Take Away English-Horse Sports 骑马运动（在线收听）

Zara Phillips prepares to take a jump (photograph by Craig Wilkinson)

Here in the UK the sport of horse racing is often referred to as the “sport of kings”. However, after Zara Phillips stunning victory in the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, perhaps equestrian events should be called the “sport of princesses.”

That’s because the new three-day event world champion, Zara Phillips, is Queen Elizabeth’s niece and 11th in line to the throne.

With her horse, Toytown, she won the three-day event competition in Germany, adding the world title to the European crown she won last year.

The three-day event tests competitors’ horsemanship in three different disciplines: dressage, in which the rider must manoeuvre the horse through a sequence of movements in an enclosed arena; cross-country which is a timed race over obstacles such as fences, ponds and ditches; and finally show-jumping which tests the technical jumping skills of horse and rider.

Zara is following in the footsteps of her mother, Princess Anne, and father, Captain Mark Phillips, both of whom represented Great Britain in equestrian events. However, neither of her parents managed to achieve world champion status.

Naturally, she was delighted to win the title, telling the BBC, “It’s incredible; it’s beyond my wildest dreams.” However, the joy of victory was tempered with sadness as she dedicated her triumph to her friend Sherelle Duke, another equestrian rider who was killed when her horse fell, crushing her while competing a week before the World Championships.

Zara has now set her sights firmly on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, especially since an injury to her horse prevented her from qualifying for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

She told us, “Obviously winning the Olympics has been a massive dream but you have to get everything right leading up to it, and have the horse power, so it's still a long way away."