Rebecca Farm Recap

The Event at Rebecca Farm was nothing short of sensational – it was one of the finest events I’ve seen on this planet! The venue is surrounded by glacial mountains – it was the first event I’ve been to with a mountain with snow in the background. All the rings had the best footing available with the new silicon/felt footing, and Mark Phillips’ cross-country was unbelievably built and presented at all levels.

I had three catch rides which went fantastic. I rode a young thoroughbred in novice which I got to know pretty quickly and won the open novice on Outlandish, owned by Cristin Babcock. Then I rode Mia Edsall's horse Banner in his first prelim start. He’s a Dutch warmblood who put in a good test and has a good jump – he destroyed the field, winning by nine points, finishing on 27.8.

The intermediate horse Manxome, (pictured at right, photo from the USEA blog), owned by Devon Robel, was a fiery hot thoroughbred who easily made the time cross-country. He was a little bit buzzed up in show jumping and had some rails down but still finished in second place.

My big ride of the weekend was Phantom Pursuit (picture at left from the USEA blog) and it was a real pleasure riding in the top horse trials class there on a great old horse. He hadn’t gone around an advanced course in five years and I was a bit nervous about how he’d handle it but he flew around the cross-country with ease. He was a little tough to ride over a huge Richard Jeffries show jumping course but luckily other horses struggled as well and he secured a fourth place finish not far off Titanium and Leyland, both WEG short-listed horses.

Eventingnation posted some video clips from cross-country day.

All in all it was well worth going; shipping the horse was remarkably easy on the horse – it was actually easier shipping them to Montana than driving to Kentucky or Richland. The event financed the shipping so much that it ended up not being too much more expensive than what you’d fork out for driving to a long-distance horse trial. Here's a fun video clip of the horses loading onto the plane and another video clip of the horses coming off the plane at the start of the trip. There is also an amazing video from the FEI flying over the three-star course. At the event there was a smile on every official’s face, well judged and perfectly organized with over 500 horses competing over the weekend.

-Boyd

The Praying Mantis .... Sold

We are on fire at the moment selling horses! "Manny" was sold today to an up and coming rider from New Jersey thanks to Pennsylvania'a most active sales rep, Courtney Cooper of C Square Farm.

Manny and I only had one show together which was his first Prelim at Maryland Horse Trials. He is a real jumper, super mover and can gallop like the wind. I wish the new owners all the best, and cheers to Bekkie Cornetta for placing her horse with us!

Boyd

Taking Flight to Rebecca Farm

Above: Ryan Starley, flight supervisor with H.E. Sutton Forwarding Company, escorts Phantom Pursuit from a 727 at Glacier Jet Center. Eighteen horses traveled from the east coast to participate in The Event at Rebecca Farm. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon Read the article by Erin Cole


Boyd is at the airport in Chicago on his way to Kalispell, Montana for the Rebecca Farm Horse Trials. He says:

The event is taking an extra step to bring the best riders in America to the event by chartering a plane out of Baltimore for 18 horses from east coast to fly out on Monday and paying for the majority of the flight expenses. I was lucky enough to get on board; some of the other riders will be Karen O’Connor and Buck Davidson. This is a whole new frontier for eventing in America, with the organizers going beyond the call of duty by renting a plane.

I’m riding four or five horses at the event: my main horse is Abbie and Kim Golden’s Phantom Pursuit (pictured at right, behind Buck Davidson's gray, Titanium) who is an advanced horse that my old friends Guy Wallace and Tim Boland used to compete in Australia. He was sold to Abbie, who is my student here in America; she’s been nice enough to let me ride in a couple horse trials leading up to this event. She also flew out to Montana with Phantom Pursuit to get him ready for the big day. It’ll be his first time competing at advanced level in about five years and he’s hot to trot and has been training well the past couple of weeks.

I’m also riding four catch rides who are already in Montana, from novice up to intermediate. I’m not too sure what I’m in for here, having never seen any of the horses before. I love the opportunity to compete in new and exciting places, so when the chance turned up to take on a few catch rides I put my hand up straightaway.

This is the first time since I’ve been in America that I’ll be competing away from the east coast, and the first time I’ve had to fly to a competition since competing in New Zealand six years ago.

