Virginia Leng

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Medal record
Equestrian
Olympic Games
Silver 1984 Los Angeles Team eventing
Silver 1988 Seoul Team eventing
Bronze 1984 Los Angeles Individual eventing
Bronze 1988 Seoul Individual eventing
World Championships
Gold 1986 Gawler Individual eventing
Gold 1986 Gawler Team eventing
Gold 1982 Luhmühlen Team eventing
Silver 1990 Stockholm Team eventing

Virginia "Ginny" Helen A. Leng (née Holgate, born February 2, 1955) is a British eventer who was born in Malta[1]. She has won several national and international titles, including European Champion (1985, 1989), winner of the Badminton Horse Trials and winner of the Burghley Horse Trials a record five times (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1989). She rode many great horses mainly Murphy Himself, Night Cap III and Priceless. Murphy Himself was a headstrong, brave and cocky grey gelding who was a difficult ride, but they did quite well, with a 1st at Avenches (1984), 1st at 1986 Le Touquet CCI and 1st at 1986 Burghley. She had a few tough falls from him and her mother and trainer thought she shouldn't continue riding him. She traded him to Ian Stark for Ian Stark's horse George. Her other horse, Priceless, was a bay gelding, described as pony-like until he was seen in full flight. He never had a stop in his whole cross country career which was quite a feat.

[edit] Writing career

Since the 1980s, she has written several books, including fiction and non fiction.[2]

As Virginia Leng

  • Ginny: An Autobiography (1986)
  • Priceless: Champion of Eventing (1987)
  • Ginny and Her Horses (1987)
  • A Free Rein (1989)
  • Training the Event Horse (1990)

As Ginny Elliot

  • Winning (1995)
  • Race Against Time (1996)
  • High Hurdle (1997)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Who's Who in International Showjumping & Equestrianism. Sphere Books Ltd., 1983. ISBN 0-7221-3321-9
  2. ^ British Library