Your celebrity encounters with horses.... :)

My friends old sharer used to bump into Jilly Cooper walking her dogs, quite regularly whilst out hacking a couple of years ago.

And I've nearly knocked Zara Phillips out with a plate of nachos, about 7 years ago now, when she came into the pub I used to work at!! Yes I was a terrible waitress!!!
 
Forget the 'celebrity' people, what about the 'celebrity' horses? Yes, I once met Ryans Son (Next Ryans Son as I think he was at the time!) As a 13 year old I loved that horse and finally met him after hanging round the temporary stables at the Norfolk Show for long enough. Have memories of sitting on the loo crying when he was put to sleep.

I remember that when he died it making the front of the Eastern Daily Press..he was such a favourite with the public!

That's why I believe that John Whittaker has been jumping horses for ever, because I have never known showjumping without him, although he must have been about 20 at the time.
 
umm i got a bit 'tipsy' at a badminton horse trials party, and my friends were all really mean and sent me over to chat up a nice looking blonde chap

turns out was prince william and i was swiftly removed from the event :-)
 
tonkatoy said:
umm i got a bit 'tipsy' at a badminton horse trials party, and my friends were all really mean and sent me over to chat up a nice looking blonde chap

turns out was prince william and i was swiftly removed from the event :-)
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Hahah! That's brilliant I bet you were rather gutted though :p
 
Being Welsh mine are all rugby related. Neil Jenkins' (Welsh Rugby legend) daughter competes regularly at our club events. The best one though was riding down the Gower the summer before last. We were riding through a little village and Ryan Jones (gorgeous Welsh Rugby Captain) was walking up the road with his surfboard in hand. The horses didn't like it so he put it down for us to pass. I whispered to my friend "That's Ryan Jones" and not being a rugby fan she replied at the top of her voice "RYAN WHO?" He so heard. I just smiled and said "Sorry she's not a rubgy fan, hope your head's better" (He'd just had to come home from the Lions Tour with a head injury.)
 
annagain said:
Being Welsh mine are all rugby related. Neil Jenkins' (Welsh Rugby legend) daughter competes regularly at our club events. The best one though was riding down the Gower the summer before last. We were riding through a little village and Ryan Jones (gorgeous Welsh Rugby Captain) was walking up the road with his surfboard in hand. The horses didn't like it so he put it down for us to pass. I whispered to my friend "That's Ryan Jones" and not being a rugby fan she replied at the top of her voice "RYAN WHO?" He so heard. I just smiled and said "Sorry she's not a rubgy fan, hope your head's better" (He'd just had to come home from the Lions Tour with a head injury.)
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:) Seems you always bump into rugby players in Wales. Gareth Edwards' brother taught my daughter at our village school.
Are you with the Gower RC?
 
mcnaughty said:
Erm, some of you may remember the Tooting Popular People, Woolfie and "power to the people", well I used to see Robert Lindsey around at local shows all the time back in the late 80s........

Sorry, that is it.....
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i used to live next door to robert lindsey. i lived and worked at a huge international quarantine kennels with hundreds of dogs. he used to come down regularly and complain about the barking!! dur, you live next door to a kennel!
 
Whilst walking around the trade stands at Gatcombe a few years back we bumped into a nice young man carrying the sweetest Jack Russell pup, after giving it a fuss we walked off and my mum turned round and said did you know who that was - " Prince William"
 
Always remember an encounter my friend at at Wokingham Equestrian Centre. Was doing the ODE there, & had a rotten SJ round as ground was so wet it was like skating on ice. She retired after horse loosing footing couple of times & sliding into fences. Her mum was by the entrance & warned the next competitor in to be careful as going was so slippy, he just smiled & thanked her. She had an inkling there was something familliar about face, then penny dropped. She's just given jumping advice to Mark Todd! Mortified was fitting discription, but he had been very kind about it.
 
I went to horsecamp last month and one of the other people on the camp was an international rugby player who plays for Leeds Rhino's! I didn't have a clue who he was, so started chatting to him and his girlfriend and it wasn't until a 13yo lad was mortified that all us girls didn't have a clue who we were talking to, that we realised he was famous.:o
Anyway he had a lovely horse, rode really well and him and his girlfriend were really really nice people. Am so glad I talked to him before I realised he was famous, otherwise I might not have dared!:D
 
At Badminton Mary King was driving through the gates and she wound down her window and asked what breed my dogs was and said he was utterly gorgeous!!!:D Unfortunately I was so star stuck I couldn't reply so my friend had to tell her he was a rescue parentage unknown and yes thank you he was utterly gorgeous!!!;)
 
I've met a few celebs, but none with horses. The only one that is fitting is that our old mare and my OH had a SJ lesson with Tim Stockdale years back. He was impressed with her, but said 'she's a nutter'. Can clearly say, yes, she was opinionated at times, but crikey could she jump. :D
 
Have seen Robert Lynsey many a time at Patchetts with his daughter.

