Mary King & Simon Middleton: 40 Years at the Top of British EventingPublished 24 April 2026 Just Horse Riders Podcast Episode 36Key TakeawaysMary King broke her C5 vertebra in 2001 and was back at the top of eventing less than a year later her surgeon's advice was "don't ride for eight weeks and don't fall off for ten."Simon Middleton broke his back the day before launching Zebra Products in 2000, then traded through the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis in his first full year of business.Neither guest came from a horsey background Mary started riding the village vicar's pony aged six; Simon's family were cyclists.Mary retired in March 2026 after 46 seasons, six Olympics, two Badminton wins, Burghley, Kentucky, and a unique 1-2 at a 5-star with home-bred horses.For Mary, the single biggest thing that affects a horse's performance is frame of mind and keeping horses turned out in the field, in company, as much as possible.For Simon, a good equestrian product is one you can test yourself "if it's just well marketed, it can let you down very quickly."The common thread between a 46-year riding career and a 25-year distribution business: patience, family support, and the willingness to keep learning.Quick AnswerEpisode 36 of the Just Horse Riders Podcast brings together six-time Olympian Mary King MBE and Simon Middleton, founder of Zebra Products, for a conversation about longevity in eventing as a rider, as a business, and as a family. The episode covers Mary's return from breaking her neck, Simon's near-disastrous business launch, the slow craft of producing home-bred event horses, and the brands and decisions that have shaped modern British eventing. This episode is proudly sponsored by Zebra Products.Two Guests, One Conversation About Staying at the TopSome podcast episodes are about a single technique, a single product, a single moment. This one is about longevity which, in the horse world, is almost harder to come by than medals.Mary King MBE DL is a six-time Olympian (team silver in 2004 and 2012, team bronze in 2008), a two-time Badminton winner (King William in 1992, Star Appeal in 2000), Burghley champion (Star Appeal, 1996), and the first rider ever to take both first and second place at Kentucky riding her home-bred mare Kings Temptress and Fernhill Urco in 2011. She retired in March 2026 after 46 seasons in the sport, having also won four European team golds and two World Equestrian Games team golds along the way. She is, quite simply, one of the defining British event riders of the modern era.Simon Middleton is the founder and Managing Director of Zebra Products, the UK and Ireland's leading distributor of premium equestrian brands. Since founding the business with his wife Lindsay in 2000, Simon has grown it from three staff to a team of more than 20 operating out of North Wales, distributing Amerigo, Bucas, Cavalor, EGO7, Equipe, Mattes, Sprenger, Uvex, Veredus and more. He's an event rider himself, and his wife Lindsay competes up to Grand Prix dressage.Host Aaron Englander, founder of Just Horse Riders, sat down with both guests for a conversation that ranged across broken necks, broken backs, non-horsey parents, home-bred 5-star horses, influencer marketing, Bucas rugs, retirement, and whether the horses themselves have actually got better over the last forty years. Spoiler: Mary thinks they have.Coming Back From Breaking Your NeckThe episode opens with the question most riders would be too nervous to ask. Aaron puts it plainly: when Mary broke her neck in 2001, did she not just think, "No. I'm done now"?Mary's answer is extraordinary for how matter-of-fact it is. She arrived at hospital not knowing what she'd done to herself. When the consultant told her she'd fractured her C5 vertebra and needed immediate surgery, she said she did, for a moment, wonder what was going to happen to her career. But once she'd had the operation, her first question to the surgeon who happened to know who she was was about riding again.According to Mary, his response was the one she needed to hear. He told her it was very unlikely she'd have that same fall again, and that if she really wanted to ride, she shouldn't ride for eight weeks and shouldn't fall off for ten. "I thought, yeah," she said, "he's on my side."How did Mary King come back from breaking her neck?Mary King fractured her C5 vertebra in a fall in 2001 and underwent immediate surgery. Her surgeon advised her to avoid riding for eight weeks and avoid falling for ten, and she was back competing internationally within the year including a top-ten finish at Burghley 5-star on King Solomon III the following season. She has said the key was that she simply hadn't lost the urge to compete at the top level.Broken Back on Day One of a New BusinessAs if one serious spinal injury per episode wasn't enough, Simon's origin story is improbably almost a matching bookend.Simon broke his back the day before starting Zebra Products. "The first week of being self-employed, I was in hospital, lying