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During week five of the Winter Equestrian Festival at Wellington International in Florida, USA, Kent Farrington and Greya (Colestus x Contender, bred by Wilfried Sandmann) won the CSI5* Fidelity Investments® Grand Prix and come week seven the two were at it again when taking top honours in the CSI5* Lugano Grand Prix.

The 11-year-old mare is no stranger to leading the lap of honours. Last year, Greya won the CSI5*-W Longines FEI Jumping World Cup at Traverse City (USA) and topped the CSI5* Rolex Grand Prix of La Baule (FRA). Together with Farrington, she was also a part of the U.S. team traveling to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris where the mare unfortunately ended up not being able to compete due to an allergic reaction.

You just have to adapt to the situation and adapt to where the horses are in that moment

- Kent Farrington -

“Last summer, I think she was still an up-and-coming horse,” Farrington tells World of Showjumping. “Unfortunately, I had a little bit of bad luck with the Olympics as she got sick there. However, sometimes it's hard to know what's good luck and what’s bad luck. She would have been one of the younger horses competing at the Olympics, and maybe it was better long-term that she didn't jump there at that point in her career. On the other hand; since she was in good form, I think she would have been a contender for a possible medal."

"This is horse sport and I think the reality is there are lots of variables and that's why it's often hard to totally plan because there are many things that are outside of your control. You just have to adapt to the situation and adapt to where the horses are in that moment. With horses, you have to be realistic and instead of letting emotion guide you, you have to let your horses guide you.”

Christoph Zimmermann discovered Greya as a 5-year-old, and showed Farrington a video of the mare. “We both loved her on the video; she's obviously super careful, even though she didn't appear as the easiest one,” Farrington recalls. “I bought her based on that video and left her with Christoph.”

I loved her from day one

- Christoph Zimmermann - 

For Zimmermann, it was love at first sight. “At the time, she was owned by her breeder Mr. Sandmann and was ridden by Johannes Ehning,” he recalls about discovering Greya. “Johannes called me to say he had a super horse. We are friends and I respect him a lot as a horse person. He told me this mare was challenging and green, but very careful and had a lot of blood. I went there to try her with our former rider Philipp Battermann-Voss, and Greya was very wild.”

“However, I loved her from day one. When we got her in our stable, we really took a lot of time with her. She was not very classical to ride. The only thing we tried, was to have her relaxed and she would spend a lot of time in the fields. Mylen Kruse, who rode for us at the time, did a great job wirth Greya. Although challenging, I always thought she was unbelievable. We rode around at national shows and one day I said to my wife Janne that I didn't understand why nobody was asking if this horse was for sale – I thought she was the greatest horse ever! Janne told me that she thought it was so obvious to everyone how much I loved this horse that everyone probably thought I would never sell her.”

“She was always a bit unorthodox, always high with her head,” Zimmermann continues to tell about how the feisty grey mare was as a youngster. “She had a special character, but I always thought that she had all the ability in her body. In addition to her mentality, the way she can move her body is incredible. You can come full speed as close as you want to the jump, and she would not have a rail. However, I think that if she would have ended up in the wrong hands as a young horse, she could have been ruined in one day. If you have her against you, you have no chance.”

She had a special character, but I always thought that she had all the ability in her body

- Christoph Zimmermann - 

“I think her ability runs in her genes; her whole family is really good,” Zimmermann points out about the mare who is a cousin to Eugenio Garza Perez’s Contago (Cornet Obolensky x Cassini II) – their dams are both daughters of Landgraefin (Landkraiser x Perser XX).

When Greya was seven, it was time for Kent to take over the reins. “I have a very good relationship with Kent, and we do a lot of business together,” Zimmermann says. “I think he is one of the best riders there is. The only thing I asked him to do with Greya – although I know he knows what he is doing – was to be patient and give her time, and she would be incredible.”

The best horses in the sport are the ones that have a strong temperament and mentality

- Kent Farrington - 

“There were ups and downs,” Farrington recalls about the beginning with Greya. “She is super careful and not the easiest. During our first summer, I brought her to Spruce Meadows, where she was very sharp on one wall and I struggled a little bit there. We actually ended up jumping the whole summer at Spruce Meadows, I think I jumped 1.10m-1.20m with her for about a month. It was not my original plan, but the fence material there is very impressive and due to her reaction I had to change my schedule.”

“She has an alpha horse mentality,” Farrington continues. “She's the boss in her mind. That's great when she is working with you and it can be difficult if she is not working with you. I think in the end, the best horses in the sport are the ones that have a strong temperament and mentality because when they're working with you and they want to win, there is no better partnership.”

At the 2024 FEI World Cup™ Final, Greya and Farrington placed fourth. However, despite leading the way in this year’s FEI World Cup™ North American League, Farrington won’t be attending the final in Basel (SUI). “It is already difficult coming from outdoors to jumping indoors and I think this year in particular, it won’t suit us,” he explains. “I've never been to Basel, but I know the arena is not huge. My horses are still on the greener side and we don't get to practise so much indoors, so I think this year the finals are not in the schedule for me.”

I try not to base too much on my emotion

- Kent Farrington - 

“I try not to base too much on my emotion,” Farrington says about his way of planning. “I go over the horses and where they are in any given moment and if they're doing good, I try to pick the best shows that I think are suitable for them. If something goes sideways, then I adapt the plan accordingly. I try to have the horses be in their best form and pick the venues where I think they'll be most successful when they're ready for it.”

11.3.2025 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.