Zara Phillips will make it third time lucky at the London 2012 eventing competition, and she admitted: "Plan A does not always happen".
Phillips and High Kingdom are part of a five-strong Great Britain team that will begin its bid for Olympic gold at Greenwich Park on Saturday morning.
The 31-year-old was denied an Olympic appearance on her 2006 world championship-winning horse Toytown.
Toytown was injured ahead of selection for the 2004 Athens Games, and then after gaining an Olympic place four years later, injury again struck.
But Phillips has fought her way back to gain overdue Olympic recognition, emulating her mother the Princess Royal and father Captain Mark Phillips, who were both eventing Olympians.
"In our sport, not everything always goes to plan," said Phillips, The Queen's granddaughter. "Plan A doesn't always happen, so you have got to be prepared to keep going and try again. It is about building the horses up and trying to get to the top again.
"Both my parents rode at the Olympics, but although it is the Olympics, it is also another competition and you need to work the same way you normally would. You have to deal with it.
"All of us (the GB team) have been to championships before, some more than others, but we are very well prepared for it. It is amazing to be here. I am massively proud of being in London, the whole venue is great, and hopefully, we (riders) can make it even better."
Germany will go into both team and individual competitions as gold medal favourites. Germany are the reigning European champions, while their star rider Michael Jung is the first since Phillips to hold world and European titles simultaneously.
"It is not easy to predict," Phillips added, speaking at the final pre-event British team press conference in Greenwich Park. "It is going to be a close competition. Every nation has got fantastic combinations. The Germans are going to be the strongest, but I don't think they are anyone to be afraid of."