on a body board," he told Aaron. Once he got out of hospital, he spent the early days of the business wearing a body cage, with Lindsay driving him from shop to shop to build the customer base.Simon does, in fairness, see a silver lining in hindsight. "I think it worked quite well," he said, with the deadpan humour that runs through the whole episode. "I got quite a few sort of sympathy orders because people thought, this guy needs a bit of a hand."Then came 2001, the year of foot-and-mouth disease a genuine devastation for the UK equestrian industry. Simon admitted there was a moment of thinking, "What am I doing? I've started this business in this industry, and it seems like it's worst placed financially." The lesson he takes from that period is a useful one for anyone running an equestrian business today: you turn things around, and you try to make a bad situation into a positive one.Neither of Them Grew Up With HorsesAaron spotted the pattern early: "Am I right in saying that neither of you actually came from a very horsey background?" They both confirm it, and the answers are charming.Simon blames television. "I think with me it was cowboy and Indians. Watching Western programs on TV. There was a program years ago called Champion the Wonder Horse and I absolutely loved it." (He was, apparently, always more Team Indian than Team Cowboy.) His father ran a bicycle shop, which is where he learned the hard-work-and-commitment side of running a business he just redirected that energy into horses rather than bikes.Mary's story is similar in shape, different in detail. Her family didn't have a television at all when she was growing up. She started riding the vicar's pony as a tiny child, then joined her local Axe Vale Pony Club without even owning a pony. The turning point was a Pony Club coach trip to Badminton Horse Trials an experience that ended up setting the entire direction of her life."I went on the coach trip to Badminton not quite knowing what I was going to see, and was absolutely overwhelmed," she told Aaron. "The shiny horses, the brave riders how could anyone dare to do that? I was struggling to jump 80 centimetres."Did Mary King come from a horsey family?No. Mary King grew up in a non-horsey family with very little money. Her father, a former Royal Navy officer, suffered lifelong consequences from a motorcycle accident before she was born. She began riding on a neighbour's pony at the age of six and worked a series of part-time jobs including as a delivery person for a butcher to fund her eventing career before turning professional in 1988.The Mindset That Gets You to the TopAaron pushes on something that comes up repeatedly in top-rider interviews the idea that world-class sporting mentality isn't taught so much as inherited or built from necessity.Mary credits what she calls her "breeding." Her father, before his motorcycle accident, was the youngest ever Lieutenant Commander in the Navy and a very good sportsman. Her mother had "this very calm way of going about life, very accepting of what happens, always positive, always thinking forward, never getting down and staying on a real level."Mary's view is that to be an event rider, you need both halves of that inheritance the competitive drive and the level-headedness. "With the huge ups and downs you experience on the way to the top level, you've got to have that mentality of being able to cope with the ups and downs," she said. "Otherwise you're not going to be able to do it, really."Simon's version is less about breeding and more about environment. Watching his father run the bicycle shop "the effort and hard work and commitment you had to put to having your own business" gave him an understanding early on that nothing comes easy, in sport or in business.Seventh at Badminton. "You Might Do Better Next Year."One of the episode's best moments is Mary's story from 1985 the first time she rode at Badminton.She'd bought a horse very cheaply, Divers Rock, who turned out to be an incredible cross-country horse. Somehow as a green novice she came seventh at her first 5-star. She went back home to Devon, feeling, in her words, "on top of the world."A lady in the village asked her how she'd got on. Mary told her she'd come seventh."She said: 'Never mind, you might do better next year,'" Mary recalled. "I don't think she quite realised what seventh at Badminton means. But it brought me back down to earth."Producing a Home-Bred Event Horse From Foal to 5-StarOne of the most undersold aspects of top-level eventing is how long it takes to make a horse. Mary is blunt about this: it's the thing the outside world misunderstands most.According to Mary, non-horsey spectators see a rider make a mistake at a major 5-star event and assume the horse simply didn't jump well that day. What they don't see is the years of producing that horse the breaking in, the basic flatwork, the slow progression from 90cm to Novice to Intermediate to Advanced, the long apprenticeship before the horse ever gets to Badminton