Cosby Green has been excited to return home to the U.S. after some time away basing in the UK with Tim and Jonelle Price, but she certainly didn’t expect to be sitting front and center in the day one press conference here at the MARS Maryland 5 Star, presented by Brown Advisory.
And yet, she did just that, delivering a 28.0 with the 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, Highly Suspicious (Russell – Unknown). This is a first 5* effort for “Puff”, though Cosby’s certainly done her homework in the lead-up to this debut. However straightforward her preparation record may be, though, Cosby emphasizes that today’s effort has been the latest stop on a very long and winding road.
“I got him with I was sixteen, and I couldn’t ride one side of him for probably the first five and a half years,” Cosby said, describing the horse as quite anxious and difficult to ride. “He’s extremely difficult, and in the beginning I was always scoring in the low forties.”
If you take a look at Highly Suspicious’ FEI record, you can truly see the progression he’s made; in their first international event together in 2017, at the CCI1*-S level, the pair scored a 46.5. They quickly righted the ship, trending down into the mid or high-30s after that, but Cosby didn’t really see competitive scores coming out on the flat until 2022. At that point, however, she ran into a rash of troubles on cross country, picking up jump penalties and retiring on course at several events…