Richard Davison comments on his grand prix test on Artemis

Richard and Artemis scored 72.812% to go into 11^th place after 38 riders; he commented:

"Boy that was hard work! I didn’t have one second to think or enjoy any part of that test; I was busy! With the rain shower and the ponchos coming out Artemis suddenly got all jumpy so the last ten minutes of our warm up were not what I wanted; what I’ve been dreaming about for the last four years.

"I was getting a more and more scared horse on my hands – you only have 30 seconds when you go through the gates into the arena and I knew I had to be keeping him busy when we went in there. It felt like taking a child for its first day at school; he was scared and I had to take him by the hand and say ‘come on, let’s do this together listen to me and you’ll be absolutely fine.’ He has got that side to him - in the last few months with doing all those indoor shows he’s really grown in confidence but it’s not a surprise and I know what to do with him in that situation.

"The beginning of the test was still tricky, but as time went on he started to come back to me and I’m not saying it was as good as the test I was hoping for but if I can get through to the [grand prix] special then I’m hoping I’ll get a more relaxed ride out of him.

"Halfway round the test I felt him take his first breath and I thought, that’s where I want him to be – they’re horses and they run away when they’re frightened. Believe me, he wanted to run away from Greenwich all the way back to Staffordshire!

"I’m really pleased with him though and the way he grew in confidence as the test went on, nothing can prepare you for being in that arena. I was just glad to get to the final halt."