
William Ross Norman Funnell (born 10 February 1966,
Ashford Ashford may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Ashford, New South Wales
*Ashford, South Australia
*Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia
Ireland
*Ashford, County Wicklow
*Ashford Castle, County Galway
United Kingdom
* Ashford, Kent, a town
** ...
) is a top-class
showjumper.
Career
Funnell has represented Britain internationally in many
Nations Cup teams. In 2006 he won the
Hickstead Derby
The British Jumping Derby meeting – known for sponsorship reasons as the Al Shira'aa Hickstead Derby Meeting – is an annual showjumping event held since 1961 at the Hickstead in June every year. It is considered one of the premier events in th ...
for the first time and won it again two years later in 2008 and again in 2009. In 2018 William became one of 5 riders to win The
Hickstead Derby
The British Jumping Derby meeting – known for sponsorship reasons as the Al Shira'aa Hickstead Derby Meeting – is an annual showjumping event held since 1961 at the Hickstead in June every year. It is considered one of the premier events in th ...
4 times, joining
Harvey Smith,
John and
Michael Whitaker
Michael Whitaker (born 17 March 1960) is a British Olympic equestrian rider, who competes in the sport of show jumping. He was ranked 5th by the British Showjumping Association in March 2014.
Career
Younger brother of John Whitaker, Mich ...
, and
Eddie Macken. He also won the famous derby of
La Baule in France in May 2011.
Personal life
Funnell is married to eventer
Pippa Funnell. He married her in October 1993 in
Uckfield. They live in
Ockley
Ockley is a rural village in Surrey. It lies astride the A29, the modern road using the alignment of Stane Street (Chichester). The A29 diverges from the A24 from London about 2.5 miles northeast and takes the alignment of Stane Street a mile ...
in south
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
where they have a stud farm to breed horses. They became the first husband and wife to be inducted into
The British Horse Society Equestrian Hall of Fame
The British Horse Society Equestrian Hall of Fame was launched in 2005 to pay homage to the people and horses who have made outstanding contributions to the sport of Equestrianism in Great Britain. Elections to the Hall of Fame are made by a Pane ...
when William joined Pippa (2005) in being inducted in 2014.
External links and references
His website
English male equestrians
British show jumping riders
People from Ashford, Kent
1966 births
Living people
{{UK-equestrian-bio-stub