Sam and Connie At Badminton

Sam Griffiths and Connigar Bay (Connie) did well at Badminton last year, completing the troublesome cross country course and producing their best dressage score yet. We caught up with Sam to get his thoughts of how the event went for him.

"On walking the course at Badminton, it soon became clear that this was definitely not going to be a dressage competition! This excited me as I knew Connigar Bay was a great cross country horse, having flown around his last three four star events - however, this proved to be a four star that was full of surprises!

Our dressage was Thursday afternoon and following a good couple of training sessions on site at Badminton with my trainer Lizzie Murray, I felt confident and calm before the test. Connie had been wearing the Equilibrium massage pad before his test and as a result, he felt very relaxed when I got on him and we went on to produce our best four star test to date - scoring 49.

The next day, I walked the course one more time, making my mind up on which routes to take. I then just gave Connie a bit of a 'pipe opener' and a school over one or two practice fences. Although the course certainly wasn't getting any smaller, I was now very familiar with it all and that in itself is quite calming. Friday evening was quiet and early to bed having gone through the plan of action for the morning with the grooms. I got up at 6am Saturday morning to walk the course one last time. I took Connie for a quiet hack around the park before the crowds got too big and then it was time to get ready. I just had time to watch a few of the first riders out on course before getting Connie warmed up and ready to go. I felt very determined on leaving the start box and we got off to a flying start with a fantastic ride through the influential Huntsman's Close and the Lake. Connie was trying his heart out but I took a couple of options to keep him confident. He jumped in to the Shogun Hollow well so I decided to go straight but unfortunately it didn't come off and we had a silly run out. I was gutted but as the day went on it became apparent that it was just good to get round! Connie pulled up well so we could all sleep easily on Saturday night.

Early, Sunday morning I took him for a ride to relieve any stiffness and then gave him another session in the massage pad. He trotted up well and following a good warm up session with Australian coaches Wayne Roycroft and David Green we put in a good show jumping performance. We had two down but I was very pleased with our round and the way the horse felt.

Despite my initial disappointment following our run out, I am in retrospect really pleased with Connie - it was a good solid performance over a serious four star course that was catching out the best riders in the world. Whether we have done enough to get us to Beijing we will have to wait and see but in the meantime, I have a well and sound horse for the future and my next big aim with him will be to put in a really competitive performance at Burghley.

I have received fantastic support from Equilibrium, for which I am extremely grateful. I am sure the massage pad definitely helped to relax my usually 'hot' horse before the dressage and he wore the Tri-Zone boots throughout the competition - If they can survive that Badminton course they are definitely quality boots in my book! "