Lizzie Purbrick

Elizabeth Mary Josephine Purbrick (née Boone; born 16 May 1955 at Warren Farm, West Acre, Norfolk) is a winner of an Armada Dish at the Badminton Horse Trials in 1984 having competed several times with several mounts including Peter the Great and in many different events. In 1978 she went as an individual to the World Championships at Lexington, Kentucky and came a creditable 16th. There were no less than 22 retirements on the cross country phase. She was part of the British team selected for the 1980 Olympics which the British team attended in part, the British government taking no official position on the US-led boycott. In 1981 she was a member of the team that won a European Gold Medal at Horsens, Denmark. Purbrick retired after being ousted by the equine institution after she moved to South Africa. She now coaches young people in horsemanship and runs a small farm breeding horses and maintaining a parrot sanctuary. In 2011 Purbrick returned to the UK and is now training Lola. The equine community has embraced Lizzie after 10 years exile.