Zara Tindall reveals she’s gone part-time in her equestrian career so that she can be around more for her three children and says she makes ‘better decisions’ about work

Zara Tindall, British Olympic equestrian champion and eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, has revealed that her professional riding career is now “part-time” so she can spend more time with her three young children.

In an interview with Australian Women’s Weekly Magazine Zara, who won silver in the GB team event at the London 2012 Olympics, has revealed how her approach to competitive riding has changed since she had children.

Zara and her husband Mike Tindall, a former rugby player and former reality TV contestant, are parents to nine-year-old Mia, five-year-old Lena and two-year-old son Lucas.

“I’m working part-time now,” she told the magazine. “I only have four horses, so hopefully I will have enough time to take care of my kids and continue to compete. I hope I make better decisions. Now I definitely don’t go to everything.”

Zara, King Charles’s niece, explained: “When I had 15 horses I was everywhere and away every weekend, but now I really choose (activities) around children and holidays and try to be around as much as possible.” .’

Speaking to The Australian Women’s Weekly, Zara Tindall (pictured) revealed her professional riding career is now “part-time” so she can spend more time with her children. Zara is pictured above with Classicals Euro Star at the Blenheim riding competition earlier this year.

Known for both her athletic prowess and her fashion choices, Zara attends equestrian events around the world, both as an accomplished athlete when she competes and as a fashionista and trend-setter when she is a spectator.

Her illustrious career includes gold at the 2005 European Eventing Championships and silver at the 2006 World Equestrian Games.

Previously, Zara was recognized as the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year and received the nickname “Royal Olympian”.

On the subject of motherhood, Zara has spoken candidly about her struggles to get her body back in shape after having children, calling pregnancy a “shock to your system” and how much your body changes.

She told the magazine that giving birth, along with the natural aging process, was a “huge event for a woman” and as a professional athlete, some of the physical changes took her by surprise.

For example, Zara admitted that it took her a long time to realize that she could not maintain the same routine that she had when she was younger, such as what food she ate and what exercise she did.

But Zara says the hard lessons she learned will help her teach her children.

She said she would teach her daughters to constantly check how their bodies were doing and changing, Zara said, because women “definitely” have it harder than men, referring to the various hormonal changes a woman’s body goes through, such as menopause.

Zara reduced the number of her horses from 15 to four so she could spend more time with her children. She is pictured above with Mia Tindall (far left), Mike Tindall (left) and Lena Tindall (far right).

Zara said she will “always” feel guilty when she is away from her children. Pictured above is her with her youngest child Lucas at the British Eventing Festival last year.

Despite competing in fewer professional equestrian events to spend more time with her family, Zara said she would probably “always” feel guilty when she was away from her children, but she had come to accept it as part of motherhood.

Earlier this year, Zara’s husband Mike interviewed her as part of his new YouTube series called Mike Drop and she opened up about her feelings of “mom guilt.”

“Mentally you feel guilty, like a mother leaving her child to do something else,” she said in a video interview.

-You feel guilty. I felt guilty all the time. Even just going to go and ride. I just thought: this is part of my life now.”

Looking back on life as their royal family, Zara also told her husband in an interview that she constantly worries whether Mike is looking after the children properly.

“I had to call you every day to make sure you were doing the right thing,” she said.