Bienvenue Otis Barbotiere!

I’m very excited to say that we have a fantastic new addition to the team of event horses here: Otis Barbotiere arrived last night after a marathon trip from Europe. I found Otis in France late last year after going on a horse-hunting pilgrimage with my mate Peter Barry. Otis looks like a very talented, exciting and promising young horse. He also has a great pedigree: his sire is Quidam du Ravel, the most prolific jumping sire in France’s history.

Otis happens to have a few wonderful traits that I also associate with Neville Bardos: a glaring white eye, a big white blaze, and he's an avid wind sucker! They’ll make a good team, or partners in crime anyway. I want to thank the group of fantastic supporters that have come together to make this happen. The syndicate members include:

Steve Blauner, NY
Bonnie Stedt, NY
Ron and Densey Juvonen, PA
Nancy and David Hathaway, NY
Craig and Gloria Callen, NY
Kelly Morgan, MA
Kirk Henckels and Fernanda Kellogg, NY
Dr. Timothy Holekamp, MO

It's atrocious weather here in Pennsylvania today, so instead of turning Otis out in the field I decided to throw a saddle on him and hack him around the indoor for 45 minutes – with my helmet on! My plan is to send him to Aiken in a week and place him with Silva for a couple weeks of gentle dressage work to let my chief dressage trainer make the first assessment of what we need to be working on.

Once again, thanks to the fabulous group of people that has come together to help bring Otis to the Unites States for me to ride. I couldn't have done it without you and I'm looking forward to sharing many exciting times with all of you.

-Boyd

Dressage Horses Have Arrived in Aiken!

On Saturday morning at 3am we started our drive to Aiken with 10 horses. I was driving my trailer with five horses and my friend Anecia drove Boyd's trailer with another 5 horses. My working student Devon drove in the truck with Anecea and Amy Heron, a student and friend of mine, drove in he truck with me. Devon's mum Sandy was also behind us and drove Devon's car to Aiken, so we had quite the caravan going down the road!

We had a great and very easy trip: no dramas on the way, which is very unlike me!

We arrived in Aiken at Black Forest Farm at 3pm. The sun was out and it was 60 degrees. It felt soooo good to see the sun and not to be freezing for once! The farm is beautiful and all the people are very nice and welcoming.
On Sunday we took everybody for a hack. All of the horses are so happy too see the sun and be outside of the indoor arena back home in Pennsylvania.

Anecia, Amy and Sandy are now driving Boyd's trailer back to PA and then Lillian, Sara ,and Caitlin are driving the event horses down at the end of the week.

Silva

Show Jumping Boot Camp for Remington

Today Remington XXV, otherwise known as the "Hanoverian Hurricane", headed down to the Mecca of the show jumping world, Wellington, Florida. He'll spend three weeks in the sunshine in show jumping boot camp with the US eventing team's show jumping coach Katie Prudent. Boyd will head down for the third week of training after Katie has unlocked all of Remi's secrets and teach Boyd how to bring out Remi's best.

Katie advising Boyd (on Neville Bardos) before Show Jumping at the 2010 American Eventing Championships and WEG selection trials

It was the show jumping phase that caught Boyd and Remi, owned by Ron and Densey Juvonen, out at the Pau CCI4* in France last fall, costing them the win at their first European four-star, and Boyd is doing everything he can to ensure that all the bases are covered in preparing for this very essential phase of the three-day event.

Photo from 2010 Pau CCI4* courtesy Kirsten Selvig

After the three weeks in Florida Remi will head to Aiken, SC where Boyd and Silva are based for the winter and begin preparing for the Rolex Kentucky CCI4* in April where all this hard work will be put to the test.

Sea Lord SOLD!!!

Today was a very sad day for me: my partner and friend Sea Lord was sold today to Charish Campbell from Easton, MD. Even though I am very sad , I am very, very happy for Charish to have such a wonderful horse!

Sea Lord, known affectionately around the barn as Big Bird, has been such a joy for me over the years. He came to me about 4 years ago after Boyd and Phillip were trying to make him into a event horse. Big Bird did not want to be a eventer but he always loved dressage. He is a incredible dressage horse with amazing movement and an amazing mind, especially since he is a Thoroughbred.

Big Bird has been very, very loyal and honest to me right from the beginning. He tried 110% for me every day and we had a lot of success up to intermediaire 1. He now is schooling all the Grand Prix movements and I was planning on showing him in Grand Prix this season.

Big Bird was owned by Shannon Stimson and her husband Joe. Shannon and Joe have been very good to me over the years. Big Bird came to me to be sold in the first place, but when I worked out what an amazing horse he is Shannon and Joe supported me and let us go on for four years. We had a lot of fun together and Shannon and Joe enjoyed watching us go up the levels and did anything they could to help us in any way.

