Biography

British rider Emilie Chandler (42) who runs her own yard at Stathern near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, last completed Badminton in 2018 (20^th Coopers Law) her second appearance at the event. In 2003 she was awarded the ‘best first time’ award with Bridgestone. In 2021 with Badminton entry Gortfadda Diamond she was 6^th at Luhmuhlen 5*.

Emilie is a former British junior team rider and in 1998 won individual silver and team gold at the European junior championships with Weston Miskris with who she was national junior champion in 1999 (Weston Miskris was the dam of the eventing stallion Weston Justice).

In 2002 she was second in the U25 championships and the following year made her four-star debut at Badminton with Bridgestone and was awarded the prize for the ‘best first-timer’. Emilie then chose to concentrate on producing and selling horses in order to fund and build her business.

She is a successful producer of young horses – she has won the Burghley Young Event Horse final twice and is a regular at the young horse championships which she won in 2009 with the then five-year-old Coopers Law. She is a UKCC level 3 eventing coach. In 2013 she made her first BE Nations Cup team appearance with Coopers Law in Montelibretti, winning the team competition and was second individually and in 2015 the pair was on the reserve list for the 2015 European Championships. With former 5* ride Coopers Law she completed Burghley, Pau and Badminton.

Outside of eventing she enjoys skiing and sailing.

Gortfadda Diamond, owned since a four-year-old by Maria Doel, is a 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse registered gelding. He is by Watervalley Cool Diamond (a son of the international jumper Coolcorran Cool Diamond) out of the thoroughbred mare Panda by Glacial Storm. He was previously ridden by Mark and Tanya Kyle who acquired him from Ireland as a three-year-old. He has been ridden by Emilie since 2017.