Victory for Boyd and Ying Yang Yo at the Fair Hill International CCI*** and USEF Fall CCI*** Eventing Championship

Boyd and "Thomas" Lead the Victory Gallop
Photo Copyright Amber Heintzberger 2011

It was a sensational day in the show jumping at the Fair Hill International. My long time partner Ying Yang Yo came through the cross-country without a dent on him and looked fresh as a daisy for the morning jog up. In typical Thomas fashion we jumped Sally Ike’s testing three-star show jumping course with a round that heard lots of “oohs" and "ahhs” from the crowd for the wrong reasons. We managed to bump and tap a number of rails but narrowly escaped with a clear round, which gave Thomas his first CCI*** victory. It was a satisfying victory due to my long history with this great friend.

L-R: Becky Holder (2nd), Boyd Martin (1st) and Jan Byyny (3rd)
Photo Copyright Amber Heintzberger 2011

Two months ago I saw my working student Randall bouncing around on Thomas, trying to get the feel for counter canter and I knew at that moment there was still a bit of juice left in his legs. Faye Woolf had lost her horse Call Me Ollie in the fire at True Prospect Farm on Memorial Day and was kind enough to return Thomas to Silva and me to help keep us afloat financially. From that moment forward we haven’t missed a day of training and it’s been a fantastic preparation for one of the world’s toughest three-stars.

A big cheers to all the connections of Ying Yang Yo who include his part-owner Faye Woolf, Eliza Woolf, who has been his rider for the past two years, Lindsey Taylor, who has catered to all of Thomas’ grooming needs, my assistant rider Caitlin Silliman who rode Thomas while I was in Holland for Boekelo, and to my lovely wife Silva who has played a huge role in getting my personal best dressage score of all time.

Boyd and Cold Harbor
Photo Copyright Amber Heintzberger 2011

In the CCI** Cold Harbor went in and jumped magnificently today; Manny and Dana Diemer’s Canadian Sport Horse is improving with every start and is showing promise for next year’s three-stars. Unfortunately he had to second to last fence down which dropped him from 12th to 15th place which is still pleasing considering there were more than 60 starters in the division. A big Cheers to Manny and Dana for placing a couple of great horses with us this year. They are wonderful owners that are an honor to ride for.

-Boyd