It was Bold Greyson’s turn again. After his win at Keysoe I wanted to try a 2* with the hope of getting to a 3* with him this year. I had brought him back to work very slowly and knew that the 1* would have done a lot for his fitness, and I did not want to over train him after his tendon injury. Being flat at home in Norfolk, I knew we would also have to approach the rolling hills of Barbury with extra special care and my game plan was to simply walk up and down hill, getting off whenever necessary and sticking to a slow and steady pace. I had ridden at Barbury before and so knew where to look for the markers as you leave the venue – you need to know whether you are heading out of the venue and onto course, or coming back on yourself through the cross country course and past the venue.
There was a good group of us, and again good to see international entries from around the world as well as a good show of Brits.
Greyson felt in fine form and we stuck to our plan, and I helped him slowly up and down hill, and bowled along in his long canter on all the good going and flat parts of the course. Barbury has some great fun sections including the point to point course, and it rides very well. As it turned out Greyson was the first British horse home, coming in 6th after the Middle Eastern teams – I couldn’t have asked for more of him. He looked great and felt great. We had kept to a steady speed of 14.47 kmph and it had paid off. Next up for Greyson, to find a 3* that allowed enough recovery time for him – France maybe ?