My celeb encounter would have to be when I was hacking out. I needed to cross a busy main road and a car slowed and let me cross. The driver was non other than Dennis Wise!

Also bumped into Lee Pearson shopping at Olympia once too
 
I was at Badminton horse trials many, many years ago as a teenager and walked past an open gate. Was nearly mown down by a Land Rover, as I stood rooted to the spot in horror, inches away from the bumper, the Queen looking equally horrified stared back at me from the Land Rover!

About five years ago I went for a lesson at Gatcombe, my Mum nearly ran over a woman walking down the drive as we drove up. The woman looked at us in horror….. oops nearly flattened Princess Anne. We felt it was poetic justice.

I am expecting my daughter to crash into Zara at some stage to complete the cycle!!
 
Harvey smith when he was always on tv when i was young i got his autograph made out to me but couldnt talk to him as too overcome think i was nine my hero none up to date though
 
I like this post :-)
My Celeb encounter was Richard Whitely (RIP) from Countdown.
I used to have a pony on Loan and he lived half way down the pony owners driveway (they have a huge property and grounds), and his garden backed onto the levelled area where I could school and jump.
I was only about 12yrs old at the time, and was regularily traumatised by him still in his dressing gown at lunchtimes on a weekend.
He also used to bob his head over the paddock fence and say hello periodically.
Not horse related, but they filmed the Heartbeat Police House just off a friends driveway and we deliberately used to time our trips in my car when they were filming so they'd have to get out of the way - I was young and things like that were exciting. On one occasion I was asked to wait on the roadside whilst they finished a scene, and Nick Berry asked me if I would like some soup, and that it was very nice - I was soooooo embarrassed, and politely declined.
 
Was at my old livery yard leading horse back from arena having a conversation with said horse when a man walking passed smiled and said hello. It was only as I got back to the stable that I realised that it was David Grey, the musician. Turns out he is married to the sister of one of the other liverys I was mortified as i love his music and would have loved his autograph
 
I have met quite a few famous riders from fence judging at Chatsworth including Zara Philips and Lucinda Green. Met Mark Todd at Burghley one year. Had a clinic with Oliver Townsend and ended up in equestrian life in a photo with him. I also ran into him coming round a corner at Chatsworth (oops!)

I went to a couple of clinics with Karen Dixon. She rang me up and asked me if I would have one of her horses to compete and sell on. Unfortunately we don't have our own land and there wasn't any room at my livery yard so unfortunately I had to say no :-( would have brilliant to say she was my first owner!!!

I also won a trip to sweden in 2008 for the world cup SJ finals. I had a VIP pass and was given a tour of the stables my princess Haya. She didn't speak swedish and a lot of the swedish people there didn't speak English so I ended up talking to her about horses for about half an hour and she told me all about her baby daughter and what horses she had! She was really nice, very beautiful and a lot shorter than I imagined. This was before she upset everyone with the FEI stuff. I also had to have a photo shoot with her (very embarassing). We were all told what to say etiquette wise when we met her but she was really down to earth and I just had a normal conversation with her.

Finally, last year I was working on a dressage yard in Parwich, Derbyshire were Tom Chambers grew up. The person I was riding for is really good friends with the family and Tom (they are the same age and use to play with each other etc). I was working there when he won strictly come dancing and when he got married. It was all very exciting the BBC filmed on the yard. I never met Tom but I have met his mum lots of times and she told me I had to vote for him!!! Can't say no to that!

I have also stayed over at Carl hester's twice and had dinner with him, and was offered a hack on blueberry!
 
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Many years ago I was at badmington with a friend, we were walking ahead of our Mums & not looking where we were going, so we bumped into somebody. He was very nice & had quite a chat with us, we just chatted back to him & then walked on, our Mums then told us we had barged into & then talked to Prince Charles. We were about 10 at the time so we weren't very impressed.
We were at a hunter trail once & were parked next to Princess Anne, she seemed like a nice lady, who made the tea in the kitchen of her very nice lorry for her "people" & helped out the grooms. Zara was with her, I think she was about 10 at the time.
We were sat our our ramp drinking Pimms which was being kept cool in one of the horses's water buckets, she did comment to us that we'd got the right idea!
It was just after the scandal of the stolen love letters & Tim turned up with a change of clothes for her, Zara seemed to know him well, so he was obviously a big part of their lives even though she was still married to somebody else.
 
