(CNN) -- Zara Phillips is not one to rest on her laurels. After giving birth for the first time in January -- providing Queen Elizabeth II's fourth great-grandchild -- the equestrian star could be forgiven for taking a break from the harsh demands of the stables. Yet just three months on, the British Head of State's eldest granddaughter would find herself back on that familiar saddle competing once more. By August, she had remarkably gone a long way to likely booking her place in what will be her second Olympic Games. "It was harder than I thought it was going to be. I had a lot of friends who said, 'Don't come back too quickly.' I sat on a horse about five weeks after (giving birth)," Phillips tells the CNN Equestrian show.
@highlight
Zara Phillips helps Britain qualify for 2016 Olympics less than nine months after giving birth
@highlight
Phillips now targeting gold medal in Rio de Janeiro after claiming silver at London 2012
@highlight
The 33-year-old is treasuring the experience of being a mother to Mia Grace Tindall
Her grandmother, one of the great patrons of @placeholder horse racing, still rides at the age of 88.