Thursday, September 1, 2011

Boyd and Neville 12th after First Day of Dressage at Burghley

Nev went in and did a pretty good dressage test at Burghley. I was very happy with the way he warmed up - he was really trying. In hindsight I probably warmed him up 10 minutes too long, as he was a little flat, especially in the trot work. All of my dressage coaches (Bettina, Mark & Silva) agreed that I should have pushed him a bit more in the trot work. He finished on a 49, which left him in 12th on the first day. (Results)

I felt pretty bad for my USA teammate Will Coleman who had to withdraw in the final warm up. Twizzel all of a sudden looked a little uneven and Will decided to pull him out. After spending the last two weeks with Will, I know how devastated he must be. He has put so much into this event, moving to England for 6 weeks, training harder than he ever has before, and the horse is in magnificent form.
I enjoyed a cocktail party at the Burghley House last night with some of the Neville Syndicate members. It is an amazing backdrop to this great event. The Neville syndicate also joined me on a course walk this morning (photo above) as I wheeled the course. It looks to be a long way around over some bloody big fences! I look forward to walking the course this afternoon with my jumping super coach, Phillip Dutton.

Boyd

I also took the folks from Horse Junkies United on a little course walk and they've got photos and videos on their website - check it out!

Also have a look at some fun facts about Neville!


Silva and Stately Finish 3rd Overall at National Young Horse Championships


Third place overall in the Markel/USEF National Young Horse Dressage Championship 6-year-old division was awarded to Faye Woolfe's Aesthete (Trento B - Unusual by Gribaldi), who earned an overall 8.728. Silva Martin guided the lovely KWPN gelding to a score of 8.8 in the Final Test, earning them second place in Sunday's class.
Photos courtesy Cindy Lawler








Photos of Duvent by Cindy Lawler

Cindy Lawler has graciously shared her photos of Silva riding at Lamplight last weekend. Here is the "Duvent Collection" - more to follow!






Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Burghley Underway

Things are finally underway at one of the greatest four star events in the world, Burghley. All of the US horses trotted up without any nervous moments this afternoon. I am very happy to say that all of the Americans are gathering together in a group getting behind each other and it's a real team feeling within the group.



We walked the cross-country course together and after fence 4, we all started getting very quiet. The jokes and small talk stopped as we started checking out the fences that we are taking on on Saturday.

Mike, Will, me, Jules & Sinead at the biggest cross-country jump in the world, Cottesmore Leap.

Will, Mike and I are lucky enough to be here with the assistance of the Land Rover Grants. Land Rover has really got behind the American team, and are an awesome backer to assist us in covering an enormous shipping and traveling bill. After the trot up we did some photos with a couple of very nice Land Rovers which we have been given to cruise around in this weekend.

Nev went well in a lesson with Bettina Hoy this afternoon. Our dressage is at 3:15 tomorrow, so let's see if all the hard work has paid off.

Boyd

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

More Exciting News for Boyd

Boyd and Otis Barbotiere are one of four US horse/rider combinations to have been awarded a USEF Developing Grant to compete at the Boekelo CCI3* in The Netherlands. This event runs October 6-9, 2011. Boyd will also take Ron and Densey Juvonen's Remington XXV with the Land Rover Competition and Training Grant they were awarded earlier this month.

Also Boyd and Manny and Dana Diemer's Cold Harbor have been selected as alternates for this year's Pan-American Games team in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Let's hope the good news continues to roll in as Boyd and Neville tackle the Burghley CCI4* in England this week!

-AMH