Untimely End to Boyd and Otis' Olympic Experience

Unfortunately Otis had a swollen leg this morning and was very lame at the jog. He was sent to the hold box and Boyd withdrew him there .

At first we thought that he might have twisted his ankle on the steep hills yesterday, but Kevin Keane looked at him later today and it looks like he has some kind of infection in his leg.

That is pretty good news to us because it does not look like a serious injury and Otis will be okay after a rest.

As you can imagine, we are beyond disappointed that Otis and Boyd could not finish their first Olympics. Right now it feels very incomplete: after all the many years of working towards our ultimate goal, they did not finish. It's tough!!!! 

 

Boyd especially feels like he has let his team and all the great people that have supported us all along the way. I know that is not the case, because Boyd rode incredibly well in the dressage and the cross-country and Otis was better then we could have ever hoped for! He is a superstar to us and we owe him forever!

 

Now the most important thing is that we get Otis home safely so we can start with his recovery and his well-deserved rest in the field.

Even though it did not go the way we planed, we know tomorrow is another day. Boyd and I are flying home tomorrow and will get right back to training for Boyd's next and my first Olympics!!!

Like Ross Martin always said: " When the going gets tough, the tough get going!" We have to remember that!

Lindsey is flying home on Thursday and Otis leaves with the other horses on Thursday as well. Lindsey has gone above and beyond in looking after Otis, Nev and Remi over the last few weeks. She is amazing and Boyd could not do all he does without Lindsey doing such a great job behind the scenes.

Thank you again to all the wonderful people that support us so much and all the people that are cheering us on all the time.We appreciate every bit of it!!!

Silva

Awesome Olympic Cross-Country Ride for Boyd and Otis!

http://it.eurosport.yahoo.com/foto/olimpiadi-londra-2012-slideshow/boyd-martin-u-competes-eventing-cross-country-equestrian-photo-151616136.html

Otis and Boyd did awesome!!! Even though I knew Otis and Boyd would have an awesome trip cross-country, I was very very nervous about today. After all, it is the Olympics! Even though I have a lot of confidence in Boyd and Otis on cross-country, to be out first is never easy. Boyd has been walking the couse probably about ten times, but riding it is another story.

Boyd took the direct route at every jump and kept the speed up right from the start. Looking back at it now it would have probably been better if Boyd would have gone a little slower at the beginning, in order to have more horse left at the end. But there was no way of knowing if it would be possible to catch up on the time later without watching anybody go around the course first.

The course was very, very hilly with lots of ups and downs. Otis jumped super well and confident and really looked like an Olympic horse out there. Unfortunately he got pretty tired towards the end and they added 3.6 time faults to their score. (Click here for results, or copy and paste http://www.london2012.com/equestrian/eventing/)

Again, we are so proud of little Otis. He is still a young horse and he tried his heart out for Boyd today!

Phillip and Whisper and Karen and Cave, (Mr.Medicott) looked amazing and only added a few time faults to their scores. Will and Twizzel had an unfortunate stop at the Leaf Pit, but the rest of their round looked really good. Tiana and Finn unfortunately had a stop at the third fence but amazingly they finished with only 5 time faults on top of the 20.

Tomorrow should be a good day . Otis ia a great showjumper and I think he will be amazing! Fingers crossed one more time please!!!!!!

Silva

Silva's London Olympic Dressage Update

A word from my lovely wife Silva about my Olympic dressage test with Otis Barbotiere, followed by some links to stories about Otis and I in the news. -Boyd

Otis has been working better then he ever has. He is stronger, steadier and more powerful. We were so excited for the test because even during the last ride yesterday morning before Boyd's test he looked fantastic. In the warm-up ring, too, Boyd and Otis warmed up perfectly.



When Boyd entered the big arena, we could not believe how relaxed and focused Otis looked.
The scoreboard was not working yet, which was a disadvantage of going first. We all watched Boyd and Otis and thought the test was better than any they have ever done. It looked smooth and confident with no big mistakes at all. The changes were nice, though perhaps the last change could have been a bit better.



We were sooooo happy with the test. When the score finally came up on the scoreboard, The Captain and all of us looked at each other and there was no question in our minds that it had to be a mistake. Everybody knows that going first is not ideal and I think Boyd's test proved that!
The judges were all over the place with their scores.

Boyd and I are not people that complain about judging much, but yesterday it really was not understandable to us! I know that sometimes we get better scores then we deserve and  sometimes we feel like we deserved more then we got. It is just sooooo disappointing when the first case happens AT THE OLYMPICS! But there is nothing we can do about it, and we are so very proud of Otis for doing such an amazing job!!

Phillip and Will ride their dressage tests and Boyd is going to take Otis for a gallop today. I am sure they will all do a great job tomorrow! The course looks pretty hard to me, but Otis and Boyd can do it!

