Yesterday at Dressage at Devon started well with Di Solitaire in the FEI 4-year-old class: Sully was much more relaxed and did a nice test. Of course he is very green and we have only known each other for a short while...it takes time to develop a partnership with a new and especially a young horse. Sully scored 79% and placed 4th.
Kymmy and Hot Date had a very nice test and finished 6th in the 4-year-old class.
I was very impressed with the way Kymmy rode Markie today! She rode every single step from the entry to finish of the fourth level test. It was the best I have seen her ride and the test was mistake free. They scored 64.5% and finished sevens in a very competitive class .
Duvent was trying for me again in the fourth level; he was a little more tense than the day before but kept his concentration and listened to me. As I was going down the centerline I thought, "turn left at C". But for some strange reason I decided to turn right instead. As I turned I cringed and the bell rang! Since there is a judge at C and a judge at E , that was a very expensive mistake.
And of course the score came in and we finished SECOND by 0.1%! Serves me right -- pilot error! That is NOT going to happen again!!!
Today we have Stately, Rosa, Duvent and Markie again.
Silva
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Caitlin Released from ICU
I’m very relieved to say that Caitlin was released
from the Intensive Care Unit at Christiana Hospital to the general population
today. Obviously it was a very serious accident, incurring a fracture to her
skull, but it looks at the moment like she doesn’t have any other physical
damage. The doctors are opting not to operate, and all of Caitlin’s vital signs
are good as gold.
It’s an interesting business that we’re in, training
horses; Caitlin galloped around the 2* and 3* courses at Plantation Field on the weekend, jumping huge
fences at high speeds and rode like a champion; on Tuesday she was doing rising
trot in the dressage arena with a nice 4-year-old when the horse stumbled and
Caitlin fell on her head.
As usual Caitlin was wearing her Charles Owen
helmet, which very likely prevented more serious injuries.
It’s a huge blow to Caitlin professionally, with Catch a Star and
Remi heading into Fair Hill like lightning, but fortunately both horses are
qualified for Kentucky
next year, which was the ultimate goal.
Australian sensation Dom Schramm has come on board
trying to fulfill part of Caitlin’s role at Windurra USA. "The Thunder from Down Under" is
a brilliant horseman and is helping us carry on in the absence of my superb assistant
Caitlin while she’s out of action. We all miss Caitlin very much and wish her a
speedy recovery.
-Boyd
Great Start to the Performance Show at Dressage at Devon!!
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| Beau Guimond and Melinda Walton with Schoene |
We finished with the breed show yesterday morning and the baby's had a good
last day showing at Devon. Shoene, (Melinda's two year old), placed second in a huge Hanoverian
class with Beau showing him off in-hand while Rio Royale, (Melinda's 3 year old), placed third in his class. The babies went straight home to Virginia after the show and they are all
safe and sound at home and are very happy to be back in the field. I have to say that I cannot wait for those babies to grow up so that I can ride
them. They are very special young horses!
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| Making Last Minute Repairs to Demi's Braids with Pam Murphy |
We started with our performance horses in the afternoon. The FEI 4 year old
class was first and Kymmy rode her young horse, Hot Date and I rode Di Solitaire
and Benefactor.
Benny was first in the class and he was great! The judges loved him and
called him a very mature four-year-old, which is funny because we always say Benny
is four going on 30. The judges gave us very high scores and we ended up setting a
high standard in the class with 79.9%. Benny held his lead all the way to the end and won the class! I am very
excited about this horse, he is a very special guy and of course another one that
Melinda and Larry breed.
Next for us was Di Solitaire. Well, let's just say that we did not run out of
energy! This was only Sully's second show and Devon has a lot of atmosphere and
a lot of people were watching. Sully was fabulous in the trot and walk and got
"a little excited" in the canter. It was funny though, because he has a ton of
personality and we all laughed about it. The judges still really liked him and scored him 77.5%. He is going to be a
great horse. Sully and I are doing another four year old class today and I am hoping
he is getting tired!
It was so great that his owners and good friends of ours, Mike and and Anne
Laver, came from Aiken, SC to watch us go.
Kymmy and Hot Date followed us in the ring. Kymmy hascome a looooong way
with her riding and I am so very proud of how she rode yesterday. Hayden was an angel and they did a very nice test, scoring 78%, which placed them fourth in this
big class! This horse in for sale and he is a once in a lifetime horse! Whoever
buys him will have a ton of fun!