or Burghley or Kentucky.Mary's Kings Temptress the mare she rode to win Kentucky in 2011 was home-bred by her. The 1-2 at Kentucky that year, with Kings Temptress first and Fernhill Urco second, is still a unique achievement: no other rider has ever finished first and second at a 5-star with home-bred horses.She also describes how her own young stock now pass through her hands onto her daughter Emily and Emily's partner Sam, with Mary producing them up to three-star level before handing over. It's a model for anyone breeding with the long view in mind the slow, patient work of bringing on a good horse for the next generation of the yard.How do you produce a home-bred event horse to 5-star level?Producing a home-bred event horse to 5-star takes many years of careful, patient work across dressage, show jumping and cross-country. Breeders like Mary King raise the horse from foal, break it in around age three to four, and then progress it slowly up the British Eventing levels typically BE80 or Novice, Intermediate, Advanced which usually takes another four to seven years before a horse is ready for the top level."The Horses Today Are Better Bred, Better Produced, and Better Looked After"Ask Mary what's changed most in 46 seasons of eventing and it's not the riders it's the horses themselves.According to Mary, modern event horses are significantly better bred, better produced, and better looked after than when she started competing. Veterinary care, nutrition, farriery, training methods, and the breeding pool itself have all advanced in parallel. The result is that horses today are routinely doing things at the top level that would have been exceptional thirty years ago.The other big change she raises with a certain wry amusement is administrative. In the old days, getting your cross-country times for an event meant phoning a single number the night before, along with every other rider in the country, and getting engaged tone after engaged tone. Today you log into the British Eventing website or the Eventing Schools platform and it's done in seconds. "They don't know they're born," as Aaron put it.Competing as a Mum: Mary's Quiet RevolutionAaron brings up something Mary has spoken about before that she was, effectively, one of the first female riders to come back and compete at the top level after having children.Mary had her daughter Emily (who is now an international event rider in her own right) in between seasons, and later her son Freddie (now in the Royal Marines) while still at the top of the sport. She remembers being told by people, before she had Emily, that she'd lose her competitive edge the moment she became a mother.She describes cantering down to the first cross-country fence at her first post-baby event, half-expecting something to have changed. "I galloped on, jumped the first fence, was galloping on thinking no, doesn't feel any different."Her daughter Emily King is now a top international event rider herself. Ros Canter another Zebra-sponsored rider has also competed at 5-star level while raising young children. Whatever Mary did in the 1990s quietly helped change what's now considered possible.Teaching Your Own Children to Ride (Without Teaching Them)Aaron, who coaches his own daughter's peers through Pony Club and under-7 football, asks the question a lot of parents want to ask: how do you teach your own child to ride without turning into the pushy horsey parent you swore you'd never become?Mary's answer is a masterclass.She said she learned, very early, to wait for Emily to ask. If she watched Emily schooling and said unprompted, "No, Emily, you're not riding her in enough angle," Emily would get cross. But if she stayed quiet and Emily asked "Mum, can you come and watch? I can't seem to get my shoulder-in" Emily would be ready to listen.Emily's breakthrough on the flat came from a winter with top Australian dressage rider Heath Ryan's compatriot Kira Kirkland. "Emily went riding like an event rider doing dressage," Mary laughed. "Three months later, she came back looking like a dressage rider."If you're a horsey parent, Mary's advice is the one thing in this episode worth writing down: let them find their own way, support them, but do not teach them unless they ask you to.Pony Club: Where British Eventing Actually StartsBoth guests return repeatedly to the Pony Club as the quiet backbone of British eventing. For Mary, it was the Axe Vale Pony Club coach trip to Badminton that set her on her path. For Emily's generation, it was the variety "scavenger hunts and beach rides and all just fun things that children should do with ponies. It shouldn't be all about going around in circles in an arena."At Just Horse Riders, we see this every weekend at Fylde & District Pony Club kids in well-worn jodhpurs doing silly relay races, scavenger hunts, pairs jumping and the through-line to the riders like Mary and Simon's wife Lindsay, who started in exactly the same way, is obvious.How Simon Decides What's a Good ProductPart of what makes Zebra