Now it came time to sell him and I cannot thank Shannon and Joe enough for all of their support over the past 4 years and for letting me train and show such a wonderful horse. I feel very lucky that I was able to ride him and train him to what he is now!!!

It was very important for me that Big Bird will go to the best home possible. This horse means a lot to me and he deserves to be treated like a king. That's why I thought of Charish: I have known her for a few years now, I have had her horses in my barn for training and I have been teaching her for a while. I know that Charish cares for her horses very much and she will do anything to make them as happy as possible. She is an FEI rider and I knew that Big Bird and she would get along great. Charish also has some very nice horses for sale and runs a beautiful barn in MD.

I am so happy that it worked out this way and I am excited to be a part of Charish and Big Bird's upcoming success together!

Silva

Last Monarch

Last Monach enjoying the snow in PA

I am very honored to say that I have Last Monach, also known as "Super Stew," in work thanks to the pregnancy of Holly Hudspeth. Unfortunately Stew will be only with me for the next few months until Holly pops out her first bambino....congratulations to her and Chuck!

Holly's Baby Bump

Stewy is a top class 4-star event horse that Holly bought off the race track out in Seattle many years ago. Holly has produced him from racehorse up to advanced event horse in only a few years. He is currently one of the best horses in the country. Last year he was on the short list for the US on the WEG squad.

I have had him in training for the last month, and I have been working on basically getting to know him. He is a super talented jumper that seriously cracks his back when he is in the air! My main focus has been the dressage, with figuring out which buttons to press to ask for the changes and the half passes. He is a very fit horse currently, cantering five miles twice a week and doing it without even raising a sweat!

I would like to thank Chuck for "knocking up" the bride, and giving me this great opportunity to ride this champion....

My first outing will be on him next month in the Intermediate at Pine Top down in Georgia.

Boyd

Nutrena: The Feed Choice of Windurra USA, LLC!

The Nutrena® brand offers a complete line of feeds and supplements designed to provide optimum nutrition for horses, livestock, pets and more. Boyd and Silva have had all of their horses on the Nutrena line of feeds for the past 2 years and know that their customized nutritional program is responsible for their horses optimal health & competitive success!

Boyd and Silva work closely with their own feed consultant, Shelly Chase, who I recently had the opportunity to chat with regarding their feeding program.

"I work closely with with Boyd, Silva and Caitlin so that if there is ever the simpliest of questions about the feeding program they can call or text me and we work out the details immediately. I recommend feeds based on the horses nutritional requirements which includes their work level and the riders expectations of the horses performance.

At anytime, a horse owner can go to the www.nutrenaworld.com and put in a request for a consultant to contact them- I think this is important to note. This is for customers looking for specific information or even a place to purchase Nutrena products etc."

About Nutrena® Horse Nutrition

Optimum Nutrition

At Nutrena, we know it takes optimum nutrition to help your horse to develop properly, stay healthy and perform to the best of its ability. While others only consider ingredients – we focus on nutrients. That’s why our equine nutritional solutions are formulated to deliver the right balance of nutrients your horse needs every day.
Sound Science

Nutrena is unique in its disciplined, scientific approach to animal nutrition. At the Cargill Animal Nutrition Innovation Campus located on 900 acres of land, our expert team of scientists includes more than 25 PhDs from all over the world focused on one thing: using sound science to create superior nutritional solutions.
Peak Performance

Peak performance means different things to different horse owners. If you ride a horse in competition, Nutrena has a feed that will help your horse achieve peak power and stamina. If trail riding with a companion horse is more your style, we have the perfect feed to keep your horse in tip-top shape and ready to ride.
Customer Focus

Nobody knows horses and the people who own them better than Nutrena. We use the latest technology to connect with our customers, collaborate and develop the nutritional solutions they want and need. To discuss your horse’s specific nutritional needs, visit the Nutrena® dealer near you, call us at 1-800-367-4894 or ask a Nutrena® consultant.

Boyd and Silva want to thank Nutrena for their continued support and partnership with Windurra USA LLC. Without this partnership, they realize that it would be difficult to keep their horses at their peak comfort & performance level.

Many thanks to Shelly and Team Nutrena!

Amazing result for LAURA STIGLER (Silva's sister) at Muenster CSN\CDN

My little sister Laura had an amazing result last night at the CDN in Muenster, Germany, one of the biggest shows in the country.Laura was riding the German gelding Buddy Holly, who is by Brentano II out of a Weltmeyer mare, in the Grand Prix. It was a big and very competitive field.

Laura and Buddy were first in the arena and finished in second place with 68.7% behind Brigitte Wittig with 69.1%!

I am very proud of my little sister - this is a very big result!

Check out the results:

http://eventcontent.hippoonline.de/544/sta_erg/19_ergDEU.htm?style=hippo
http://eventcontent.hippoonline.de/544/544zeitplanDEU.htm?style=hippo
http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2011/01/07/scores-2011-cdn-munster


Silva