Bit of Britain Tent Sale

Boyd and Silva currently enjoy sponsorship from Bit of Britain in Oxford, PA. Next weekend this awesome tack shop is holding their annual tent sale, with unbelievable deals. If you are in the area be sure to check it out!

http://www.bitofbritain.com/v/esaver/tentsale/

Devon

Dressage at Devon is the epitome of dressage competition in the United States, and Silva had a fantastic weekend with two of her competition horses.

In the FEI Championship for Five-year-old horses Silva and Meg Williams' FS Tiger Lily placed second overall in a class of eight horses. Tiger Lily scored 76.4%, with marks of 8.5 for her trot, 7.8 for her canter and 7.2 for her walk.

Silva says, "She warmed up beautifully - she's never gone so well. The class was under the lights and there were a ton of people there, and she was just a little intimidated by the atmosphere so I think that's why she ended up second. Last year she won the Championship for four-year-olds but the class was during the day and there were a couple other horses in the ring with her. This year she was by herself and there were a lot of spectators. She tried really hard though, I'm proud of her!"

FS Tiger Lily will head to Wellington for the winter, where Meg and Silva will share riding her.

Silva's own Jeff the Chef, who has only been showing at Fourth level for a few months, had an exciting weekend at Devon. On Saturday he placed 8th out of 17 horses in Fourth level test 2 (62.614%). The warm-up paid off because he came back the next day and placed fourth in the same test with a score of 66.54%. His biggest success was Sunday morning when he finished second overall with a score of 65.041% in Fourth level test 3.

"Jeff was awesome," says Silva. "The first day he was still green in the test, and his pirouettes felt unconfirmed but he was relaxed - he can be spooky, but he was not spooky that day. On Sunday he was tired but he tried his heart out, we just messed up one pirouette which cost us the win. It was muddy and disgusting from all the rain and the footing was horrible! In the afternoon he was even more tired but he kept going and didn't make any mistakes. For the first time, he felt like a real fourth-level horse."

Silva concludes, "Competing at Devon was great. I was lucky because I didn't get wet! It's exciting to think about competing at the FEI levels again, it's just one more step up, and I have some really nice horses."

Photo of Silva on Jeff the Chef copyright Amy Dragoo 2008

Dressage at Devon Under Way

It has already been a busy season for Silva. Just over a week ago she and Nina Gardner's Wasabi won the Training level championship Dressage at Bucks Count, where Waimea placed second in Fourth Level test 1 and Jeff the Chef won Fourth Level test 3.

Today is the first day of Dressage at Devon, and Silva will be taking two horses to the show this year. She is riding FS Tiger Lily, owned by Meg Williams, in the Championships for five-year-old horses on Thursday. On the weekend she'll be riding her own Jeff the Chef in Fourth Level - Saturday in the Fourth Level Test 2 qualifier, and Sunday in Fourth Level Test 2 and Fourth Level Test 3.

Last year at Devon, with Silva riding, FS Tiger Lily won the Championship for four-year-old horses and Jeff placed third in the Championship for six-year-old horses.

"This year I know the place better and won't have to find my way around," said Silva. "Jeff is still green at this level but he is going the best he can, so I'm looking forward to riding him. He had a 69.5% at Bucks County, and if he gets that at Devon I'll be really pleased. Hopefully Tiger Lily will do well; she had the last week off with a hoof abscess but she's back in business now and doing great."

Silva is excited about the atmosphere at Devon too. "It's fun having a lot of competitors at one show - there are maybe 35 horses competing in Fourth Level, which is a lot in this country, and it's world-class competition. It's more like the shows in Germany. Jeff is only seven but hopefully he'll keep up with the others. I am hoping that he'll do the small tour there next year."

Amber Heintzberger Photo of Silva and working student Caitlin Silliman preparing Nina Gardner's mare Wasabi for a photo shoot at True Prospect Farm.

Top Finishes at Plantation Field International

In the inaugural Plantation Field International CIC and Horse Trials, just down the road from True Prospect Farm, Boyd finished second in the CIC** with Bellaney's Destiny, owned by Debbie Kuhns, and fourth in the CIC*** riding Belmont II, owned by Kate Dichey. Boyd and Silva's students also had an outstanding weekend, with Molly Rosin winning the CIC** riding Havarah's Charlie,and Lillian Heard winning the CIC* aboard Share Option.

