Someone sent me this wonderful BBC News article about Phoebe Buckley, the 26-year-old professional event rider who competes in eventing in the U.K., at events as grand as Badminton and Burghley. She grew up a Romany Gypsy and experienced a bit of culture clash coming into the horse world from a small, tightly knit traditional culture. According to an article on Phoebe in the UK Metro gypsies eschew many modern ideas, starting with things like credit cards. It also sounds like women are expected to assume a traditional role in the family. Phoebe defied her background by not marrying young, opting for a career instead. As if this isn't already an "against the odds" sort of story, she competes on Little Tiger, a 14.3 mare owned by Polly Taylor.
Definitely read the article -- but also take a gander at this dicey riding footage, from just one year! I suppose it goes with the territory of working with baby event prospects... There's footage of Phoebe on a horse encoutering water jump and I've simply never seen anything like it...
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