GOING into a season sitting third in the world has its advantages and disadvantages, as Marlborough-based eventer Tim Price can vouch for.

The 36-year-old enjoyed a career-best campaign in 2015, which left him just two places behind the top rider in the world, Michael Jung.

However, with the Olympics on the horizon, the pressure is now on the New Zealand rider to emulate that for a second year in a row.

“I’m just going to build on last year all round hopefully,” Price told the Gazette.

“It is almost more daunting now. I was quite happy and quite easy to finish last year and glide through winter thinking 'that was quite a fun year'.

“Now the pressure is on to be as good, if not better than what we were.

“It is something that I will try and convert to a positive pressure and I am very lucky to have the horses I have got. They do all the work and I just sit there and I am sure it will come together nicely.”

Over time, Price has learnt to deal with the expectation that success can bring and is hoping to channel it into further success this season.

“It doesn’t really get to me anymore,” he added.

“It is definitely something that is an ever-present and a necessary evil because it drives you and can put you into the right place to perform, and I think that any top level performer needs to be able to revel in that kind of thing.

“It used to interfere a little bit from time to time when it counted; not that I was very often in a winning position, but just a position where I wanted to do well.

“I am typically a natural rider and go about things in quite a relaxed manner but then if something like that creeps in and you have an uncharacteristic mistake, then it really disturbed me.

“So to get to a stage now where I am a bit more experienced and know how to handle these things and understand that it is going to be there but not something to react to, and hopefully we can use it as an advantage.”

Despite a first appearance at the Olympic Games being the ultimate aim from this year, Price knows he can ill-afford to take his eye off the ball as he prepares to build on his second-place finish at Kentucky last year and a ninth-place finish at Badminton.

“The focus is very much on the two four-star events (Kentucky and Badminton) at the end of this year and once they are behind me, I can have a little think about things beyond,” said Price.

“Of course, everything has been planned with Rio in mind and that is where we are heading, and hopefully Wesko will be the one to take and everything will fall into place nicely.

“Without a good spring campaign, then those things become a little bit further away.

“First thing first is to have a good lead into the Rolex and into Badminton, and to have some results there and then crack on for Rio.”