Products work as a distributor is that the people running it are, themselves, horse people. Simon rides, Lindsay rides to Grand Prix, and most of the team event or jump. That matters more than it sounds.According to Simon, he and his team will always test a product before taking it on. "A lot of my competitors and other people in the industry aren't really horse people," he said. "We can test products, see that they do what it says on the tin, and see how durable they are."His test for distinguishing a genuinely good piece of equestrian kit from a well-marketed one is blunt: does it actually live up to the promise? If it doesn't, "it can let you down very quickly." And if the brand works with riders like Mary, the product has to deliver because the rider's reputation is on the line as much as the brand's.Authenticity vs Influencer MarketingAaron raises one of the most honest debates in the equestrian industry right now how influencer marketing fits alongside the traditional model of sponsoring elite riders.Simon's view is that influencers can absolutely work, but only if the alignment is real. "It's what we do make sure that the product we place with them is authentic," he said. "If an influencer's audience is girls and boys under 10 or 12, then to promote something that's very expensive isn't the right thing to do. You need to make sure that they align, and that it works all along really."Mary's take is typically disarming. "I don't, to be honest, think a lot about it," she admitted. "I've always been just so focused on producing my horses, riding them, and wearing or using the product of companies that support me.""Expensive Products Are Usually Worth It"In the rapid-fire round at the end of the episode, Aaron asks Simon whether expensive equestrian products are usually worth it.Simon's answer: "I think generally they are worth it, because otherwise they don't stay on the market. There's the saying, isn't there buy cheap, buy twice and I think that is true."He uses Bucas rugs as his example. "When I started with Bucas, I was terrified we'd end up with loads of smelly broken rugs coming back to us. I have to be honest we don't get any back. They're not the cheapest, but they are very tough and durable."Aaron confirms it from personal experience: his wife's Bucas turnout rug is over eight years old and still her go-to.The Biggest Thing That Affects a Horse's PerformanceAaron asks Mary what single factor makes the biggest difference to how a horse performs. Her answer is immediate."It's frame of mind," she said. "You can have horses with all the ability in the world, but if they're overexcited or tired, it can change their performance hugely."The practical translation: keep horses turned out in the field, in company, as much as possible. It's their natural way of living. For a horse to be in a stable for hours and hours, she says, is deeply unnatural. A warm, dry turnout rug is usually all that's needed to make field-living viable year-round in the UK climate.What is the biggest thing that affects a horse's performance?According to Mary King, the single biggest factor in a horse's performance is its frame of mind. She advises keeping horses turned out in the field in company as much as possible, because stabling for long hours is unnatural and can make horses tense, tired or over-fresh. A relaxed, happy horse will consistently outperform an anxious or stabled one, regardless of raw ability.Common Mistakes Riders Make Without RealisingAt the lower levels, Mary says the mistake she sees most often when teaching is rider position specifically, a weak lower leg.Your lower leg, in her words, is "like an anchor." When your heel comes up and your leg swings back as you jump a fence, you lose your security in the saddle and become much more likely to fall if anything goes wrong. The other habit she calls out is collapsing forward with the upper body on the approach to a fence.Her cue, repeated to riders of every level: lower leg forward, don't collapse the upper body.What is a common mistake riders make without realising?Mary King says the most common mistake she sees in lower-level riders is a weak lower leg position. When the heel comes up and the leg swings back over a fence, the rider loses their anchor in the saddle and becomes much more vulnerable to a fall. She also sees many riders collapse their upper body too far forward on the approach to a fence, which further destabilises their seat.If a Horse Isn't Going Well, Where Should You Look First?Mary's answer is uncompromising."Definitely first, yourselves," she said. "It's easy to blame it on the horse when things are going wrong. But so often, it can actually be the rider who is making the mistake whether it's their poor balance, their tightness of rein, their bad steering."Horses, she reminds us, are the "most perceptive creatures there are." They can sense a nervous rider instantly. If the rider is honest with themselves and their trainer is happy with how they're riding, the next step is to rule out