Zara Tindall Says Father Was Tough Coach, Mother Was Relaxed
Zara Tindall grew up with a relaxed mother on the sidelines and a tough father as her coach, and she says she is trying not to coach her own children as hard as she was coached.
She described that split in an appearance on the Talk Horse podcast, as reported by Town & Country. Tindall is the only daughter of Princess Anne and her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, and the oldest granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II, according to People.
She and her older brother, Peter Phillips, grew up at Gatcombe Park, Princess Anne's country estate in the Cotswolds region west of London. Horses were the family business. Her father won team gold in eventing at the 1972 Munich Olympics and later trained his daughter in the same sport.
Eventing is a three-part horse competition built around dressage, cross-country riding and show jumping. Her mother barely intervened. Tindall said Princess Anne was very relaxed about training.
Her father was different. Tindall described Mark Phillips as critical and a tough coach. The lessons stuck.
She went on to build one of Britain's strongest eventing records. She won individual gold at the 2006 World Equestrian Games. That same year she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, an annual public vote for Britain's top athlete. Six years later she won a silver medal with the British eventing team at the 2012 London Olympics.
Now she is the parent in the arena. Tindall is mother to three children, daughters Mia and Lena and son Lucas. She said she is trying not to be as tough a coach with them as her father was with her.
What makes this stand out is how plain the trade-off sounds. The strict coaching helped make an Olympian. She still wants a softer version for her own children.
