On the Way to Wit's End

Boyd is driving to Canada today to compete at the Wit's End Horse Trials and HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing Qualifier in Mansfield, Ontario this weekend. Here is an update from the road:

I have four horses running this weekend at Wit's End. Remington XXV is having his first serious run since he won the two-star at Jersey Fresh (click here for video). He's competing in the CIC***-W and is on track with his preparation for the CCI*** at Fair Hill in October. I'm pretty excited about this weekend because his flat work has been going really well, and there is $40,000 prize money on the line. If he feels good on cross-country I'll let him stretch out and gallop a little.

Another one I'm excited about is Shatzi W, pictured at right, who is running in her first advanced this weekend. This is the first time that I will be riding a horse that I bred at this level. She's getting to be a downright worldly mare: she has competed in Australia and the U.S., and Canada will be the third country that she's competed in. My goal is to get her qualified for a three-star, which is tough with the new qualifications since you have to run all over the country, so hopefully she'll have a good run this weekend.

I also have two other horses in the advanced division. Rock On Rose, who belongs to Bruce Davidson, is looking pretty good; Bruce has been helping me a lot with her dressage and jumping and I am also aiming her for Fair Hill in the fall. Wit's End will be her first three-day since Bromont, again on Canadian soil.

Benwald had a quiet past few months, most recently running intermediate at Maryland. This is his first big event since The Fork; he was pretty footsore after pulling both front shoes on cross-country there and glue-0n shoes seem to have helped him a lot.

We're crossing the border now...be sure to check back for updates!

-Boyd

New Addition: Emily Katharina Grosserhode

I am usually behind the scenes here on Boyd and Silva's blog, but this week my husband Juergen and I have some news of my our own to share: the arrival of our baby girl, Emily Katharina Grosserhode. She was born July 24 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, New York City, weighing in at 8lbs., 11oz. and measuring 22 inches tall. While riding lessons are still a ways down the trail, she is obviously off to a good start with a herd of ponies to look after!

-Amber Heintzberger

The HSBC FEI World CupTM Qualifier August 6-9

Press Release:

July 31, Mansfield, Ontario -- Wits End Farm in Mansfield Ontario will host the only Canadian stop of the HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing Qualifiers from August 6-9. Top ranked riders from around the world will compete in dressage, jumping and cross-country. The event will also feature a CCI* competition for up and coming riders and horses.

Located near Alliston, Ontario, Wits End Farm is hosting this prestigious equestrian event, the last stop in the 2009 HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing series. Over 2,000 people are expected to attend the four-day competition, which is the last chance for riders to earn points towards qualifying for the HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing Final held August 21-23 in Strzegom, Poland.

“From the beginning Bill McKeen and I had the goal of creating an internationally recognized eventing facility,” said Jo Young, co-owner of Wits End Farm. “The dream is now a reality and we’re absolutely thrilled that the FEI has included us on the international circuit.”

More entries than ever before have been received for this year’s event, including top ranked riders such as Olympic and World Champion Philip Dutton (ranked 11th in the world), Bruce Davidson Jr., from the United States (18th), Boyd Martin from Australia (66th), and Canadian stars Kyle Carter, Carl Slezak (206th) and 2008 Wits End winner Corinne Ashton.

The competition gets underway on Wednesday August 5 with the Canadian Young Event Horse competition. Thursday sees the start of Dressage, which will run through to Friday evening. Saturday is the exciting cross-country day where spectators will see the riders tackle the 4-kilometre course featuring banks, ditches, water and extremely challenging fences! Sunday -- the culmination of the competition -- features show jumping, where riders compete in reverse order of standing. The prize ceremony will take place at approximately 3:30pm. Over $40,000 in prize money will be up for grabs, as well as a host of prizes in-kind.

Global support for the HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing series comes from title sponsor HSBC Bank plc.

"The HSBC FEI World Cup™ is an integral part of our sponsorship," said Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship, HSBC Holdings, plc. "It offers a truly global circuit with the nine qualifying events being held in many of our key markets. Through this partnership we have been able to engage with our customers at a regional and local level. Throughout the qualifying events we have seen some fantastic competition."

Wits End is the first ever Eventing competition to receive support from Sport Canada’s International Hosting Program. Generous support has also been received from dozens of local sponsors.

In addition to the marquis events of dressage, jumping and cross-country, visitors to Wits End will also host a number of other shows and demonstrations, including:
• A Birds of Prey demonstration by Master Falconer Matt Lieberknecht from Wye Marsh (Saturday, August 8th)
• The Hoof Beat Outriders Drill Team, a western precision drill team from Orillia (Sunday, August 9th)
Throughout the competition, visitors to Wits End will also be able to browse through an extensive Trade Fair featuring booths from a wide range of equestrian vendors as well as artists and designers.

Hosted by farm owners Jo Young and Bill McKeen, Wits End is the culmination of countless hours of volunteer effort.

“We’re thrilled to help out with such an important event,” said Tammy Trace, who works on the Site Preparation Committee. “It’s a lot of fun and, at the end of the day, it helps grow the sport here in Canada.”

Admission for the three days is free with a $12.00 charge (cash only) for parking including shuttle to the eventing grounds. Note: There is no ATM on site. Cash is also required for on-site food and beverages, except for VIP pass holders.

Parking for Wits End is located off the 7th Concession of Mulmur North of Highway 89. Please note the road will be closed for all but local and Wits End traffic.

