United States Eventing Association

There are some trips that are so good, you might wish to take back a memento; shove a little something special in your suitcase. For Mya Poulos, that something special was Gregory Warwick. Not exactly carry-on sized.

Mya was in England for two years on a sports visa getting experience with British coaches and competing there, during which time she met and befriended Greg. When she came back to America in late 2024, she extended the invitation to Greg to join her in Ocala, Florida. Having sold his horses before ever meeting Mya and being out of the horse industry as a rider, Greg saw no ties keeping him in England. He became Mya’s barn manager and traveling groom, accompanying her to events, learning her horses, and adjusting to life in the States. In August 2025, he became her head groom.

“I’ve competed to FEI three-star level and nationally Intermediate with my own horses, and I just kind of transferred my own skills from being a rider to now being on the other side of the industry—managing the barn, managing horses, vet appointments, and everything…Mya’s the rider and I’m everything behind the scenes,” says Greg. “And I like to think I’m the heart of the barn. I’m the one who organizes the vets coming in and makes sure the horses are ok. All Mya really has to do is ride—that’s my main priority.”

His arrival to the States came by way of an initiation of sorts. Florida and its grab bag of weather had him dialed in on a radar app. He had to learn how to drive on the opposite side of the road, and how to tow a longer horse trailer behind a truck, rather than drive a more English style lorry or horse box that’s shorter and an all-in-one rigid vehicle. Couple these things with adjusting to a new timezone, being away from his family and friends, and the isolation that comes attached to that. But like a magnet, the focus on Mya’s horses drew him to center; a true north in his new southern home.

“I feel like I adjusted pretty quickly. I kind of just locked in straight away and just got on with it because I just know horses, you know?” says Greg. “I just know what to do with them.” And that knowledge dates back to when he was about 9 years old, taking a lesson every weekend. He remembers fondly a few work-to-ride relationships that span over his early adolescence, but one in particular with a woman, Mary Guppy, back in England.

“She’d have a bunch of kids come and work on her farm all day and she’d teach us how to groom the horses, how to look after them, and tack them up, and she’d teach us everything,” says Greg. “We’d literally just be riding in her fields at home. I think my first jump was over a plank of wood propped up by barrels.” Greg later went on to riding school and acquired his first horse when he was riding a school friend’s uncle’s horse, Ed, during summer holiday in England that his father bought and gifted to him. Ed was a three-star horse that took Greg through his first Beginner Novice, and many others following it, and winning them, too, which made Greg take an extreme liking to eventing. By the time he was about 15 years old he got a second horse, Sooty, that would take Greg from Beginner Novice to impressive three-star events. But it was naming all the points of the horse with Mary Guppy on the weekends that Greg recalls with a certain discipline and warmth that he still has today.

“She was just a really good role model and treats her horses really well. I think really the main thing she taught me was always be kind to the horses,” says Greg. “They’re animals—they have their own feelings. I feel like I’ve carried that through my life so far."

Pair discipline and heart together and ask Greg to describe Mya’s paddock pairings of personalities and you’ll quickly reveal that a great groom is the secret sauce to a successful partnership. Someone who is a bit boastful and bound to kick up their heels might be paired with a chill, leave-me-alone type to keep things at an even temperature throughout the farm. Greg is expecting a newcomer to arrive—another grey, because Mya’s farm is a grey haven, which means that Greg’s hands are usually purple if he’s prepping for a competition. But aside from knowing each horse intimately at home, and gaining their trust, what makes Greg an expert head groom is his attention to detail when he’s with Mya trailering to and from lessons, at events, and his down-to-the-minute schedule.

“I’m always listening to what her trainer Leslie Law is saying,” says Greg. “Because I’m there in the start box. I’m there at every warm-up, and I always like to try and just give her some confidence before she goes into the ring…If he says, you know, ‘Land and squeeze,’ I’ll go, ‘Remember, land and squeeze.’” Greg also rattles off the horse’s show routine, which he is loyal to. “We’ve made a routine now that I think works for the horses, just to keep them happy. That’s the main thing, just keeping the horses happy. Because if they’re happy, they can preform at their best. And Mya’s happy. I want to make her life as easy as possible at competitions.”

But what about those more intimate moments of competition when the pressure is on and the ride time is approaching? Greg’s calm demeanor and preparedness are no match when it comes to getting Mya off to the best start possible in the ring or on course.

“You got to be organized when we’re at an FEI competition and we’ve got four horses and there’s eight rides in that day—you’ve got to plan everything to the minute,” says Greg. He doesn’t round up warm-up times by five minutes up or down because one of Mya’s horses needs exactly 35 minutes in the warm-up and he knows another needs exactly 25 minutes so he makes sure she’s warming up right down to the minute before her tests on those specific horses. “Because a two minute longer warm-up, he’s going to start being naughty. I know that. It’s just knowing the horse.” Greg can predict certain behaviors by the expression each has in their eye, or by how long they’ve stood still.

Greg also explains that his own riding career has given him a keen sense of how to be there for Mya after the horses are taken care of following perhaps a less desirable trip—something he learned from his father when he was just a teen. “If you have a bad phase, ok, it’s a triathlon at the end of the day. We’ve got to carry on. Let’s lock in and just get through the next phase…at the end of the day, you’re riding a horse. He’s not walked the course. I used to get so fixated with it and you step back and it’s like, oh, actually, it’s a privilege to even be riding these horses. Like it’s crazy what we ask these horses to do, really.”

There are two, maybe three, career highlights for Greg so far in his young but esteemed equine career. First is Mya winning a two-star long at Turnover last fall on her horse Rocky, who has since been sold. “That was the first big win she’d had with me as head groom. It was the feeling of ‘This is why we do it,’” says Greg. “He was the last horse of the event of the season and he won.” Second, would be when Greg did his first three-star at Barbury Castle with his horse of a lifetime. “He took me from Beginner Novice to three-star. It was never the plan, so I think just having him was the highlight…he made me believe.” And the third, which Greg didn’t list as a third but it does seem to be a solid resume builder for any aspiring groom: the castration of Olaf, the mini, who is also a grey. “He would rear up onto the paddock fence and just walk on his hind legs and try to get to the horses. He didn’t care how big they were…he was the hardest one to deal with,” says Greg. It wasn’t long after a hellish farrier appointment with 3-1 ratio of holding still dear Olaf before Greg made one of his first executive decisions as head groom to call the vet and order a helpful procedure, all in, of course, the best interest of the animals.