Charles Owen Meets ..‪.‬ Charles Owen

William Fox-Pitt is one of the biggest names in eventing and one of the most successful, with a career spanning 30 years. He is the only rider to have won five out of the six CCI5* events around the world, including winning Burghley an incredible six times and Badminton twice.

William has also won three Olympic medals, seven team gold European medals and was the first British rider to become eventing’s World No 1 in 2002, which he went on to achieve again in 2009, 2010 and 2014.

In 2015, a bad fall left William in a coma for two weeks, but he still managed to come back to the top of his game and compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics, producing the best result in the British team with Chilli Morning. Now aged 52 William is a little more laid back, but as hungry as ever for success

William lives in Dorset with his wife, ITV racing presenter, Alice Plunkett and their four children.

William took time out of his busy schedule to give an exclusive interview to Charles Owen to talk about life, his horses, his career and his family.

In this podcast he talks about:

· Only being allowed to speak French in the car with his parents!

· His first Burghley win aged 25 and how that put him on the road to success

· The incredible horses that helped him stay at the top of his sport for so long

· Teaching Madonna to ride and hanging out with her celebrity buddies

· How he came back from his ‘freak fall’ in 2015 and why he never doubted he would make it to Rio

· What keeps him motivated aged 52 and how he keeps in mental and physical shape

· Why over analysis is the enemy of eventing

· Why he won’t leave the start box without a neck strap 

· How he deals with his nerves when competing

· The chaos and joy of having four kids

· What makes him happy

· Regretting blowing his winnings!

We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we loved making it. To find out more about the helmets William loves – visit www.charlesowen.com

Harrie Smoulders is a Dutch Olympic showjumper and former world number one.

Harrie grew up on his parent’s farm in Brabant, but he didn’t take to riding at first and was scared of jumping. However, an incredible pony built up his confidence and he was soon winning national titles in showjumping, dressage and eventing.

He went on to enjoy an incredible international career, which culminated in 2017 when he won team silver at the European Championships, both the Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League titles, and helped the Dutch team win the Nations Cup Final. The following year he was made world number one.

In this podcast Harrie talks about how he made it to the top of sport – and how he stays there.

Harrie also talks about:

· How he honed his skills with help from the world’s best riders

· What makes him a good student and why he is still always learning 

· His methodical approach with his horses – and not over jumping them

· The importance of taking your time with a new horse

· Enjoying spending more with his family during lockdown

· The amazing pony that got him into riding

· The horses that took him to the top of his sport

· The future of showjumping and why he thinks it will change

We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we loved making it. To find out more about the helmets Harrie loves – visit www.charlesowen.com

Beezie Madden is a double Olympic gold medalist and one of the top showjumpers in the world.

Born in Milwaukee, USA, Beezie began riding when she was three and transformed an early passion for horses into an incredible career. She was the first woman to earn $1m in prize money and the first woman and the first American to reach the top three in the FEI Showjumping world rankings. She was also the first woman to win the King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead with her long-time partner Cortes ‘C’ in 2014, which she repeated the following year.

Even more incredible is the number of years Beezie has been at the top of her sport – from her first Olympic gold in 2004, to winning the Spruce Meadows Masters Grand Prix in 2019 and taking home a massive $1m in prize money.

In this interview Beezie talks about how the love of her sport has kept her competitive for more than 20 years. Her husband, John, has also played a vital role in her career and Beezie talks about how they met, and how their business has grown together.

Beezie also talks about:

· Staying fit in her fifties

· The secret to her and John’s long marriage – and why they decided not to have children

· Her amazing horses and what makes them such winners

· Future stars, including Garant, an up-and-coming ride she says is one of the best young horses she has ever had

· The retirement home Beezie and John have built together

· The toughest time in her career, when she lost two of her top horses and had to rebuild her career

· The importance of being organised and having a system with her horses

· The riders she admires

We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we loved making it. To find out more about the helmets Beezie loves – visit www.charlesowen.com

Jill Treece is a 22 year-old equestrian and social media influencer from Arkansas in the USA.

