IT WAS over a pint in a pub in Ogbourne St Andrews that the concept of Barbury Horse Trials was conceived between David Green and then-Barbury Castle estate owner Nigel Bunter.

It is then fitting the rolling hills of the Ridgeway will be graced by daughter Lissa and her mum Lucinda this weekend.

A stone’s throw from Lissa’s yard in Rockley, it is probably quicker for the 28-year-old to hack over the fields to find the start box than get the lorry.

The name Green is as synonymous with eventing as Hill is with motorsport or Clough with football, courtesy of Lucinda’s record six victories at Badminton Horse Trials, on six different horses, and her two Burghley wins, as well as her dad's successes, most notably winning team Olympic gold in Barcelona with Australia in 1992.

However, growing up, Lissa was blissfully unaware of her superstar mum, content in the knowledge that the world was just filled with ‘thoroughly nice people’.

“I know that sounds bizarre but I don’t think I could really comprehend the scale of what mum achieved until I was much older,” Lissa explained.

“She is so normal and laid back, and extremely modest.

“What I noticed most, whenever we were at events, people were quite interested in talking to her and they’d always be coming up to say hello to us. I didn’t realise it was because she was special.”

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Despite the status her mum held in the sport, it did not initially inspire Lissa to follow her footsteps. In fact, it did almost the opposite.

The self-confessed ‘out there child’ wanted to tread her own path in life and felt that she would just be copying mum if she took the obvious route into eventing.

While having a horse for Pony Club, results were the last thing on her mind as she took part for the fun of it, rather than dedicating hours of training to the cause.

At the age of 18, she chose to go to university to study criminology and forensics, taken in by a love of the CBS television drama show CSI - a career path she may still have been on had it not been for the draw of the horses.

“Working with a live animal, you just can’t beat it,” she confessed. “Getting them to trust you and having that adrenaline rush doing it together with something else is quite unbeatable.”

Far from being pushed into the same lifestyle as her mum, Lucinda almost discouraged her daughter from what she saw was not only an expensive hobby, but one that engulfs your entire life if you want to compete at the highest level.

Her mum’s warnings may also have acted as a thinly-laced veil for Lissa’s own fear - failure.

“I hadn’t said when I was 16, I’m potentially untapped talent, let’s get some horses in and promote it from there,” she said. “I almost saw myself, when I was 24, as a failure already because I hadn’t done anything, we hadn’t won anything, I’d just gone along on fun horses that had had problems rather than were talented and we enjoyed ironing out those creases.

“I felt like I had massively missed the boat because I hadn’t portrayed that winning streak. I think then, I couldn’t quite see how it was going to work.

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“We didn’t have the money for a good horse, we didn’t have the means to find anyone with the money so I thought I had failed before I had even started.

“But it wasn’t true because most people aren’t in a position where they can find money or find people with money so you have just got to be a normal person and try and do it the other way around.”

It wasn’t long before a determined Lissa collected all her savings together and was soon buying a 3* level horse that she had fallen in love with before even setting sight on him, against the better judgement of her friends, with the horse having had three falls in three years.

Soon affectionately called Ali Green, Ali G for short, he became part of the Green legacy but things got off to a rocky start.

“I remember waking up, but I don’t remember the fall,” said Lissa, having fallen on their first outing at Sapey, which left her in hospital.

It was when Lissa was competing five weeks after leaving hospital that her parents knew she was committed to the cause and a lot of hard work was rewarded earlier this year when the duo took to Badminton Horse Trials.

Eric Winter’s course was described as the toughest in a decade and despite Lissa being struck down by a virus that left her bed-ridden and only being able to walk the course once, the combination put in a stellar showing to be one of the few to make it around in one piece.

The pair pulled out following the trot up for the final stage on the Sunday morning, but Lissa knew deep down she had emerged from the shadow of her mum’s name and was forging her own path.

“Being ill made the decision easier, but even if I was well, it would have taken another 10 minutes but I would have come to the same decision,” she explained.

“It would have been so great to have one of the completions towards my five as that Badminton, would have been unreal but it wasn’t meant to be and something else is in store for us, I hope.”

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Now Lissa will take to the course at Barbury in section D of the CIC** on Med Night Trafford Mignonette, while Lucinda will be in the Open Novice on Riddick Veh.

And while she admits it is nice to compete alongside her mum, Lissa now understands why Lucinda was so worried about her daughter getting wrapped up in the sport.

“It’s really nice actually,” she added. “But I get nervous. Now I know what mum goes through; it’s horrible watching her ride. Not because she can’t do it, she’s amazing, but I think at everything fence, what could go wrong .

“We actually just did Tattersalls together, I on this horse and she on hers, and I was very disappointed to see how much better her dressage was than mine. Livid.

“I take the mickey, saying she only got that mark because of her name.”

Follow Barbury Trials coverage all this weekend here