pain equine dentist, vet check, saddle fit before concluding the horse simply isn't trying.If a horse isn't going well, where should riders look first?Mary King's answer is to always look at the rider first poor balance, tight reins, or bad steering are often the real cause. If the rider is riding well, the next step is to rule out pain in the horse, starting with teeth (equine dentist), body (vet check) and tack fit. Only once the rider and the horse's comfort have been checked should you start looking for behavioural or training explanations.Why Mary Retired After 46 SeasonsMary's retirement, announced in March 2026, came as a surprise even to her.She started the season with three horses she'd produced herself, wound down to a smaller yard as she got older, and went to her first event at Tweseldown near Farnham. "I was looking around thinking: this is my 46th year riding at this event, and most of the riders here weren't even born 46 years ago," she told Aaron.She did the event. The weekend after, she came second on a horse. And then, a few days later, she simply woke up one morning and thought: I'm going to stop.She said she surprised herself saying it. She knew Emily would ride her horses better than she would now. Her son Freddie was about to pass out of a Royal Marines mountain leader course that same weekend. Emily and Sam were already driving down to Devon in the lorry. It just all fell into place. "I don't regret it," she said. "I'm just pleased I've made the decision."When did Mary King retire from eventing?Mary King retired from competitive eventing in March 2026, aged 64, after 46 seasons in the sport. She made the decision suddenly, days after coming second at an early-season event, and will now focus on breeding, producing young stock, and supporting her daughter Emily King and Emily's partner Sam Ecroyd as they continue to compete at international level.What's Next for Zebra ProductsAaron asks Simon whether retirement is on his radar. It isn't."I think people do wonder when I'll retire, and Lindsay, my wife, is one of those," Simon said. "But I love working. I really like working. I find it motivating, exciting, interesting, and learning. I like learning all the time so just keep pushing on really."For 2026, Zebra Products is the Title Partner of the British Eventing Podcast, continuing the company's long partnership with British Eventing. The distribution portfolio continues to evolve recent additions include Uvex sports and lifestyle eyewear, expanding beyond their already-dominant position in equestrian helmets and kit.What brands does Zebra Products distribute in the UK?Zebra Products is the UK and Ireland's leading distributor of premium equestrian brands. Their current portfolio includes Amerigo and Equipe saddles, Bucas rugs, Uvex helmets and eyewear, Sprenger bits and stirrups, Veredus horse boots, Cavalor supplements and care products, EGO7, Mattes, Fleck, Cavalleria Toscana, Konigs riding boots and more. You can find the full range at zebraproducts.co.uk.The One Thing Both Guests Wish They'd Been Told EarlierIn the final rapid-fire question, Aaron asks both guests what they wish someone had told them when they first started out.Simon's answer is short and, in a way, completely on-brand for someone who survived a broken back, foot-and-mouth disease, and 25 years of building a distribution business: "Just be patient. I can want things to happen quickly, and sometimes you just have to let things happen."Mary's answer is longer and more practical: get a mentor. She freely admits that, as a teenager with her first pony, she didn't know what she was doing. She overfed the pony and gave it tying-up syndrome the cramp-like condition in a horse's hindquarters caused by poor feed management. "I was ignorant as to feeding the horse," she said. "If somebody had advised me to get a mentor, the poor pony would have suffered a bit less because of that."Between them, it's a pretty good summary of how you actually build something that lasts in the horse world: patience, mentorship, and a willingness to keep learning. Watch now, listen on Spotify, or keep scrolling for the full show notes.Episode SponsorThis episode is proudly sponsored by Zebra Products the UK and Ireland's leading distributor of premium equestrian brands. Shop their full range, including Amerigo, Bucas, Uvex, Sprenger, Equipe and Veredus, at zebraproducts.co.uk.Listen to the Full EpisodeYou can watch Episode 36 on the Just Horse Riders YouTube channel, or listen on Spotify. For everything you need for your own riding from boots to gloves to everyday supplements shop the full Just Horse Riders range.About the AuthorAaron Englander is the Founder of Just Horse Riders and host of the Just Horse Riders Podcast. With over 15 years in the equestrian industry, Aaron has built Just Horse Riders into a trusted destination for riders across the UK, stocking everything from daily essentials to the Englander Equestrian own-brand product line. Learn more at the Just Horse Riders About page.