Danni Dunn was centre stage at a special event at Cirencester Town Football Club not so long ago.

The event – a gala evening – was organised by Danni and Julie Abbley, the wife of Cirencester Town chairman Steve Abbley, but despite the venue, don’t for one minute think that Danni Dunn is a footballer.

In fact, football is one of the few sports the recently-turned 27-year-old hasn’t played – she was good at hockey, tennis, athletics and swimming as a youngster, although these days all her focus is on just one sport.

And that focus is certainly paying dividends because Danni Dunn is a top eventer, someone who has represented Great Britain – she won a team silver medal at the Senior European 2* Championships in 2015 – and has also competed at Badminton, one of the sport’s great events.

That’s pretty impressive in anyone’s book but Danni wants more, much more, and her stated aim is to compete in the Olympics in Paris in 2024.

“It’s the dream to get to the Olympics and obviously you have to believe it to achieve it,” said Danni, who is well spoken and easy to interview.

“I don’t want to come across as big-headed – I’m quite level-headed – and I know that for me to get to the Olympics a lot of things have to fall into place.

“You have to be lucky with timings but you’re not going to go if you don’t try.”

And you have to say that given her track record it’s something that is certainly possible especially with people like Julie Abbley as part of her team, a team which enjoys the eye-catching name of Team DD.

Danni Dunn, a former Cheltenham Ladies’ College pupil, was always likely to enjoy a life surrounded by horses.

“I’ve ridden ever since I can remember,” she said. “My mum was an event rider and she had a Shetland ready for me even before I was born!

“I’ve grown up around horses in the yard.”

That yard – or Wells Farm Equestrian Centre as it is today – is in Purton, fewer than 14 miles south of Cirencester down the A419, and mum Jacqui was a seriously good eventer herself back in the day.

“She represented Great Britain and competed at Badminton and Burghley,” said Danni, before adding with a laugh, “I’m trying to trump her!”

Wells Farm – it was a dairy farm before it was converted into an equestrian centre and livery – is home to some dozen or so horses who are treated as part of the family by Danni and her mum.

They run the centre together and Danni said: “Mum is fantastic, she has so much knowledge. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without her, she is a huge part of it.

“We’re very proud of the equestrian centre, we’ve built new stables and put in an arena. We’ve got all the facilities of a top event yard.”

Just like her mum, Danni has a feel for horses, whether she is looking after them or riding them.

“After I had the Shetland, my mum bought me a pony for £350 when I was 12,” recalled Danni, “that was my first proper pony.”

And it didn’t take long for people to realise that she was a pretty decent rider although it’s fair to say that Danni didn’t appreciate quite how good she was in those early years.

“That was because I’d ridden all my life,” she explained, “it was something I did. When you’re younger you just do it, I took part in my first international when I was 10.

“It was brilliant but I didn’t really take it in.”

That was then but now she knows she’s pretty good and she definitely knows what she wants to achieve.

“I’m very determined, very focussed,” she said. “I take part to win, I’m not there just to participate, I take it very seriously.”

As well as riding, Danni owns two horses – a four-year-old called Cougar and six-year-old called V – but if she is to realise her Olympic dream it may well be on a horse that she part-owns.

That horse is Ibrahim and Danni said: “He’s a very nice six-year-old, he’s part-owned by myself, Heidi Ponting and Julie Abbley.

Heidi Ponting is another big supporter of Team DD and Danni, whose brother James is a professional motocross racer, added: “It’s a long road to the top, you can’t do it on your own. You need the right horse, you need the right people behind you and you need to be smart if you’re going to win a gold medal.

“I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am, it’s been a big effort. I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved, we’ve got a fantastic string of horses and now I’m looking to kick on again.”

Kicking on involves, in part, attracting new sponsors, hence the gala evening at Cirencester Town FC which as well as a way of saying thank you to existing sponsors was also a chance to promote Danni’s profile.

A recorded message by eventing great Mark Todd was also played at the gala so Danni must be doing a lot right if she’s got his backing!

Julie Abbley, meanwhile, became a big supporter after Danni and her mum nursed her pony back to health after an illness.

“She thought we were miracle workers,” added Danni, who certainly has plenty to look forward in the months and years ahead.

Competing for the first time at Burghley is a big target for 2020. That would be on Grandslam, a horse Danni part-owns with Anne Chapman, and if she succeeds she will match another of her mum’s achievements of course!

“I’m trying to push on,” she said, “it’s all about creating momentum.”

Burghley is right up there with Badminton in terms of top-level eventing and Danni has great memories of competing at Badminton even though her horse, Zocarla BLH, “made a little error at the end of the cross-country course”.

“It was so exciting jumping those fences, it was so cool,” she added. “After that I went to Pau and that was amazing as well.”

So which of the three disciplines that make up eventing – dressage, cross-country or showjumping – does Danni prefer?

“To be honest, it depends which horse I’m sitting on,” she said. “The cross-country gives you the biggest buzz but eventing is the ultimate challenge, that’s what I really like about it. There are so many different phases, there is so much to the training.

“We ask a lot of the horses but they love it. Trust me, if they didn’t want to do it, they wouldn’t, you can’t make them do it.”

She knows what she’s talking about of course.

The two horses that she owns – Cougar and V – were both broken in by her and she said: “I love getting to know horses. I love all horses and what they do for us is incredible. It takes time and it’s not plain sailing but it’s great fun.”

Danni is also enjoying being coached by Chris Bartle, who is High Performance Coach for the British Three-Day Event Squad.

“He’s very, very well respected in the world of eventing,” said Danni. “He trained the Germans for a while. I’ve been working very closely with him, he’s been brilliant.”

That’s just one more person supporting Team DD for whom the biggest supporter is obviously Danni’s mum Jacqui.

Mum and daughter clearly think along the same lines, work very well together and are obviously very close, but who would Danni say was the better eventer?

“Ooh, that’s a very good question, I’ve never been asked that before,” laughed Danni, before adding, still laughing, “I’d have to say me!”

Anyone who wants to know more about Team DD or Wells Farm Equestrian Centre should email ddeventing@outlook.com