Jessica Chesney (now Kurten) rocks!

Interesting, but I'm the opposite way around BigBoyRocky - I think people like Robert De Niro, Princess Diana, Elton John etc are famous (i.e. known the world over). People that are in national magazines for a gossip are celebrities to me - Katie Price etc. Essentially if you're widely reknowned for doing something talented or noble = famous, being smaller-time or a temporary fixture in Heat magazine = celebrity.
 
James Blunts mum and dad live next to our livery yard so sometimes see him.

We have had a few famous people (that your dont think of as horsey) come out to talk about lorries.

Stood next to Princess Ann at Gatecombe but didnt realise until she walked away, and used to see Lenny Henry and Dawn french a lot at Wellington Riding.

To be honest, I am not very interested in famous people
 
When I worked as event secretary at Hartpury, Oliver Townend stripped down to his boxers in front of reception!! Also met Pippa Funnell, Carl Hester and loads of other top riders that summer too. Oh and the GBR Dressage team quarantined (sp) at Hartpury before they set off for Beijing, so got to meet most of them and their horses (before the quarantine period started of course).

I've also met Richard Hammond a few times when he was buying petrol (I worked for a while in a garage)

And I've hugged Monty Roberts! :D
 
i consider mine to be horsey celebs heeheee!!

i was waiting to be called by the dressage steward at chepstow BE a few years ago when she yelled ' 121 you can come and wait with 90 and u follow them(i pootled over and stood horses side by side looked up and saw Matt Ryan!!!!!!!!!!!!' He was sooo friendly, but i was a little star stuck, (fwiw)(he got something like 17 for his dressage and he beat me but quite a bit)!!!

Was shopping at gatters once, i was busy spotting bargains not looking where i was going suddenly felt someone near by and diverted before i crashed into them!! Was princess Anne,,,,i said sorry, but wasnt sure if i was meant to curtsey too(SP) She was really nice tho very down to earth

Was at a yard once and arrived to do my horse to find an odd atmosphere!!!!,, looked in the indoor school to see john whitaker(SP) showing a horse off for a purchaser(steps helsinci(SP) was amazing to watch and couldnt bel he actually brought the horse down south himself!!!! Same place also saw zara phillips jump a class and im pretty sure the horse was toytown she was nice too!!!
 
Years ago, we went on a bridle ride holiday for 3 days, to give 3 of the competition horses a change of scenery. and 3 of us went on mountain bikes.

We were riding and cycling through the cotswolds when we came accross the Top Gear team filming, they stopped and asked if they could have us riding down the lane and they will film the car going past us. Obviously wanted to create the old quintessential English Country backdrop.

So yep, Jeremey Clarkson smooched with my big chestnut boy! and we were on the telly
 
Forgot this one Clarissa Dixon sat on a bench next to us at a gamekeeping fair. We didn't realise who it was until she was called into the ring to talk about something and she got up. OH looked quite shocked. :D
 
I used to be on the BHS Committee and met the Queen at Badminton whilst manning the stand, I then met the Princess Royal at New Forest Show, again whilst manning the BHS stand and said to her 'I met your mum at Badminton' - she laughed!! When I met the queen we were told not to speak unless spoken to but Anne was so different, she was so normal and chatty.

I've chatted and even had hugs from Susan George and Simon MacCorkingdale (RIP) loads of times as I see them on the arab show circuit. Its funny really because I see them so often I forget about them being famous. Susan is and Simon was so normal, Simon was always a perfect gentleman.

I've chatted with Jenny Loriston-Clarke loads of times and my friend and I went to Catherston the other day to try a horse of Lizzie Murray's.
 
NELSON11 said:
So yep, Jeremey Clarkson smooched with my big chestnut boy! and we were on the telly
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I love that. And he always slags off horse riders/boxes!!

My encounter goes way way back. Some people will not know who I'm talking about - but- When I was young, my parents couldnt afford to buy me a pony. But they paid for me to have regular lessons and I used to spend every waking minute at that place, which also had liveries. I go to know a few of the liveries quite well.
Every now and then the YO, used to sell off some the riding school ponies. My particular favourite was a black pony called Lucky. I was devastated when he was sold. However, he was sold to Martin Peter's (1966 World Cup football team) daughter, who was totally besotted with him. So he ended up having a nice life, and kept him at the yard, so I was able to see him regularly.
 
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