You have enjoyed an exceptional season, including third place in the Rolex Grand Prix at TSCHIO Aachen and team gold at the FEI World Championships. How have those experiences strengthened your belief that you belong among the very best riders in the world?

SH: To have achieved such great results, especially with the same horse, has given me a lot of confidence. He jumped very well here last year, and that gives me a great feeling when I enter the arena because I know that we are capable of jumping these fences. He [Iron Dames Singclair] has achieved so many good results this year, most recently team gold at the FEI World Championships in Aachen, and that gives you a great belief in both your own ability and that of your horse.

You simply need to remain focused, have a good plan, prepare well and then go into the ring and try to deliver.

At this level, the margins between victory and defeat are incredibly small. How have you developed the mental strength to manage pressure, remain completely focused and make the right decisions in the most important moments?

SH: In this sport, everything comes down to the smallest details. Sometimes, only a fraction of a second separates being on the podium from missing out, so every detail matters.

Mentally, I really try to remain calm. The FEI World Championships were my biggest challenge in terms of staying completely focused, but I always tell myself that I will try my hardest in the ring. If I have a fault, it is never intentional. We enter the ring to do our best and to try to win.

When there is an important event, I try to prepare for it in the best way possible and I try not to change anything. We are very consistent, so whether it is a championship or a Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping Major, I do not want to do anything differently because our approach has already worked well.

I always remind myself to stay calm and focus on our strategies. If you have a bad week or something does not go according to plan, the world is not going to end. That is the sport. There will always be ups and downs, and we can only continue to try our best. You see with even the very best riders that their rounds do not always go to plan. I think you have to become accustomed to that, learn from it and come back even stronger.

You came through the Young Riders Academy supported by Rolex and are now part of an exciting generation competing consistently at the highest level. How important was that experience in helping you make the transition, and how ambitious are you about establishing yourself on the Rolex Grand Slam’s greatest stages?

SH: The Young Riders Academy supported by Rolex really helped me to enter the professional show jumping world. It was such a valuable experience, and we had the opportunity to learn about so many different aspects of our sport. I found it extremely interesting and learnt a great deal during my time there.

Over the past year, I have stepped up to the highest level, and everything I have experienced during the last three years has enabled me to reach where I am today. I am very happy, but I also know how quickly everything can change, so I enjoy every single second of it.

At the moment, I have an unbelievable string of horses, and I am aware that this can change very quickly. I therefore I am trying to do my best with these horses while continuing to develop other young horses, so that I can remain at the top of the sport for a long time.