ABOUT WITS END: Jo Young and Bill McKeen are both International Officials in the sport of Eventing. They began Wits End Farm in 2002 with the goal of becoming an internationally recognized facility for eventing. In 2004 they held the inaugural Wits End Horse Trials, which featured 16 entrants. In 2009, Wits End is now the only Canadian stop on the HSBC FEI World CupTM Qualifiers. For more information, see www.witsendhorsetrials.ca.

Ryans Website

Heath and Rozzie Ryan in Australia have just launched a new website. Be sure to check it out!

Click here:

Ryans Horses

Maryland Horse Trials

The Maryland Horse Trials is a great event to prime the horses for the international CIC's and CCI's that are coming up, and to get the training and sales horses out for a run to see how they've come along. This past weekend I competed eight horses on Saturday, four at intermediate, one at prelim and four at training level, and two prelim horses on Sunday.

It was great to be riding Remington, Shatzi and Benwald who are all gearing up for the CCI***-W at Wit's End in Canada next month. Remi went his best ever, winning the OI-A with 34.5. Benwald came a creditable eighth in the same division, his first run since The Fork in April, where he pulled both front shoes on cross-country. He was foot sore after that and we've been playing around with his shoeing and seem to have him back on track.

Shatzi W scored 36.2 to finish sixth in OI-B. I also finished 13th on Select, a catch-ride who belongs to the organizer of the event. She was too busy to ride him and he just flew around for me.

In training level I rode an exciting mare called Sancerre who belongs to Sandra Ranke, a fashion designer for the catwalks of New York City. Sancerre is a gorgeous Dutch/French cross mare who placed second with a 33.7 in her first run at training level.

The rest of the day was spent with three catch-rides that I had never sat on before. Two of them, Zack and Wrandels, belong to my friend Betty Adams, who is ill with shingles right now, so I hopped aboard and spun them around for her. The other horse is Clover Sky, an Irish horse that's just getting established at training level and gave me a great go this weekend.

On Sunday I brought Minotaure du Passoir out for his first run since the Bromont three-day event in Canada and he placed fourth in preliminary A with 39. In Prelim B I rode Double Exposure, a new horse that's in for training and sale. He's a classy seven-year-old Thoroughbred and finished fourth as well on 39.6.

For complete results click here.

Now Silva and I are on vacation for a few days, living it up in Las Vegas, doing a bit of gambling and catching some entertainment before we get back to work on Thursday.

-Boyd

RIP Highland Hogan

Our condolences to Faye Woolfe and her daughter Eliza on the loss of Highland Hogan, who was struck by lightning in his pasture. Faye also owns Ying Yang Yo, who Boyd competed to the four-star level. Eliza was competing Hogan at the lower levels after he had retired from upper-level competition with US Olympian Becky Holder (Becky and Highland Hogan were the U.S. Eventing Team's alternates for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia). This is a tragic loss and we send them all the best.

-Boyd and Silva

Note: The above photo is courtesy of Faye Woolfe. Faye included the following note:

It has been so hard but in time the wonderful, incredible memories will replace our tears.

[The photo] was taken a year and half ago at Eliza's very first event that Hogan so gallantly took her through placing first. It was such a memorable day that we will always cherish. I bought Hogan when he was 3 1/2 years old and Eliza was 3 months old! It all came full circle that day with Hogan, Becky, Eliza and I enjoying the moment.

Silva's Horses are Stars in Lexington, Virginia

I had a good weekend showing at Dressage at Lexington, at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia riding Jeff, Concorde and Sea Lord in the Prix St. Georges Challenge. It was a huge class with 45 horses.

Jeff did a good test, finishing fourth, and he feels like he is ready for his first CDI in Saugerties, New York.

The PSG Challenge was the first PSG for Concorde and I am very impressed with his performance. He was a little green but he tried his heart out and only made a few little mistakes. He finished fifth.

The Challenge was also Sea Lord's (pictured at right with Caitlin Silliman) first PSG. He was a little excited and made lots of little mistakes, which hurt our score; but the good news is that I rode him on Sunday in the Open PSG and he was a star and we won on 69%! I am so exited about that win because I really think he is going to develop into a super star!!!

Concorde also went in the Open PSG on Sunday and he did a great test to finish third on 66%.

I am so proud of these two horses. They did better than I expected for their first time in FEI competition!

Jeff competed in the Intermediaire 1 Challenge on Sunday. I was a little worried about him getting tired in the test, so I pushed him in the warm up a little more. He can get a little lazy on the second day and I was not going to let him die on me in the ring again. I had to ride every step in the ring and I thought that the hard work paid off: it was a very expressive test and I thought we did very well. I was shocked to see that the judge hated it! But dressage is a subjective sport and that is just the way it goes sometimes, and that is okay. I am glad I rode him the way I did because now Jeff knows that he still has to work on the second day in the ring.

I also rode Sheelagh's horse Comet V, (pictured top of page), who was outstanding! He was a star both days and won with great scores in both his tests. I am very excited about riding him in more shows. He is very reliable and has the biggest heart! With Sheelagh keeping him going for me at home and Comet and I getting along the way we do, we have a great time together. Comet has won the last five tests that we did together, and we are looking forward to more success.

I also rode Fernhill Figaro in two second level tests on Saturday and Sunday. He is such a good boy, very easy to have around and always reliable in the ring. He finished fourth on Saturday in a big class and sixth on Sunday. He is ready to move up to third level soon.

I would like to thank Caitlin and Devon very very much for all their great help this weekend - I could have not done all that without them!

-Silva