Equestrianism: Walters closing in on a four-star performance

Abigail Walters - or Abi as she is usually known - has already been pinpointed as a potential star of three-day eventing by being awarded a place on the World Class Start Programme for the last two years. Having been individual bronze medallist and best of Britain's gold medal team at last year's Young Riders European Championships, she must now be on course for another "start" place when they are handed out next month.

This year the 20-year-old Walters is also hoping to make her presence felt at top senior level, when she rides Uther Pendragon II in the four-star Badminton Horse Trials that run from 29 April to 2 May. "It will be really scary," she said, with a hint of relish, before giving the idea more of a sports psychology spin. "I've already done a few three-stars, so it's the obvious next step. I just hope it goes smoothly."

Walters can claim to have quite a few things in common with Pippa Funnell, who is the rider she most admires ("Surprise, surprise!"). She comes from a horsy background and started riding young: "I must have been two or three when I was first plonked on a pony." She came up through the Pony Club and has competed in junior and young rider teams. She would be overjoyed if Uther Pendragon (known as Arthur at home) were to follow the path of Funnell's first great horse, Sir Barnaby, who took his rider all the way from Pony Club events to a fifth place at Badminton.

Unlike Funnell, Walters was born and brought up in Cornwall, where she now shares a yard near Truro with one of her two brothers, Thomas. Her father, Tom Walters, takes time off his business, which involves converting lorries into horseboxes, in order to ferry his offspring and their mounts to competitions. "It takes him an hour to get to us and another hour to reach the A30," Abi said, referring to the one disadvantage in living in Cornwall. "It's a nightmare getting to events, but it's beautiful here and I love it."

She and her brother are now looking to secure HGV licences, so that they can drive the horsebox and thereby take some of the pressure off their obliging father.

Abi Walters had a greater stroke of fortune than she realised when a local owner, Robin Holloway, offered her the ride on Uther Pendragon. The horse was five at the time and she was 14; in the process of learning together they have had time to build up a wonderful rapport. "Arthur's a cheeky chap, quite small but very strong and brave as a lion," Walters said.

Other Cornish-based owners have also sent her horses and, though most of them are "still at the baby stage", she believes that "a few could be brilliant".

With limited funds to spend on training, Walters is enormously grateful for the opportunities on offer through the Start Programme - in particular the chance to have lessons with two leading trainers, Pammy Hutton and Gill Watson. "If you want to become a top-class rider, you need a top-class trainer. Pammy has turned me round completely in the dressage. I was hopelessly inexperienced when I first went to her, now I can half understand what she's saying. I've even started competing in pure dressage at a low level and I really enjoy it."

Being keen and alert and eager to learn, she will make good use of the further tuition made available through the £2,000 Hartpury Scholarship that she was awarded at Olympia last month.

The Young Riders European Championships, which were held at Bialy Bor in Poland at the end of September last year, represent the indelible highlight of Walters' achievements so far. "Everything came together at the right time. It was brilliant to win the team gold, my individual bronze was a wonderful and totally unexpected bonus."

Bialy Bor will also be remembered for an alarming moment on the road when Gill Watson, the long-time trainer of junior and young rider teams, was driving Walters and two other members of the squad to the venue. "We were almost rammed off the road by people trying to steal our hired car, but Gill did some smart rally driving and we got away," Walters said. "It wasn't funny at the time, but we've laughed about it ever since."

A few weeks before the trip to Poland, Zara Phillips, the Queen's 22-year-old granddaughter, had provided inspiration to all young riders when her galvanising performance at Burghley (her first four-star event) left her runner-up to Funnell. "That was a huge achievement," Walters said. "She was in Young Riders the year before, now she's on the Olympic short-list. I would certainly like to follow Zara!"