-Boyd

Dressage Horses Successful at Dressage at the Park

Silva took Jeff, Sea Lord and Fair Fiona to Dressage at the Park last weekend at the Horse Park of New Jersey. Here's the scoop:

It was a really good show in the sense that the FEI classes were very full. Usually the lover level classes are full and the FEI classes only have a few entries, but this weekend it was the other way around. I liked that very much and it was very good to compete against quality horses and experienced riders at the FEI level.

I rode Jeff in the Grand Prix on Saturday and Sunday. I was very lucky that Jessica was there to help me warm up and to watch my test - it was helpful for me to get her feedback. On Saturday Jeff warmed up very well. I always feel like I have to really wake him up before I go into the ring and Jessica agreed, so that's what I did before I went into the show ring.

Jeff did a good test with a few little mistakes, but I was very happy with him.
After my ride Jessica talked me through the whole test from the beginning to the end and that was very, very helpful. She said after I woke him up before the test I needed to ride a little less aggressively and just give Jeff a bit more time for each movement in order to make it look more effortless. I totally agree! Overall Jessica was very happy with us and we both agreed that that is the reason why we have to do a lot of Grand Prix's at this open shows.

So on Sunday my plan was to do what Jess and I agreed on and wake him up just before I went in and then not put to much pressure on him in the ring. Well, that sounds easier than it is when you are actually in the ring! Some parts were better and smoother than others but we had a lot more mistakes because I did not help him in the parts that I needed to. But trying something new is the only way to find out what works the best for us. I need to work out where to push and where to just let Jeff do the work and allow him to do it well!

I was so grateful for Jess to be there and talk to me straight after the test.
What I learned from this weekend is that I need to push less on the first day and more on the second day!

I am telling you, to ride a Grand Prix is "freaking hard"! But one day in the near future Jeff and I will get it right. We still finished second on Saturday and third on Sunday with 64% and 62%!

And then there was my SEA LORD! He was a star as always! He impresses me more and more. We did a good Prix St. George on Saturday with a few little things that were my fault; I could have ridden him a bit better. It was a big class though and we finished 4th so I was happy with that.

On Sunday I was back to giving him a better ride and we worked together and won the Intermediaire 1 with 68%! I am looking forward to riding him at his first CDI at Saugerties in August.

Fair Fiona W was good as always. She won both her second level classes again! She has been very consistent and i am sure she will make somebody very happy. I will move her up to third level soon.

-Silva

Rock on Rose has Sold!

Lusty has found a new home with a young professional rider, Whitney Weston, out in Portland Oregon. Thanks to Hawley Bennett and Buck Davidson for acting as agents on the sale of this talented mare.

It has been an honor and pleasure working with Lusty and Bruce over the past 12 months……and I have gained invaluable knowledge and wisdom regarding the art of training horses through both of these characters! Although I am saddened to see this mare move on to a new career and rider, the goal from the beginning was to put her on the market.

Lusty and I had some wonderful rides and top finishes over the past year at the Jersey Fresh CIC 3*, Bromont CCI 3*, Richland CIC 3*……finally culminating with our remarkable 11th place finish at the Rolex 4*! In fact, Lusty’s recent finishes were so impressive that we were contacted within the past few weeks by the American selectors to discuss putting her on the short list.

I must say that she is one of the most talented horses I have ever ridden. She had all the right ingredients..... guts and stamina in XC, style and class in the show jumping and plenty of character and finesse in dressage.

I wish her new owner all the best and look forward to seeing her compete at the upper levels for years to come. Again, I’d like to say a big thank you to Bruce and Susie for allowing me to train one of their own. Their experience and wisdom on how to prepare for a 3 day event will stay with me throughout my entire career!

Boyd

Videos of Waranga

Here are a few videos of Waranga, the young horse described in the previous blog post:

Breaking In Waranga

On the other side of the world a horse is getting broken in and is about to make a very large lifestyle change. Waranga is a three-year-old gelding by Copabella Visage (KWPN) out of a Brilliant Invader (Australian Thoroughbred) mare. Brilliant Invader was the sire of Ready Teddy (the horse with which NZ eventer Blyth Tait won both Olympic gold and the World Championships).

My old friend Gordon Bishop is breaking in Waranga before he starts his big trip to America at the end of this month. His early training has been going well according to Gordon and he looks to be a big, strong horse with huge movement.

Congratulations to Amy Lindgren, Minotaure Du Passoir's owner, for coming on board and owning this promising young horse. He may look a little rough in these photos, but I promise you this horse has all the tools to be a champion: movement, size, pedigree and talent.


-Boyd