|
|
|
|
Would you like to pay a tribute to Lucy
Send
us your stories and memories.
And photographs, if you have any.
|
|
Horseytalk.net Special Interview
|
|
|
Princess Anne once helped groom for her.
The Queen’s jeweller, Asprey’s, was her sponsor.
Although probably best known for being the only person
to have won a gold medal for Ireland in 56 years she’s
never drunk a Guinness in her life.
Before every event she would lay her riding clothes out
neatly, in the same order and sing at the top of her voice
powerful motivational songs while she got dressed. Her favourite
Tina Turner’s Simply the Best. It obviously worked
because she ended up by representing Ireland, becoming Open
European Three Day Event Champion for three-years running
and winning three gold medals.
|
|
|
|
As if that wasn’t enough, she competed at Badminton
no less than nine times placed in the top 20. Her highest
placing was 8th. She was also presented with the Armada Dish
for successfully completing the course on five separate occasions.
“The Tina ~Turner songs were the best,” says
Lucy Thompson. “They were always very powerful, very
motivational. They always got me going.”
Look at the facts, however, and it’s difficult to
believe Lucy needed anyone to motivate her. From the beginning,
she always seemed to have no problems motivating herself.
Her father is a Yorkshireman, a doctor, not interested
in horses at all.
Her mother is Irish, an occupational therapist, a keen
horsewoman although she never competed.
With her two brothers both older than her, the family lived
in Lingfield, Surrey, close to the race course for over 20-years.
|
|
“I supposed I discovered horses when I was about five-years-old,” she
says. “My brother, James, was given a pony on loan.
I then inherited him from my brother. He was a little Welsh
Mountain pony, Acorn, about 12 hh, ten-years-old. He was
a trial. He was determined to put everybody off riding. He
bucked. He bolted. Nobody could stay on him.
“After Acorn we had lots of borrowed ponies until
I was 13 when I got the first horse I really owned. He was
called Countryman. Irish-bred unbroken 4 year-old. I didn’t
know anything about breaking in horses. It was the blind
leading the blind. I was 16 before I could ride him properly.
“Then I did Juniors and Young Riders. I went to Belgium.
I went to Germany. Like William Fox-Pitt, Pippa Funnel, Tina
Cooke and all the others. It was then that I really caught
the bug and I decided that was what I wanted to do.
|
Ardingley Pony Show
Lucy on Acord.
Brother, James leading |
|
"The Country Man"
Lucy and her best friend, "Stubble".
|
“My father, however, insisted that I finished my A-levels
in case I didn’t succeed so I had something to fall
back on. He also said I had to find a sponsor. I was so lucky.
My dressage trainer was Sarah Whitmore. She introduced me
to Asprey’s. From the time I was 18-years-old to the
time I retired in 1998 they continued to sponsor me. It was
wonderful. I think I’m the first and only rider they
have ever sponsored.”
From then, Lucy never looked back.
“I did my first Badminton when I was 20-years-old.
I did all the major three-and four-star events. The highlight
was, of course, jumping with the Irish team and winning the
Open European Championships on Welton Romance at Pratoni
in Rome in 1995. That was then the equivalent of winning
the World Cup.
|
|
“It was just great fun. I can remember buying drinks
for everyone in the bar afterwards. It was ridiculously expensive.
I can remember looking at all the lira, working it out in
pounds and suddenly realising that I had probably spent all
my prize-money on buying drinks.”
Not that that was the only hair-raising moment in her life.
“I’ve broken collar bones, vertebrae, ankles,
different fingers. But it’s all been worth it. At Badminton
I remember at the quarry we were meant to jump a log and
land on a slope. Instead we plummeted straight to the bottom.
I came off then.
“One of my luckiest escapes was in New Zealand. I
was with the Irish team. We were on borrowed horses. I remember
I was jumping a treble. We jumped the first one. The horse
then ran out. I can remember my left foot touching the top
of the saddle and I saw his belly but somehow I managed to
get back on and finish the course. The New Zealanders said
we were only there for the entertainment, from the standing
ovation I got I presume I gave them some."
|
"Welton Molicule.
Badminton |
|
1997Welton Romance
Thirlestane Castle. Scottish Championships
|
“In the end, I had to retire because of my back. But
I’ve no regrets. I’ve had a fantastic time.”
Would she advise young girls today to follow in her footsteps?
“It’s a very hard career,” she says. “There
are lots of highs and lots of lows. But if it’s what
you want to do, it’s a shame not to do it. If you don’t,
you’ll always regret not doing it or, at least, not
trying to do it. Of course, it can be dangerous. But danger
is relative. It’s no more dangerous than driving a
car. In fact, in many ways it’s the danger that makes
it so much fun and why everybody looks after each other.
|
|
“I can remember, for example, at the Young Riders
in Germany. I finished my round. I was exhausted. Princess
Anne, who was also competing, came up to me. She told me
to sit down because she was going to wash my horse down for
me. I did as she said. I felt much better afterwards. I tell
everyone now that she was my groom. She was incredibly grounded.
She was a real team member.
“Today, however, it’s a very different sport.
Before, there was more endurance, we had to do roads and
tracks. There was a steeplechase course. Today, the format
is shorter but it is also more technical.
“You also need a different type of horse. He’s
got to be a very good mover, very obedient, easy to turn.
He’s got to be a good jumper. Very rideable. He needs
plenty of courage. More than anything, he’s got to
love what he’s doing.”
|
"The Country Man" known
as "Monty"
Lucy, aged 15 |
|
Lucy - Workingham.
Home |
Lucy may have given up riding but she’s never far
away from horses.
She teaches both in this country and in different countries
overseas. She is a Master Practitioner in Neurolinguistic
Programming. She loves racing, especially National Hunt.
She’s even been to a Wild West Rodeo in Oregan.
“They’re nuts,” she says.
Lucy has also taken up painting.
“I love water-colours,” she says. “Still
lifes. Landscapes.”
Horses?
“No. I never paint horses. I wouldn’t do it
well enough.”
Come on, Lucy. Three choruses of any Tina
Turner song, you can do anything.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|