Findon's Tina Cook proved she was more than up to the challenge when she picked up two bronze medals in the Olympic three-day event, which was staged in the fractionally less humid atmosphere of Hong Kong, rather than Beijing.

The 37-year-old played a vital role in securing team bronze with her young horse Miners Frolic (aka Henry at home) who, at 10 years old, was the baby of the British team. He had never even completed an event at the highest four-star level - top competitions such as Badminton and Burghley are still a dream in his future, and, 18 months ago, London 2012 was the aim.

However, when Zara Philips and Lucy Wiegersma both dropped out of the original GB team line up, Henry's chance for Olympic glory came early, and he made the most of it.

And from the outset in Hong Kong, it was obvious that Cook, always the consummate professional, successful at World and European level, but making her Olympic debut, was up to the task.

Frolic handles it

She surprised many in the opening dressage phase, where Miners Frolic's lack of top-level experience meant he might well have been overwhelmed by the occasion. The horse performed his dressage test under lights in the evening, where he had the buzz of a big, excited crowd to deal with.

But Cook's foresight was evident from when she was warming the Thoroughbred horse up, before the test, around the outside of the arena. Two earlier GB team riders - Daisy Dick and William Fox-Pitt – had their horses slightly 'spooked' by the TV cameras and judges' huts dotted around the arena boards.

Cook gave her horse ample opportunity to see these on her warm-up, weaving in and out of the little oriental buildings, and the horse showed no reaction during his test.

She explained: "I wanted to show Henry the cameras – I knew if he saw them he'd be OK, as once he's had a look at something he accepts it isn't a monster. We'd been allowed to practise in the arena before the competition, but the cameras hadn't been in place then."

Sevens and eights

The elegant bay performed the test of his life, staying nice and relaxed through the 'sideways' or lateral movements such as shoulder-in and half-pass, and gaining scores of seven and eight all the way.

The canter flying changes – when a horse has to switch leg in canter by 'skipping' rather than coming back to trot – were also excellent and were the movements that were catching out some of the less developed horses.

Cook reacted: "I was absolutely thrilled with him – I so wanted it to be a good test for both myself and the team. I've always known Henry is a beautiful horse and, as long as everything went OK with no scares along the way, I knew he could get a good mark."

They scored 40.4, just failing to break into the magic 30s, but they finished second-best of the GB riders.

It then came to the make-and-break cross country course, the work of British designer Mike Etherington-Smith. The top three scores, from each team of five horses, were to count, making Tina's performance a vital one.

Cross-country round so vital

The pre-set optimum time of eight minutes, over the 29-fence course which, with the many combinations and complexes, actually asked for 39 jumping efforts, was to prove impossible to attain, especially in the heat.

Cook was the penultimate British rider on the course and, with Britain starting the day in fourth place, her round become even more important to any chance of a British medal when her compatriot Sharon Hunt had an unfortunate stop.

But Cook remained cool and set off quickly, taking the direct route at the first water complex and the aptly named Great Wall combination. She shrugged off the rain that had started to fall by then, and remained accurate and calm to the end, to come home with 17.2 time penalties and move from 13th into 10th place.

Henry finished full of running and took the narrow direct route, which had proved the downfall of such top names as New Zealand's Andrew Nicholson, at the penultimate Pagoda complex.

Cook reported: "It was getting a bit slippy out there when I went round but the direct routes rode better than I'd expected when I walked the course. My horse was so fantastic – he was a bit tired coming into the final Pagoda complex, but I knew if I went the long way it would take too much time. I risked it and he pulled it off."

Only one British clear round

The final show jumping phase now has two possible rounds, the first to decide the team medals and the second, for the final top 25 riders, to decide the individual medals.

Cook jumped the only British clear round in the first of these to keep the team in the bronze medal place, into which they had moved during the cross-country, and stay ahead of the Italians.

She continued: "Henry tried so hard for me all the way – it was great to win bronze although we were beaten fair and square by the Germans and Australians – that will make us all the more hungry for gold in London."

The final round, to decide the individual medals, was the one that really found out who would crack under pressure.

Cook entered this in seventh place and jumped a clear round that will stay in the memories of horse fans for years to come. Then one by one, her rivals started to drop out of the equation – Aussie Clayton Fredericks, on the same score as Cook coming into the last round, had one down, and German Ingrid Klimke, lying in silver position, was another to crack.

Mind over emotion

Cook claimed her second bronze medal, and the tears this stoic individual had been determined to keep inside finally flooded out.

She admitted: "I can hardly speak – I've held it together but winning the second bronze has started to overwhelm me. Keeping your emotions in check is mind over matter – you have to control your worries or fears if you're going to succeed – but when it ends, it gets harder.

"My horse jumped super and deserves this medal. He's the best horse I've ever ridden – General Jock, my World Championship team gold medallist in the 1990s, was a good horse, but he could let you down in the show jumping. Henry is exceptional in all three phases.

"I've had him from a four-year-old and have always thought a lot of him but now everyone knows how special he is. At 18 months ago I was aiming for the Olympics in 2012 – then Henry started to go so well Beijing looked possible and I began to plan for it - missing Badminton this year and aiming for this instead. Now it's all paid off."

Cook, who watched the action on the sidelines at Sydney, where she was team reserve, was swift to thank those whose support had made it all possible, including her parents Josh and Althea Gifford, Miners Frolic's owners Mr and Mrs Nicolas Embiricos and Mrs Sarah Pelham, British team manager Yogi Breisner, jumping coach Kenneth Clawson, and dressage coach Tracie Robinson and husband Phil Cook, out in Hong Kong with her.

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