Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5327 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: UBI Soft
• Released on: 2006-10-26
• Platform: Windows XP
• Number of items: 1

Amazon.co.uk Interview
Exclusive Pippa Funnell interview
We caught up with Pippa Funnell to chew the cud. She was lovely. These are the words…

So how are the horses today, Pippa?
All the horses are very well and seem pleased to have started competing again. The season started at the beginning of March and will run through to October. Today the young horses had a day off and went out in the field as they competed yesterday and the older ones had plenty of work because they run in a competition tomorrow.

When did you realise you wanted to work with horses and what made you want to start?
I've always ridden horses - I used to ride before school every morning or, if I couldn't, after school. There are some people who started three-day eventing later in life, but it is one of those sports that, the younger you start, the more advantage you eventually have. Starting young, you learn your balance naturally. I've been doing this sport seriously since I was 16.

We didn't have any land or stables when I was growing up, but my mother had a horse that she kept a mile away. I had my first pony when I was six. The sports commentator Raymond Brookes-Ward was my godfather and, when his sons had grown out of it, he let me have Pepsi, their pony. I was a member of the local pony club from when I was seven to when I left home at 16. I did a few Pony Club tests, although I think I failed the last one I took.

What was the first competition you won and how old were you?
I cannot remember the first but I know it was on my first pony called Pepsi and I know it was a Gymkana event, something like the bending race. I would have been 6 years old.

Describe your typical day working in the stables?
The horses have their breakfast at 7am and then they are mucked out and hayed by my girls who are a huge part of the team. This I did for many years until I was in a position when I could pay for staff, now I help when I am short staffed and over holiday periods. After pottering around the house catching up with wifely chores and maybe spending some time on the phone or in the office, I try to be on the first horse by 8am, from then on it is riding all day, with the occasional coffee or tea break. No time to stop for lunch. There are 12 horses to be worked, and l try and ride anything from six to eight a day, the rest are hacked out by the girls. We try and aim to feed at 5.30 and are finished just after that. Then it's into the office and onto the phone keeping in touch with the owners of the horses and returning calls which I have missed during the day. Then back to being a wife and cooking supper or food shopping or washing. I then collapse in a heap onto the sofa before I collapse into bed.

What do you think of the digital version of yourself, and why did you decide to get involved with creating a computer game?
It is great being in digital because I don't look so old and haven't got so many wrinkles. I think there are many girls and possibly a few boys that are pony mad, and many of them might well live in towns or are not fortunate enough to have a pony, so the game gives them a real insight into what the horse world is about and who knows, one of them could be inspired by the game and become a future champion.

Horses aside what's your favourite animal?
Apart from horses I adore dogs especially my two. But I am a serious lover of all animals.

If you were confined to a desert island, with only three products from Amazon.co.uk for comfort, what would you choose?Without electricity most things would be useless so I would have to say three books. One about how to survive on a desert island, another one would be a natural cookbook giving special recipes using food only found on a desert island, and the third would be the thickest, biggest book Amazon has, which would be a very good read but could also be used to get a good fire going in order to cook the food and keep warm. Must remember to take some matches!

What advice would you give to people who have played the game and fancy getting into eventing?
I would say dreams can come true, but boy do you need to put a huge amount of work in and have plenty of patience, dedication and determination and a whole heap of luck. It's a very long staircase but worth climbing up.

What have you got planned for the rest of today?Sadly the day is over for me and I have to get up at 4am in the morning to drive to a competition in Norfolk with three horses. No one else drives my lorry so I am a trucker as well!

Manufacturer's Description
You play as a young girl, 17 years old, who has just integrated one of the most famous riding schools in Scotland. She will have to study hard to become a champion. She is not alone in the school as she's going to meet other students who will become her friends. But it seems that somebody is working hard on having her pushed out of the academy&

Customer Reviews

Fun the first time!!!
I followed up the fun of the stud farm inheritence with this game. As a young girl at an equestrian academy (how they afford to run it with only 5 students i'll never know!!!!) you make up your own timetable to train and look after your horse, get to know your classmates and compete with a smattering of little challenges and tasks to eventually discover who is attempting to sabotage you.

I liked the idea of creating your time table in this game but i had several problems with it. first of all the graphics aren't very good, the horse looks wierd and is the slowest thing u can imagine - during cross country you have a slow canter or a slower canter to use which i found frustrating!! Although it was relatively interesting speaking to the class mates and doing the little tasks they were all quite easy and if u failed and had forgotten to save your game for ages you were set back miles!!!

my main problem with this game occurred when i went to play it again months later. It completely lacks replayability as you know all the answers to the 'mystery' and listening to all the classmates again is dull!!! the hardest thing with re-playng this game though was trying it again having been playing lucinda green's equestrian challenge. the take the reins horse was slow, the graphics were dire and the courses were boring!!! my overall opinion is that this game is worth a play the first time, though not the best and hardly an investment for future fun!!!!!

AMAZING!
I had no problems loading this and my computer isn't exactly new, so I'm not sure why everyone seems to be having issues. Don't let it put you off buying it- it was the most realistic and interesting equestrian game I've ever played.
It has the usual mystery solving storyline, running alongside being a student at a top riding school. There is even a handsome love interest for your character! As well as superb graphics, realistic rules and layouts, it is extremely easy to navigate, and covers horsecare and getting to understand horse behaviour as well as actually training and competing in dressage, cross country and showjumping. There is a challenge every week that can sometimes be tricky to complete but this only adds to the fun. You can go shopping, like in other horse games, only it is via the character's laptop, making it more realistic and up to date.
Unlike some horse games, it takes a while to complete which is good, and also you don't get bored with one environment either, you get taken to Scotland (complete with very realistic rain!), Morocco and the USA.
I loved it and definitely recommend it.

good gameplay... but oh dear!
This game is graphically better than it's predecessor, but still could be visually improved. The gameplay is good. The puzzles aree not too difficult. You don't have to spend hours galloping across the countryside for no reason, but it crashes constantly! Yes you can reboot and reload the game and start again from your last save point, but it is very frustrating! I have uninstalled and reinstalled the game several times and I have not been able to get any further than the 5th week and progress to the 2nd usa week and complete the game. I had to buy the playstation version and complete it on there!
My overall recomendation is to buy the game, but not in the PC format!