Mary King: The Autobiography

by Mary King

At the age of 47 Mary King won a Team Bronze at the Beijing Olympics. In her two Caveliers—Call Again Cavalier and Imperial Cavalier—she has two of the very best event horses in the world. Mary Kings's success in the world of eventing has been hard won. She does not come from a privileged background. Her first pony was the ancient "cast off" from the local vicar's children—and success with this pony gave her an iron will to succeed. To support herself in the early days she had a variety of unglamorous jobs—including butcher delivery rounds and cleaning out toilets in the local campsite. Her talent was apparent from very early on and she first competed at Badminton in 1985, had her first win there on King William in 1992, and had her second on Star Appeal in 2000. Just when everything seemed to be going well she suffered a terrible fall in 2001 and broke her neck but she was back competing at the very top level the following year. Mary King's story is fascinating and inspiring for anyone with an interest in equestrian sports.

Genres: Autobiography, Horses, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Kingfan30 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It must have been around 15 years ago when I was invited by a work colleague to go to Burghley, we went on a Sunday (show jumping day) and I don't really remember seeing much of the horse riding, but there was a lot of looking round the shopping stalls. It was not until I changed jobs and was asked to help with designing the programme for the event that I returned (2003) on cross country day. I had such an enjoyable day and could not help but admire how brave the riders were for taking on jumps like that. From then on, I was hooked and have returned nearly every year since and it was not long before I got familiar with the names and faces of some of the riders, in particular William Fox-Pitt and Mary King, both easily recognisable - William for his long legs who looks too tall to be riding and Mary, always in green and with a big smile on her face.

It was with interest that I picked up this book to find out about Mary - boy is she competitive. I always assumed that riders in these events come from privileged backgrounds, but this is certainly not the case with Mary. As a girl asking to borrow a local famers stables to house her horse to combing the beach for drift wood for making jumps. This book covers all the highs and lows of her career in eventing and she really has not glossed over anything, including having to have horses put down. It was interesting to read about Burghley as I recognised some of the years, in particular 2004 where one of the riders had taken a fall at a water jump and had consequently died, I had been stood at that jump earlier in the day and remember hearing the news on returning home, I'm glad I was not there at the time.

At times it comes across that the horses and competing come first over everything else, including family, but you can't help but admire her spirit. I will be cheering her on at this years games and I hope she gets that gold medal that has so far eluded her and that will finally help her make up a full set.

[Jonathan Hutchins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Told in a straightforward slightly self-deprecating style, Mary's is truly an extraordinary story, and, has been remarked more than once, an illustration of the oft-cited adage that it's not how good you are - it's how much you want it. As a child she was self-confessedly 'hopeless - it took me a whole year to learn rising trot', but her single-minded pursuit of success from Pony Club to her dream of winning Badminton (and of course much, much more) is impressive. Before a combination of sponsors, prize-monies and her producing and breeding programme gave her some solvency, she took on any jobs she could to make ends meet, which included cleaning out toilets, a butcher's delivery round, and driving HGVs at night: while hard work, impossibly high standards, and a dearth of cheap praise were instilled early on as a teenager at Sheila Willcox's yard. In case we thought she was only about horses, Mary relates how she ticked off her other plans and ambitions: sailing (a tall ship trip on a sailing bursary), a cordon bleu cookery course, a season as a chalet girl, and as much world travel and adventure as she could fit in. Future biographers will delve and expose more of the personal life which is sketched here; this is not a tale for the pruriently curious. Nor is it a tale for the squeamish. The cross-country course of challenges, disasters, mad dashes, bitter disappointments, and ecstatic successes, is punctuated with some real tragedies, and two of these have stuck in my mind: Caroline Pratt's death in a water complex at Burghley in 2004, and 'Call Again Cavalier' breaking his leg and having to be put down at Cardiff in 2008. But Mary is still forging ahead - she will be 50 this year, and one cannot but raise one's hat in acknowledgment to a remarkable horsewoman. A thoroughly good read.

[Liberty Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and found it inspirational and intriguing. It was interesting how Mary managed to start, accelerate and maintain her career from such a young age. It's a fascinating insight into the world of eventing and how precarious it can be for both the horse and rider. I was also intrigued about her thoughts on riding when expecting and how family life can be maintained in such a demanding job but it seems she just carried on regardless! I guess if riding is your day job, the risk seems much lower. My only criticism of the book is that I thought it would cover the London 2012 Olympics but perhaps that story is published elsewhere?!

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

After seeing many interviews Mary has given over the years, this book is most definitely written in her voice, you can actually hear her speaking each line. I never realised that she struggled with results early in her career and was quite surprised, as anon-rider, to see that many horses would be put down for what sounded like minor injuries (I am sure that they were not)
A thoroughly enjoyable book, would recommend it to anyone interested in Eventing, caught the bug through this years London 2012 success, or just enjoy reading about sport

[Hayley Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for anyone who loves horses and eventing. Tells how Mary made it against the odds, from a non-horsey background and managed to become one of the best known event riders we have had. A great read, that I didn't want to put down.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

fabulous. Mary is such an inspiration.

[Gael Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the book, but not finished yet, surely???

[Emma Turnbull · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opener and I found it very interesting to find out how her career took off and began, and it really goes to show just how much work it takes to break into the equine world.

[Violet Ridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting to read the story of one of my child hood Heroes.

[Mireille · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I am a huge fan of this amazing lady and her horses definitely a five star read