Boyd and Neville took no prisoners as the trailblazers for the US Eventing team at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games today. They galloped around all the direct routes clear and in the time, laying down a good foundation for the team - and Boyd even gave Neville a big hug after he cleared that giant water complex - but luckily didn't fall on his head! Karen, Phillip and Becky posted clear rounds as well, though Buck had an unfortunate run-out at the sunken road - fortunately the team could drop one score and since it was a rough day for many competitors, with three solid rounds team USA moved up to second position behind Great Britain and just ahead of Canada. Becky and Comet put in a textbook performance to stand in the silver medal position individually going into Sunday's show jumping. After his ride, Boyd said, "Neville was full of life and ran very well today. It wasn't the smoothest round ever but he showed toughness and determination to go clear and in the time at our first WEG. It was good going out first because I could take the direct route to every fence. It was definitely a bigger course than I've jumped before!"
Boyd spoke with the US team's show jumping coach Katie Prudent to develop a game plan for the final phase of the event tomorrow. He plans to school Neville on the flat and give him a short jump school in the morning to loosen him up and get him balanced after galloping around today, and hopefully jump a clear round in the afternoon.
Commenting on the atmosphere of riding in front of the more than 50,000 spectators that packed the Kentucky Horse Park today, Boyd said, "Riding in front of literally tens of thousands of people yelling and screaming all around is something I've never experiences before. It was an intense experience."
Both Boyd and Silva's parents and other friends and family are visiting and he added, "Now we've got the Australians and Germans and Americans all together and we plan to have a good celebration tonight!"
-Amber Heintzberger