Silva



News Links:


USA Today  http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/equestrian/story/2012-07-28/Boyd-Martin-equestrian-Otis-Barbotiere-Neville-Bardos/56561894/1


Practical Horseman http://www.equisearch.com/news/nancy_jaffer/2012-olympic-eventing-dressage-day-one/


Philly.com: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/philabuster/164123622.html

http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/56561894?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Olympic%20Sports|s

Fan Video

Cross-Country Course and First Horse Inspection Photos

This is how big we feel....

Immersed in the XC Course

Water Jump

All horses on Team USA Passed 1st Inspection

Go Team Otis!

Jog Strip

Decked out in Olympic tracksuit

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!

Boyd

Silva

Let me start with, "It is absolutely amazing to be here"!!! The atmosphere in London is unbelievable and the horse park is out of this world. I can't even begin to imagine how much money and work went into the park!

Kingham

Jess Frankfurt, (Will Coleman's better half), and I took the train from Kingham, (near the training camp), to London yesterday. Since we are both…let’s just say, "not the best " with directions, we weren't sure if we would ever make it there. Actually we are pretty sure we are going to miss the Olympics altogether! BUT, amazingly enough we made it here with NO problems at all! We even beat the boys to the hotel and they took the car!

Jess and I in London

We took three trains and one bus and could not believe our eyes when we drove by the Olympic park and all around London . It is indescribable! 

London Fashion

It was a fun trip and definitely the way to go to London, by train. We had so much fun and let me tell you, if you are one of the many people that say, "the English can't dress", YOU ARE RIGHT!!! Jess and I could not believe what kind of fashion we saw arriving in London.

Yesterday afternoon the team went to meet the horses and took them all for a walk. Jess and I went to check out the shops and the restaurants (the important things!) Greenwich has some pretty areas with nice parks and nice places to eat.

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes!

This morning we got up early because I had to get my day pass to get into the park. The security is very strict and I am not accredited to be with the horses or the riders. I am getting a day pass for every day to coach Boyd up until Sunday, which is the last day of dressage. After that I will be on a ticket for cross-country and show jumping. 

Seating

We worked Otis this morning in the main arena and he was great. He really looks fantastic; we just have to keep it that way until Saturday!! 

Main Arena

Boyd at Main Arena

The arena is very electric and I think there will be a lot of atmosphere when the stadium is packed on show days. Otis seemed to be okay about the arena. 

Stilts

It is absolutely amazing what they have done to put up this horse park. Since it is in the middle of a park in the middle of the city the entire park is on stilts. Nothing touches the ground. That means once the last day of the Olympics is over they will take down everything they put up and nobody would even know that there was anything going on at all.

Boyd and Will Watching the Horses

The footing is amazing and the amount of it everywhere is also unreal. They have big watering trucks to water all the footing and the grass they put up. To make sure that all the water they need to keep the footing perfect does not ruin the grounds underneath the venue they catch all the water in big containers underneath the big platform the venue is on. Amazing! They even perfected the venue to the point that when you are on the platform you would not know you are on stilts and not even touching the ground at all.

Stilts

This is such am amazing time for us to be able to be here and for Boyd to achieve his dream to compete at the Olympics. We have worked very hard for this but we would not be here without the support of our amazing owners, friends and our families.

Team USA!

It is also so comforting to know that our team at home is taking care of everything for us and we don't have to worry. We would not be able to be here without Caitlin, Kymmy, Sara, Beau, Scout, Jen and Felix. THANK YOU!!

We will keep you posted as much as we can!!

Silva

Stabling

Arrival in Greenwich

Stables

We had a busy day today, traveling to Greenwich Park with the horses and all of our equipment. The equipment was loaded at 4 am, and sent off to be scanned and X-rayed before entering the Olympic venue. After the equipment truck departed from the farm, we prepared for the final vet inspection before the horses were put on the truck to head to Greenwich. Both Otis and Remington, (listed as alternate), looked great in front of the team of vets and Otis was put on the truck with the other four team horses. 

Entrance

 It took us nearly three hours to get to London, where we pulled into the equine staging post, unloaded the horses for the vets to examine them before they entered the venue, then loaded them back onto a sealed lorry in which we were escorted to our final destination at Greenwich Park. Security surrounding the venue is extremely tight, and the lorry was examined by a bomb squad before permission was granted for it to enter the stabling area.

Bomb Squad Checking the Lorry

Upon arriving at stabling, we unloaded the horses and took them to their stalls, which were expertly prepared and decorated by our stable manager, Dougie. The stable decorations show off our patriotic American spirit and create a sense of team unity. Other nations have similar decorative displays, calling for a true international experience when walking along the pathways in the stabling area.

Late this afternoon, the riders took the horses out for a hack around the venue, letting them see the sights and stretch their legs. Tomorrow, they will do some dressage work and get a chance to see the arena in which they will compete in just a few days.

 Lindsey