With the Thanksgiving holidays on everyone's mind, Boyd and Silva would like to extend their thanks to all their owners and sponsors, their clients, and especially to the horses.
It's been a busy year and Boyd wrapped it up by finishing second overall on the Nutrena Rider of the Year Leader Board, an impressive feat in any case, but especially since it is only his second year competing in the United States.
There may be a break in the competition calendar but Boyd and Silva are both staying busy teaching and training.
Boyd says:
"I did a clinic in Maryland at the Maryland Equestrian Center over the weekend and had a great time with about 15 lower-level riders working on dressage and show jumping.
"All the horses that I took to Fair Hill have come back into work and it was great to ride them again. They’re walking for a week and then will start some dressage work. Neville Bardos was with Silva doing dressage all summer and is greatly improved and it’s good to have him back.
"Silva has Jan Byyny’s horses Syd Kent and Waterfront in training, and has been working a lot on their changes, and might take one or both of them to Wellington this winter. She also has Jennie Brannigan’s horse Cooper. It looks like a lot of eventers are taking this chance to catch up on some dressage training.
"Silva will head to Florida on January first and I’ll go to Aiken January 15th. We’re heading to Australia for the Christmas holidays but before that we’re going to check out the USEA Annual Convention in New Orleans, where I think we’ll have a good time and I’ll be receiving a few awards."
Stay posted for more exciting news later this week!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Clinic at Morven Park
Boyd and Silva conducted a clinic at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia November 15-16, 2008. Silva taught dressage lessons on Saturday and Sunday, while Boyd taught show jumping on Saturday and cross-country on Sunday. About 30 riders, ranging from beginner novice to preliminary level, took part in the weekend's activities.
Boyd said, "The dressage was luckily indoors because conditions were pretty rough; it rained a lot on Saturday and it was bloody cold all weekend. Silva worked with riders on the tests they'll compete next season. In the show jumping I worked on rideability and adjustability, with a lot of lines with turns and courses that included sharp turns and jumps without too long an approach.
"On Sunday we used the schooling field, which is about 30 acres with about 100 fences. It was the first I've seen of it and the footing was perfect. We had three or four falls that day, not a bad effort with that many ride. I was lucky enough to sit on Melissa Stubenberg's four-year-old gelding, who was last year's Future Event Horse Champion (pictured above, Boyd on "Prince" at a horse trials during the summer, photo courtesy of Meillissa Stubenberg). He was a little full of himself, which is why I rode him, but he's a nice horse with a good future in front of him.
"The general consensus was that it was a great idea for a clinic, and we're talking about doing another one in the spring. Next weekend I'm teaching another clinic, in Millbrook, New York, while Silva keeps things running at home."
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Hassler Dressage Young Dressage Horse Trainers Symposium
From Friday to Sunday, November 7-9, Silva took part in the Hassler Dressage Young Dressage Horse Trainers Symposium
"First of all, Scott and Suzanne are doing a great job organizing these things. It was great getting trainers from around the country together to discuss ideas. Every night they showed videos of show and training, often from Germany. Of course I grew up in Germany, but it's good to see what is going on there.
"I knew the clinician, Ingo Pape, because he and his wife had horses at Rudolf Zeilingers. They breed a lot of very nice horses. At this clinic they had about nine horses a day, three-year-old's up to seven-year-old's. Jeff is seven so he was always the last to go. All three days he was awesome. Ingo helped me with the pirouettes and piaffe/passage. He really helped a lot.
“There were about sixty people watching and nine riding; all the auditors were trainers who had taken part before. This was the fourth time they’ve had the clinic and they kept it closed to trainers so that we could really talk about each horse and not worry about upsetting anyone.
“Good on Scott doing it that way, because otherwise it becomes more of a show. It wasn’t an issue for me since I own Jeff, but sometimes people guard what they say around owners and the press. There will be other opportunities for press and owners. You didn’t have to be careful saying anything here, so communication was very open. No one was bagging anyone out, it was just a very open discussion.”
-Silva
"First of all, Scott and Suzanne are doing a great job organizing these things. It was great getting trainers from around the country together to discuss ideas. Every night they showed videos of show and training, often from Germany. Of course I grew up in Germany, but it's good to see what is going on there.
"I knew the clinician, Ingo Pape, because he and his wife had horses at Rudolf Zeilingers. They breed a lot of very nice horses. At this clinic they had about nine horses a day, three-year-old's up to seven-year-old's. Jeff is seven so he was always the last to go. All three days he was awesome. Ingo helped me with the pirouettes and piaffe/passage. He really helped a lot.
“There were about sixty people watching and nine riding; all the auditors were trainers who had taken part before. This was the fourth time they’ve had the clinic and they kept it closed to trainers so that we could really talk about each horse and not worry about upsetting anyone.
“Good on Scott doing it that way, because otherwise it becomes more of a show. It wasn’t an issue for me since I own Jeff, but sometimes people guard what they say around owners and the press. There will be other opportunities for press and owners. You didn’t have to be careful saying anything here, so communication was very open. No one was bagging anyone out, it was just a very open discussion.”
-Silva
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
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
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!
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!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
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 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
Saturday, November 1, 2008
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
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
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