We caught up with the talented eventer on training with Team GB, juggling her studies with riding and her future goals 

Chloe Chan is one of the country’s top riders in her age group winning numerous titles which has placed her firmly on Team GB’s radar and saw her long listed for the European Championships in the summer. She attended one of Team GB’s training camps earlier in the year with pony Ruby, to which a long list of just 20 riders were invited.

That number was whittled down to 10 for a final day of trials which included Chloe. Her speciality is eventing which incorporates three disciplines – dressage, show jumping and cross country. Of the three, Chloe’s favourite (and she says most nerve wracking) is cross country.

PEACEFUL AND CALM

Since the first time Chloe sat on a horse aged just four-years-old, she has loved riding. She says she finds horses ‘quite peaceful and calming’ and adds: “I loved it immediately and was lucky enough to be offered a pony on loan.” Chloe describes the pony, Poppy as cheeky but credits her with teaching her to ride. Eventually Chloe bought Poppy and her entry into the competitive world of horses began.

Chloe began competing aged nine in the Working Hunter class which is jumping. She started working with renowned local trainer Niki Horsley-Gubbins and once she’d outgrown Poppy, moved onto a bigger more appropriate pony for her size and ability. This happens fairly regularly as young riders outgrow their ponies. On choosing a pony, Chloe says you just know when you’ve found the one. She says: “You ride some ponies and you just don’t click.”

SUPPORT NETWORK

Having just navigated her GCSE year, Chloe credits her parents and school with helping her to successfully juggle exams with training and competing. She says: “I get a lot of help from mum and dad.” She adds that her mum is ‘on it’ with all things horse-related organising the logistics of getting Chloe and her pony where they need to be.

Bromsgrove School has a long day that finishes at 5.15pm, but Chloe is able to leave at 4pm to train. She’s thankful the school has offered lots of extra support and she says she managed GCSE revision in part, by working during down time at competitions. Chloe has stayed at Bromsgrove School for her sixth form years which will be more intense than GCSEs, but with her work ethic and support, they’re making it work.

Chloe’s headmaster Michael Punt says of her achievements: “From her very first outings to now competing at international level, Chloe has balanced her training with her GCSE studies, showing impressive determination both in and out of the saddle.” We marvel at how Chloe has time for anything else, but she also plays hockey for the school which gives her the team element that you don’t get with an individual sport like eventing.

LIVING THE DREAM

For the next two years Chloe is focused on going to Junior U18 and Young Riders U21. Beyond that, she would love to ride the top five events including Badminton and Burghley in the UK as well as the international events that make up the top five spots.

Ultimately, Chloe would like to make it to the Olympics one day and it’s hard to see a world in which she doesn’t achieve that. She says: “It’s a childhood dream really.”