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| Duvent |
Our next class of the day was fourth level and we had Markie and Kymmy,
Stately and Duvent in that class. This class was in the Dixon arena, which can
be very scary. Duvent was such a good boy holding it together. He is such a
fabulous horse, but as we know he can be pretty hot. He tried his heart out for
me and scored 71%, leading the class and finishing second behind Stately. Of
course he is another one of Melinda and Larry's babies.
Next I rode Stately and he of course was his perfect self. The warm-up was
incredible and the test was very good. I cannot quite keep the same quality
that I have in the warm up in the ring yet, but I have to keep reminding myself
that he is ONLY SEVEN years old. We scored 71.6% and won the class. I am so exited to see Faye this weekend. Stately and I have not seen her
in a while, and I know Stately will try extra hard for his mum!!
Following me into the ring again was Kymmy with Markie. Kymmy, Markie and I
have been working very hard for the last few months and it showed. They did their
best test and scored 64% and finished 5th in the class.
At 8.40pm I had Rosa in another 4th level class. Rosa has never gone under
lights and of course she loved it! She was a little excited and it took me a while
to settle her in the warm-up. Her trot and walk work was great and she got a
little tense in the canter, but we held it together and won that class as
well.
A good start for us, I would say!
Michael Barisone has been such a great help to us with all our horses and
he was there yesterday to help us warm up.
I would also like to thank Stuebben for making sure that all my saddles fit
perfectly. My horses feel great and they love their Stuebben saddles!
Fingers crossed for today!
Silva
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Bacardi SOLD
We’re proud to say Bacardi found a new home in North Carolina today. He
came to us last year and we managed to take him from a dressage horse to a
successful prelim eventer in a short amount of time. We’d like to thank Sandy
Issler from Pennsylvania for placing the horse in training with us and a big thanks to
the wounded Caitlin Silliman for helping train and compete this horse
successfully. We wish the new owner all the best.
-Boyd
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Good Start to Breed Show at Dressage at Devon
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| Melinda Walton and Larry T. Smith's Benefactor RS finished 2nd in his Materiale Class and Reserve Champion overall in the Breed Show at Dressage at Devon |
We have had a very busy past two days at the Dressage at Devon Breed Show! I was showing Melinda Walton and Larry T. Smith's three yearlings, Shoene the two-year-old, Rio the three-year-old, Hannah in-hand and Di Solitaire, Benny,
Hayden, Hannah and Rio under saddle. We have come up with a
lot of ribbons for all of them and Benny was the star, becoming reserve champion
in the final today. Results
Melinda and Larry should be very proud of their babies! The two of them are
really breeding some amazing horses and I am very lucky to be able to ride their
horses for them.
Working student Beau Guimond did an amazing job handling all the young horses in the
ring and he really showed off their potential. Beau has been working with all the
babies for the past two weeks and he has been taking it very seriously. That
really showed today and yesterday.
My very good friend Lizzie Verney has been a huge help too, getting up at four am
every day and driving out to the show with me, to then help with everything all
day long.
Kymmy has been wonderful, organizing all the chaos and keeping everything on
track as well as taking very good care of the horses. By the time Lizzie and I
arrive at the show at 5.30am, Kymmy has all ready finished mucking all the
stalls and fed all the horses! On top of all she does, she rode her young horse Hayden beautifully
today!
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| Benny, Melinda, Pam and I |
With the help of Gracia, Cheryl Grifith, Kaitlin Slimak, Kymmy's friend
Sara and the rest of us we had all the horses looking like a million dollars. I am so lucky to have all these fantastic people around me to be able to do
what I do. With so many horses at the show, you need a really good team to not
only get it done but also get it done well.
I am also very proud of Constantina and Amy Heron for placing fourth in the Materiale class at their very first Dressage at Devon.
I am also very proud of Constantina and Amy Heron for placing fourth in the Materiale class at their very first Dressage at Devon.
Our friend and part-owner of Rosa and Hannah, Sara Reese came out yesterday
and today to cheer us on. Sara has been a great supporter of Boyd and me for
many years and we love having her around anytime she can join us.
Tomorrow we have another big day with the babies showing one more time in
the morning and the performance show starting in the afternoon. Kymmy rides Hayden in the 4-year-old class and Markie in fourth
level. I ride Di Solitaire in the 4-year-old class, Stately, Rosa and Duvent in
fourth level .
We will keep you posted!!
Update on Caitlin
As many of you have probably heard by now, Caitlin had an accident yesterday when she fell from a young horse. She is in the hospital with a fractured skull but she is in stable condition and there is a positive outlook for her recovery.
