‘I emailed the best rider in the world’: young eventer learning from her idols on Badminton debut

One of the youngest riders in the field has made a promising start in the dressage phase at Mars Badminton Horse Trials. American rider Cosby Green, 23, is only five years older than her horse, Copper Beach, and is making her debut at Badminton, having contested her first CCI5* at Pau in the autumn.

Cosby has been based with Tim Price and his wife Jonelle Price in Dorset for over a year, having “gone out on a whim” to get the placement.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to come to England, since I was a little kid,” Cosby says. “I was just graduating from the University of Kentucky, didn’t know what to do and decided to bite the bullet, so I decided to make the sacrifice and come over here. My family are so supportive, they were pushing me out the door on to that plane.

“I’ve idolised Jonelle since I was a little girl, so I just went out on a whim and sent her an email. I had no connections or anything. I told her I was looking for somewhere to go and they happened to have space for me. It was pretty much like a fairy tale. I didn’t know a soul over here but they’ve taken me in with open arms.

“I wanted to be the best in the world, and I quite literally did go to the best in the world. So I’m following them around, just trying to do what they do and learn everything from them.”

Cosby Green: “My horse is a saint”

Another teacher in the equation is 18-year-old Copper Beach, previously campaigned by Buck Davidson up to five-star.

“The horse is such a saint to be able to teach me – every day he amazes me that he was able to have the career he did with Buck, and then he just keeps showing up for me,” Cosby Green says. “It was a bit tricky at first to kind of understand what he was used to, and I was trying to learn to ride a bit like Buck but now we’ve kind of created our own unique partnership and can read each other’s minds. We’re best friends.”

Their Badminton test put them ninth out of the first 35 competitors after day one.

“I’m really pleased; I felt it was a clear round with no massive mistakes,” she says, looking ahead to Saturday’s cross-country. “The course is stunning. The jumps are massive and seem not possible, but I believe it is and I can’t wait to get out there and do the round this horse deserves.”

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