Izzy Taylor: The golden girl of eventing

Eighteen years ago Izzy Taylor arrived in the magnificent grounds of Blenheim Palace with her favourite pony.

A shy 11-year-old, she had gone along to Woodstock with her friends from the Whaddon Chase Pony Club to compete in a popular event at the palace.

It was to prove an inspiring experience for the local girl, who will be returning to Woodstock next month to take part in the horse trials, which annually attracts crowds of 60,000 spectators, only this time she will be arriving as the golden girl of British eventing.

Little wonder that Ms Taylor, who is based at Aynho, near Banbury, has come to regard it as her home event. With two young children of her own, aged three and four, as a single mother, she knows well enough that Blenheim can be counted as one of the more family-friendly trials, celebrated for its demonstrations, fun rides, displays and shopping.

“It is such a beautiful place to go,” said Ms Taylor. “All my friends love it, whether they are horsey or not. “There is so much to do. I’m always excited when I come to Blenheim. I’ve always felt part of it. Other little girls want to be pop stars. After Blenheim I just loved eventing.”

The Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials — made up of three phases, dressage, cross country and showjumping — runs from September 12 to 15 and has The Oxford Times again among its sponsors.

Blenheim 2013 arrives as Ms Taylor’s riding career is beginning to realise its rich potential.

Coming hot on the heels of Ms Taylor’s involvement in the European Championships, she will make the short trip to Woodstock having just secured selection for the GB world class performance squad.

The aim of the programme is to provide Britain’s top riders with training and support network necessary to make it on to the world stage, representing GB at world, European and Olympic level.

The measure of the achievement becomes clear when you learn the nine other riders on the programme include such famed Olympians and household eventing names as William Fox-Pitt, Zara Phillips, Mary King, Kristina Cook, Pippa Funnell, Nicola Wilson and Piggy French.

At about the same time, she learnt that her horses KBIS Starchaser, KBIS Briarlands, Matilda and Dax Van Ternieuwbeke would be joining the world class equine pathway — designed to identify animals that have the potential to develop into medal-winning horses.

Making the squad for the 2013 FEI Senior European Eventing Championships, which take place in Malmo, Sweden from August 28, is all the more special, being the first time she had been selected for the British senior team, having ridden as a British young rider in 2004, where she came home with team silver and individual bronze.

Born into an equestrian family in 1983, Ms Taylor started riding at a very young age, on a huge variety of ponies. Being out on the hunting field at just four certainly put her in very good stead to become one of Britain’s most talented young riders.

The passion and natural talent for riding came from Ms Taylor’s mother’s side of the family.

Her grandmother, Jane Whiteley (Drummond Hay), was placed in the Badminton trials, while her great aunt, Anneli Drummond Hay, won both Badminton and Burghley in her time.

Despite being offered a place at both Bath and Loughborough universities to study sports science, during a trip to Ballendenisk with a pony team, Ms Taylor decided her future was with horses and eventing.

Recognising the importance of showjumping within eventing she went out to Holland to train, working with the Olympic Swiss showjumper Markus Fuchs.

But in August 2003, she suffered a fall at Lummen Horse Trials in Belgium, fracturing two vertebrae and displacing another. After spending several weeks on her back, she was operated on.

Yet despite significant weight and muscle tone loss she was riding again that winter, with rides with the local hunt proving an important part of her rehab.

“I have to look after my back but I don’t believe it made any difference to me in terms of riding,” she told me.

Ms Taylor lives with her family, running her eventing yard alongside her mother Nicola’s hunters and hunter liveries.

She has long had the ability to focus entirely on the horses when she is riding and on her children when she is not, getting up early to work in the yard before returning to get the children ready for nursery at 8am.

For her the London Olympics simply came too soon for her to have any realistic chance of taking part.

Since the Games her results have been getting better and better and Rio in 2016 is very much in her sights, but nothing can be certain in eventing.

“It really depends on peaking at the right time for the Olympics.”

Then there are the crucial issues of a horse’s age and fitness.

“You might have the best horses, but they might not be the best every four years,” she said.

At Blenheim she hopes to be riding Vanir Kamira, who was placed second in all three of her novice outings with Ms Taylor, in the eight- and nine-year-old class.

“They are trying to persuade me to do the eventers’ high jump class as well as the CCI, but I am not sure I want to jump that high — especially without a saddle as some riders do.”

Blenheim will this year see Ms Taylor making her debut as a model. With the horse trials launching its own range of ladies’, equestrian inspired, country clothing, including ladies’ polo shirts, hoodies and gilets, Ms Taylor, with her looks and local links, was the obvious choice for the photoshoot.

So for the model eventer, Blenheim 2013 guarantees a first this time, whatever happens on the challenging course.

nBlenheim Palace International Horse Trials take place on September 12 to 15. To find more about the horse trials or buy tickets go to blenheim-horse.co.uk Tickets booked before Friday, September 6, enjoy a discount on gate prices and a free car parking pass.