Poor Caitlin! I feel like every time she comes out on top, something
happens. She was on the sidelines with Hoku this time last year, after the fire, and here she is
again. We are devastated for
her, but she is going to be fine. Obviously Boyd has lost his assistant trainer
for a while too; she is a big part of our business and we can’t wait for her to
come back. In the meantime, while Caitlin recovers, Hoku can go into dressage boot camp with me, which will be really good for her, and Boyd is going to keep
Remington going, so Caitlin's horses will be ready and waiting for her return!
-Silva
Links:
EventingNation interview with Boyd
EventingNation.com caught up with Boyd during the Plantation Field International three-star last weekend. Click here to read about the latest on Neville Bardos, get some pointers on fitness, and learn about dressage coach Michael Barisone.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Dressage at Devon Underway
SALES SPOTLIGHT - ELITE PHARIS!
NAME: Elite Pharis
SEX: Gelding
COLOUR: Black
HEIGHT: 16.1
DATE OF BIRTH: 6-20-2004
COUNTRY OF BIRTH: Gemany
SIRE: Sapros (By Pepel o/o Sapronka)
DAM: Papaya
BREED: Trakhener
BREEDER: Joseph Vanthienen
PLACE OF BIRTH: Rheinland
OWNER: Elizabeth Marenakos
Elite Pharis is an 8-year-old, 16.1 black imported Trakehner gelding by Sapros (Grand Prix Jumper) out of Papaya. His grandsire is Pepel, winner of the individual Dressage Silver Medal in the 1972 Olympics. He is a very ridable and reliable horse that has moved very quickly up the levels over the past six months. He has an impeccable show record, winning at first and second level with scores in the mid-seventies. Pharis is extremely fancy in the show ring and the judges love him!
Pharis has been schooling third level over the past few months, including flying changes and half pass with talent for much more. He will be showing third level this fall. Pharis really enjoys his work - especially as the work gets more challenging. He also likes to jump and hack out.
Pharis has a great temperament, three nice gaits and looks to die for, this gorgeous horse has a brilliant future ahead of him. Suited for an advanced amateur, ambitious young rider or a professional.
Inquiries, please contact Silva by email or phone 610 806 2721.
Updated September 2012 Video
SEX: Gelding
COLOUR: Black
HEIGHT: 16.1
DATE OF BIRTH: 6-20-2004
COUNTRY OF BIRTH: Gemany
SIRE: Sapros (By Pepel o/o Sapronka)
DAM: Papaya
BREED: Trakhener
BREEDER: Joseph Vanthienen
PLACE OF BIRTH: Rheinland
OWNER: Elizabeth Marenakos
Pharis has been schooling third level over the past few months, including flying changes and half pass with talent for much more. He will be showing third level this fall. Pharis really enjoys his work - especially as the work gets more challenging. He also likes to jump and hack out.
Pharis has a great temperament, three nice gaits and looks to die for, this gorgeous horse has a brilliant future ahead of him. Suited for an advanced amateur, ambitious young rider or a professional.
Inquiries, please contact Silva by email or phone 610 806 2721.
Updated September 2012 Video
Monday, September 24, 2012
PLANTATION FIELD IS A SMASHING SUCCESS!
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| TRADING ACES SHOWING OFF HIS FINE FORM! Photo Credits Lisa Thomas/Mid-Atlantic Equestrian Services Boyd's Photo Slide Show |
Boyd had a full dance card this weekend, riding multiple horses across the national and international divisions.
National Divisions:
Brewster - 13th Prelim Horse
Quinn Himself - W from Prelim Horse
CIC Divisions:
The CIC divisions saw quite a bit of competition with a large number of entries. Steady Eddie lived up to his name, putting in a solid performance in the CIC 1* to finish 9th on his dressage score of a 55.80. New Cadet finished 12th and Party Boy was 18th.
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| CAITLIN AND REMI CAPTURE 3RD IN THE 2*! Photo Credits Lisa Thomas/Mid-Atlantic Equestrian Services Caitlin's Photo Slideshow |
This weekend wouldn't have been complete without Boyd's owners and sponsors attending as well. Theault-America came down to our neck of the woods to show off the Morpheus Horse Box, and Devoucoux was on hand to showcase their beautiful line of saddles, bridles and leather works.
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| THE THEAULT MORPHEUS |
RESULTS
FULL PRESS RELEASE
Photos may not be released without permission of Lisa Thomas.