Shatzi W Excels at Rubicon

Rubicon was the last event of the year and went really well. Schatzi W finished the year in glorious fashion, coming second in the prelim on her dressage score of 39.4. We brought her over from Australia in March and she's done about ten events now, and her worst placing was fifth. She has never taken a rail in show jumping, which I find exciting - she's proven herself as one of the best jumpers around.

I actually took her in a couple of intermediates; she placed third and fifth but she seemed a little green and spooky at some of the fences so I put her back to prelim to make sure she's bursting with confidence. She'll come out at prelim in the spring and I'll see how she feels, then maybe do her first two-star at Jersey Fresh or Bromont.

I also finished fourth in the prelim riding Valentino III, a new ride for me. He belongs to Cathy Robinson and is a sales horse. He was sensational and we have some people coming to look at him this weekend. I think he'll be a good Young Rider horse - he's not dead easy, not for a child, but he's got a bit of talent in him.

I also rode a few babies, the most successful of which was This Is Houston, who finished third in Open Novice on 30.5. My good friend Paddy Young used to ride him as a steeplechase horse. This Is Houston is owned in partnership by Phillip and Evie Dutton and Shannon Stimson, so there was a little pressure to do well on that horse and keep the boss happy!

-Boyd

Hassler Dressage Young Dressage Horse Trainers Symposium

This weekend Silva will participate in the Dressage Young Horse Trainers Symposium at Hassler Dressage in Chesapeake City, Maryland. According to the official Hassler Dressage website, "Since its inception in 2005, The YDHTS has become the only event of its kind to gather developing talent nationwide for an event of this nature. In addition, each year the Symposium attracts returning alumni for continuing education and networking with others who are equally passionate about young horse training."

This year's symposium will include instruction from Scott Hassler and Ingo Pape. Unfortunately for the rest of us, auditors will not be allowed, but as office manager Jann Clark said, "This a private event and open only to those participant who were selected for 2008 and previous alumni, chosen from 2005, 2006 and 2007. We keep it private so serious training can occur."

You can, however, learn all about Silva's experiences at the symposium in updates on this blog!

Victory in Virginia!

Complete results are available here

Minotaure du Passoir finished the year in glorious fashion, winning Open Preliminary B on 28.8. He had one rail down but we were still more than a full point ahead of second place. He had the rail at fence four, where he lost his focus over the oxer coming into the triple combination. All the show jumping took place in the coliseum, and it was quite a tricky course for a young horse, but after fence four I got his attention and he jumped really well. He's just had five events since he had colic surgery earlier this year and is in really good form. Out of those five he had three wins, a second and a third.

Benwald, (pictured right, Amber Heintzberger photo), had a clear round under pressure to finish in second place in the Open Intermediate B division (35.10), adding just one time fault to his dressage score. I've been working real hard on his show jumping with Phillip and he's never been better. I'm trying to stay over back on top in the air because he wants to get a little hollow; it's a little more forward than I'm used to riding in the landing, encouraging him to kick out in the back - he usually has rails down behind, and this has helped with that. I feel that riding him like that also keeps him more relaxed and a bit softer in the neck. It's quite a finish for the year; his plan now is to have a rest until we go to Aiken in January.

Also in intermediate I had a clean round on Tantibes under the watchful eye of the Technical Delegate, after a disastrous cross-country yesterday. I talked to his owner again and we agreed that he is a fantastic jumper but finds cross-country way too exciting. I think he has a promising future in show jumping.

Pepper, owned by Nina Gardner, was competing in only her second prelim and had one rail down to finish eighth (45.5). She's a Thoroughbred/French cross and is only five; she's still developing and in time I think she'll get better and more confirmed at prelim.

In the training division Vidalia, also owned by Nina Gardner, finished on her cross-country score of 30. She had a great cross-country; last year I struggled with her at the water - she stopped and I fell off a few times. She spent some time fox hunting with Nancy Miller and came back a lot braver. She has been faultless on cross-country since then.

-Boyd

Minotaure Du Passoir Takes the Lead at Virginia HT

I rode five horses today at the Virginia Horse Trials in Lexington. Minotaure du Passoir, owned by Amy Lindgren, finished his season in glorious form over the tough cross-country course in in the preliminary division here at the Virginia Horse Center. He hardly raised a bead of sweat as he galloped over the undulating terrain and tackled the numerous accuracy questions presented. This outstanding horse is leading the class on a score of 24.1.

Also in prelim, Nina Gardner's Thoroughbred/Warmblood cross Pepper had a fantastic round - he was also under the time and rocketed up the standings to eighth place.

In the intermediate, Benwald had a clear round and was one of the only horses to go under the time, so he moved up from fourth to third place. I also rode Beth Murphy's Dutch warmblood gelding Tantibes in the intermediate. He came to me for training because his rider's been having some control issues with him; he grabbed hold of the bit and took off with me on cross-country and after talking to Beth we decided he should change careers and be a show jumper.

I also rode Vidalia, another one of Nina Gardner's. He's a Dutch warmblood gelding by Contango, and he had a faultless, bold show jumping round to stand third; he'll do cross-country tomorrow, and the others will finish the event with show jumping.

-Boyd

Virginia Horse Trials

Boyd and Anne Hennessey's Benwald perform their dressage test at the Virginia Horse Trials in Lexington, Virginia today. (Amber Heintzberger photo)

Results should eventually be posted here

Boyd is heading to the Virginia Horse Trials with five horses tomorrow: Benwald,(Open Intermediate); Vidalia, (Training Horse); Tantibes, (Open Intermediate); Minotaure du Passoir, (Open Preliminary); and Pepper (Preliminary Horse).

For ride times click here.

Be sure to check back for updates!

Jeff the Chef Fourth Level Champion at BLM Championships!

Yesterday Jeff the Chef (pictured above, Sue Stickle photo), won the Fourth Level warm-up class with 69% and today he came back to win the Championship with 70%. It was my first time competing him without a whip but he actually was not bad at all. It had rained a lot and the arena was really sloppy, but he was good. I am really happy that he doesn't spook any more; he's so much easier to ride than last year, he has finally grown up a bit. For more photos, from the official show photographer, click here.

Yesterday was the Third Level championships and all three horses did well. Ballatale did a perfect test: nothing fancy but nothing wrong. He was the first in the ring, which is always tough, and he scored 64.5% to placed sixth.

Sea Lord was the Reserve Champion and he was great. I think the judges don't know what to do with him because he's so powerful; it's like he never touches the ground! It was very muddy and he got a little stuck in one of the flying changes but that was the only problem - unfortunately it probably cost us the championship because the winner scored something like 70.2. There were two judges and one had Sea Lord in the lead but the other didn't and it went to the other horse.

Waimea was very good and scored 67% to finish fourth. I warmed her up a little longer today and I think she was a little more settled so she felt better than on Friday. There were about 35 really good horses in the class so I was happy with all three of the ones I rode.

This morning I rode DP Lidcombe in the First Level Championship in the indoor. The ring was small for him because he is a big horse and still a bit green, and seems to be at the age where he's struggling with the size of the arena. He spooked once and had a couple of little mistakes but I was happy with him because he really tried. He placed somewhere in the middle of the pack.

It was a great weekend and none of the horses could have gone better. I couldn't have done all this with without Caitlin and Lizzie, they were a huge help. All the horses will get a little rest now but I will ride Jeff in the USDF Trainer's Symposium with Scott Hassler the weekend of November seventh.

-Silva