It was the ultimate, even for the Eventing World Champion. Zara Phillips was delighted to be selected for the British equestrian team competing at the Beijing Olympics. But, in June, those Olympic hopes were dashed when Toytown, her 15-year-old horse, was injured in training.

It was a risk she knew only too well, having experienced similar disappointment four years earlier when Toytown was injured prior to the Athens Games. Even talking to Coutts Woman before the injury, Zara was particularly measured on the subject of her debut.

"The Olympics is very big, but you still have to get there with your horses. A lot can go wrong between now and then. So, it's about keeping everything the same and calm until then."

'The same' is a strict regime she's followed for years. The equestrian season starts in February and involves Zara riding eight of her 11 horses a day, from sun up until sun down, and travelling across Europe to competitions sometimes twice a week. But now that schedule has been cut short, what's an Olympic-level athlete to do?

Well, take a holiday for one. It's a luxury she and her boyfriend, England rugby player Mike Tindall, don't usually get, thanks to their hectic sporting schedules. "Mike's season starts when mine finishes,"Zara explains, "but it means we can support each other when we are competing."

"I really don’t feel pressure because of my background to succeed. That’s what everyone else thinks. The royal link doesn’t make a difference in my sport."

She'll also get a much sought after sleep-in. The early mornings are a part of her profession she least enjoys. "It takes me about half an hour to start talking or communicating in the morning,"she laughs. "I want to sleep in all the time, but I don't. I get up and don't skip a lesson unless I'm really, really sick. I usually just get on with it."

It's this determination that has stood the 27-year-old royal in good stead, helping her win an increasing number of titles in recent years. These include Eventing World Champion, won in Germany in 2006, BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2006, an individual and team gold medal at the 2005 European Eventing Championship in Blenheim, and another team gold in 2007. Her wins during 2005 and 2006 have been the best so far, she says, adding: "Winning the first time was really cool, and then the second time proved it wasn't a fluke!"

Of course, some would still argue it's all in the genes, with her parents - Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips - both Olympians in the 1970s and 80s. But, despite her background, and the fact she was surrounded by horses since birth, riding wasn't always her ambition.

"Some people have a massive 'That's what I'm going to do' feeling, but it wasn't like that for me,"she admits. "I don't think my dream was to ride although I was around horses a lot when I was younger and enjoyed riding. It just developed over time."

It appealed to her for several reasons; the variety, the competition, but mainly the partnership developed between horse and rider. "The better the relationship, the easier it is to deal with different situations and courses, because you're telling them what to do at each jump and turn, and controlling their movements, which can be unpredictable."

"I don’t think my dream was to ride although I was around horses a lot when I was younger. It just developed over time."

But their partnership goes beyond that. After receiving her BBC award two years ago, she wrote in the Daily Telegraph that she'd missed him on the night. "I was pretty overwhelmed when I won and froze when I had to speak. Toytown would never have frozen, I wish he could have been there with me."

Zara showed immense talent early on in her career, but with such intense scrutiny – publicly and privately, it was thought – people expected her to buckle under the pressure. It's something she laughs at now, insisting on dispelling some myths.

"I really don't feel pressure because of my background to succeed. That's what everyone else thinks. But it's not like that at all. And the royal link doesn't make a difference in my sport. Everyone just gets on with it and works as hard as each other. That's what counts."

And Zara is all about working hard. The press may have painted her as a party girl a few years ago, but that only overshadowed what went before – years of dedicated study, first at her local primary school, then boarding at Gordonstoun in Scotland, and finally qualifying as an equine physiotherapist at Exeter University.

These days, it's the same professionally. Together with supporting a range of charities including being patron for the Mark Davies Injured Riders Fund, and working tirelessly as an ambassador for Coutts and RBS, Zara's work ethic has paid off, most notably since 2003.

It was the year she broke up with former boyfriend, national hunt jockey Richard Johnson, met Tindall, accepted her first sponsorship deal with spread betting company Cantor Index, and began a gruelling training regime that would help her take the equestrian world by storm.

The first member of the royal family to accept commercial sponsorship, it was a bold move, but a financial necessity to continue competing. Zara does not receive money from the Civil List, so sponsorship proved crucial in covering the costly equestrian schedule. And it's continued to benefit her, with more, carefully chosen sponsors who now include Land Rover, Rolex and the RBS group.

In fact, bar her Olympic disappointment, Zara couldn't be happier right now. In a steady relationship and living happily in the country, she laughs at the mention of ever wanting a city life. "I go out near home and people recognise me but they don't ring up the press. That's what happens in the city."

And though Toytown, or 'Noddy' as she calls him in her stables, may need to hang up his horse shoes in the near future, it's only just the beginning for Zara. Not that she's gets ahead of herself. "I'm taking things year by year, but my ultimate goal is to stay riding at the top level and get more championships under my belt yet."And, to that, we salute you.

By Barbara Walshe