Silva commented after Heard's successful jumping round, "She and her horse both have a lot of talent and she has been working hard. I'm very proud of her."

Boyd hopes that Belmont II will compete in a couple of upper-level events before he sells him for Dichey. "He's soft and rideable in the dressage and has good jumping ability," said Boyd of the big bay gelding. Horse and rider have not had much time to get to know each other. "I did an intermediate on him a couple weeks ago and placed third or so, and then he just came to Silva's barn last week."

Bellaney's Destiny came to Boyd with longer-term goals, and Boyd said, "He's only been here a couple months and he's really improved. It's a shame he didn't win today, but he has shown amazing improvement."

Photo of Boyd and Bellaney's Destiny copyright Amber Heintzberger 2008

Boyd Leads Two-Star at Plantation Field CIC

Boyd rocked the cross-country at Plantation Field today! He and Belmont II are tied for second with Phillip Dutton on Bailey Wick in the CIC*** with identical dressage scores (49.20) and cross-country time faults (5.20) for a total of 54.4 penalties. Will Coleman and Twizzel maintained their lead(45.2)

In the CIC** Boyd is leading with Bellaney Destiny, (50.0), an Irish horse owned by Debbie Kuhns that is a relatively new ride for him, though he already won the preliminary at Seneca. “He’s top class and gave me a great ride today,” said Boyd.

California native Molly Rosin, who has been training with Boyd, is in second on Havarah’s Charlie, her partner in winning the preliminary championship at the American Eventing Championships two years ago. Molly was thrilled with Charlie’s cross-country round and said that he felt unstoppable on course today.

Sally Cousins won the advanced division riding The Robber Baron, a nice reward after she and Tsunami parted company in the same division. Boyd was tied for first but was two seconds slower so had to settle for second place riding Anne Hennessey’s Benwald. Boyd wrapped things up by winning a division of preliminary riding Minotaure du Passoir, who only recently returned to competition after undergoing colic surgery earlier this year. "He's only had two starts since I brought him back and I'm ecstatic with him," said Boyd. Shatzi finished 5th in the same division.

At the end of the day Boyd said, "They were good tough, testing courses but rideable. Most of the horses jumped well and the courses caught out the horses that weren't up to it. It was a fantastic cross-country day here at Plantation Field, I'm thrilled with all five horses that I rode. This is probably the best Plantation I've been to. I've always thought of Unionville as as the best area for eventing, with all the trainers and horses here, and it's fantastic that we now have a showcase event like this."


Photo: Boyd Martin and Bellaney Destiny, copyright 2008 Amber Heintzberger

Inaugural Plantation Field International CIC

Boyd and Belmont II compete in the CIC***

Photo by Amber Heintzberger

Boyd Talks About Mental Toughness

For the second time this year students of eventing gathered at True Prospect Farm for the Phillip Dutton Eventing Camp. Boyd and Silva taught lessons throughout the week and at the camp's conclusion Boyd, along with Kerry Milliken, gave a talk about "mental toughness" in eventing, to send the campers away on a positive note.

A few excerpts:

"Cross-country is obviously the most nerve-wracking phase on an event. In any competition there are going to be nerves, it doesn't matter how many competitions you do; I ride and compete a lot and I still get nervous every time I ride cross-country.

"The question is, does this moment of terror ruin you or do you work with it and deal with it so that you can actually enjoy your ride?

"One of the first things you can do is visualization. One thing I've learned from Phillip is that from the moment you walk your course to the time you ride it is a long time. Make a time for thinking about it, and then move on - don't dwell on it and psych yourself out. Don't let the whole visualization aspect control you for two days.

"Another keyword is focus. To me that's a personal thing. You don't want to be so focused that you can't talk to your wife. Focus on just a couple of points, like when you're riding shoulder-in just think about correct bend and keeping the horse on three tracks."

He reminded riders to focus on their own issues and not to pay attention to external distractions. "If you're riding in the warm-up and David O'Connor does a big extended trot past you, don't try to do what he's doing or ride to impress him - just stick to your usual warm-up. Have a plan and stick to it. Don't let exterior factors influence you. You are not going to re-train your horse in the warm-up ring!"

Finally, Boyd commented, "Something you have to come to terms with is that a lot is out of your control. The weather, the footing, if the warm-up ring for dressage is next to the cross-country course...you can get upset about it and lose your focus or you can think of it as a great test to see if you can handle it, like if it's raining you can see how your horse goes in the mud. Do the best with what you've got."