all three disciplines, writes Martha Terry

It is a phenomenal CV. Imagine if one of today’s top event riders ticked Badminton and Burghley victories off their list and proceeded to turn their talent to the world of international showjumping, racking up dozens of grand prix wins, a European Championship, seven Derbies and the high jump record. Comparisons across the eras may be arbitrary but Anneli Drummond-Hay’s list of achievements is unsurpassed in any generation.

Her aristocratic heritage, her super-horse Merely-A-Monarch and her jet-setting lifestyle among a glamorous elite at a time when only football held sway over showjumping on primetime TV, implies a silver-spoon upbringing. But the true tale of how Anneli became one of the sport’s biggest and most enduring names – the first to secure commercial sponsorship, the only rider ever to be shortlisted for the Olympics in all three disciplines – is far grittier.

Martha Terry

H&H features editor

Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.