For most of her career Jill specialised in eventing and used social networks, such as Instagram and YouTube, to share her journey, resulting in a loyal fanbase of more than 80,000 followers. However, in 2018 Jill discovered positive reinforcement training, or +R which she says changed her life – and that of her horses.

In this podcast Jill talks about the joy this training method brings to her relationship with her horses - but the struggles she has had in convincing others about her methods. She also reveals how her own mental health problems have driven her passion for learning and understanding both the horse and human mind, and she is currently studying a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counselling.

Jill also talks about:

· The amazing horses in her life, including Zoe who was the reason she discovered +R training

· The backlash she received from her followers when she started promoting her new methods 

· Why she disagrees with join up

· The conflict she sometimes suffers when trying to combine traditional methods with +R

· Why she wants more people to discover +R training and the benefits it can bring 

· Training techniques for a number of common issues, including lunging and teaching good manners

· The importance of talking to your horse in a language they understand

· The reward of working at liberty with horses

We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we loved making it. To find out more about the helmets Jill loves – visit www.charlesowen.com

Ros Canter’s rise to the top of eventing reads like a Hollywood script. She only moved up to five-star level in 2015 and just three years later was World Champion. The horse that took her there was All Star B, but he’s never been as easy ride and at 17.1hh he was certainly a challenge for the 5.2ft rider.

In this interview Ros reveals about how she nearly gave up on her dream of becoming a top eventer, due to her nerves on the cross-country, which she still battles with today. Hearing Ros talk so honestly about her nerves is an inspiration – and she also offers handy tips on riding at speed on cross-country.

Ros talks about:

· The system created by trainer British Eventing performance coach Chris Bartle, which helped conquer her demons and go on to become World Champion

· The importance of getting the basics right

· What makes All Star B such a super star

· Her hopes for making it to Tokyo and the plan she hopes will get her there

· The pressures of staying at the top of her sport

· The challenge of juggling motherhood with eventing

· The proudest moment for her own mum – and it’s not being crowned World Champion!

· Why eventing wasn’t always her career choice – and what made her change her mind

· Up-and-coming exiting new horses

We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we loved making it. To find out more about the helmets Ros loves – visit www.charlesowen.com

Ellen is a member of the world famous Whitaker dynasty, and is niece to the legendary showjumpers John and Michael Whitaker.

The 34-year-old made her name in showjumping when she was just 18 – coming second in the infamous Hickstead Derby on her dad’s horse, Locarno 62, who was only eight years old himself. It was her uncle John that beat her to first place.

She went on to compete alongside John and Michael at the Europeans in Mannheim (GER) in 2007, where she jumped a triple clear with Locarno 62 to win team bronze, and help Britain qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Since then Ellen has enjoyed an impressive number of personal wins, in a range of top classes, including the puissance at Olympia and Horse of the Year Show (HOYS), the Hickstead speed derby and HOYS Grand Prix.

In this podcast Ellen talks about the best moments in her career, her talented and fiercely competitive family, and the challenges of juggling motherhood with competing at the top of her sport. She also talks about:

· The “surreal experience” of tackling the challenging course at Hickstead, at such a young age.

· How amazing it is to be part of the Whitaker clan – despite being “outnumbered by the boys”

· Being inspired by her uncles, John and Michael: “They are my absolute heroes”

· Her incredible relationship with the stunning stallion Locarno

· The “huge disaster” of missing the Beijing Olympics when Locarno went lame

· The moments in her career that have brought her to tears of joy and frustration

· Dating Hollywood actor and former Superman  Henry Cavill, and what he made of her showjumping family!

· Why becoming a mum has made her more motivated than ever

· Her dream of going to the Olympics and coming home with a medal

· The power of the brain and how sports psychology is  “massively underrated”

· Why she loves Charles Owen helmets: “They are the safest and the best”

We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we loved making it. To find out more about the helmets Ellen loves – visit www.charlesowen.com