Bellaney's Destiny Withdrawn from Fair Hill

A message from Boyd:

"The horses were all checked out at home this morning and unfortunately Bellaney's Destiny (pictured above, photo by Amber Heintzberger) will be a late withdrawal because of a bruise on the heel of one of his forefeet. The vet he should be a hundred per cent sound in a few days, but the first veterinary inspection is tomorrow and we want to play it safe and let him heal completely.

"The other three horses were checked out this morning as well and given the go, so I did a jump school with the each of them with Phillip, then drove them over to the event and gave them each a light ride around the competition site. They've all settled in well and we're looking forward to the event getting under way tomorrow. Silva will be doing the test ride Thursday morning at about 7:30am, then I'll be riding early in the two-star lineup so I should be in the ring shortly after Silva."

Preparations for Fair Hill

Boyd took a few minutes out of his busy Fair Hill preparations to talk about the four horses that he is taking the championship event, which begins with the first veterinary inspection on Wednesday. Last year in the CCI*** at Fair Hill Boyd placed second on Ying Yang Yo and fourth on Neville Bardos.

"It's good going back to Fair Hill feeling confident and knowing what it's about," says Boyd. "I think we've had a good preparation for the event and I'm riding four good horses. I think that the new two-star will be a real showcase of the best horses in the country."

In the three-star Boyd will ride Che Kairo,(pictured left, photo by Amber Heintzberger) a 13-year-old Argentinean Thoroughbred gelding who was Ecuadorian Ronald Zabala's partner at the Pan American Games. Zabala is trying to sell the gelding, who has also been ridden by Phillip Dutton. "He's athletic and has a lot of talent," says Boyd. I won an intermediate with him at Surefire earlier this year and ran him advanced at Morven last weekend. The end goal is to sell the horse, so I hope to have a good result that will encourage his sale on the international market."

Also in the CCI*** Boyd will ride Belmont II, (pictured right, photo by Amber Heintzberger), a Dutch Warmblood/Thoroughbred cross gelding owned by Californian Kate Dichey, who is a good friend of Boyd and Silva. "Belmont is very strong in the dressage and has a good jump in him," says Boyd. "I'm also looking for a good result to get him sold for Kate."

Boyd points out that with a good result, both of these horses will be qualified for the 2010 World Equestrian Games, which he hopes will also improve their chances at selling.

In the CCI** Boyd will ride Bellaney Destiny, (pictured left, photo by Amber Heintzberger), an Irish gelding owned by Debbie Kuhns. Boyd and the handsome big grey recently placed second in the CIC** at Plantation Field.



Boyd will also ride Remington XXV, (pictured right, photo by Emily Daily for the US Eventing Association), owned by Densev Juvonen, in the CIC**. The handsome bay placed third in the CIC** at Richland Park and was third in the open intermediate at Stuart.

“Both of these horses have had really strong performances this year so I’m looking forward to a good weekend with them.”

Back at the barn things are also on a good turn. Boyd's good friend from Australia, Ryan Wood, just started working at True Prospect Farm, and leading Intermediate rider Jennie Brannigan has been at the farm for about a month now. "It's good fun,” says Boyd. “I think that with me and Ryan and Jennie all riding we've set a really high standard, and the maestro Phillip is giving us all a lot of good training."

Count Down to Championships

Boyd and Silva are busy preparing for what may their biggest competitions of the year, the championships that culminate the 2008 season. Boots and tack are being polished, horses are being groomed meticulously, and final training sessions are taking place as they count down the days to their respective competitions.

For Boyd the big event is the 20th annual Dansko Fair Hill International Festival in the Country, October 15th-19th, in Elkton, Maryland. He has two horses, Bellany Destiny and Remington XXV, entered in the inaugural CCI** and another two horses, Belmont II and Che Kairo, in the CCI***.

Boyd is not sitting at home meditating about how to take on the competition, however - he's keeping the cobwebs off by running five horses at the Maryland Horse Trials this weekend, (Four at prelim, one at novice).

For Silva this is the Colonel Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championships at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia, October 23-26. Silva qualified an impressive six horses: Wasabi Rosa (Training Level); DP Lidcombe (First Level); Waimea, Sea Lord and Ballatale (Third Level); and Jeff the Chef (Fourth Level).

Congratulations to Silva's Student

Congratulations to Silva's student, Lillian Heard, on winning her first long-format three-day event at Morven Park this past weekend. Lillian is also a student and employee of Jan Byyny in Virginia, and recently won the CIC* at Plantation Field as well. Go Lillian! Click the headline above to read all about it!

Boyd's Guide to Buying a Champion

Your Guide to Buying a Champion
By Boyd Martin

Let’s face it, folks–the best fun you can ever have with horses…is winning! In this day and age, eventing has so many fantastic riders, it often comes down to who has the best horse. This is your guide to buying your next champion.

Love at First Sight
The first moment you see your future horse, or the first time you sit on him, you should know, right there, if this is THE ONE. If you have to convince yourself that this horse could, maybe, be okay – forget it. Let your instincts be your absolute guide. This horse should be on your mind, stopping you from sleeping at night, putting a permanent smile on your face at just the thought of him. You should be boring your friends with the possibilities of this new horse.

Size
I never get too concerned about the size of the new horse. Just remember, the greatest eventer of all time was Charisma, just 15.2hh. I often find the smaller horses seem to think a lot sharper and stay a lot sounder. I suppose the only size I am worried about is the size of his ticker.

Age
Again, don’t get too hung up on the age of your new horse. The majority of horses peak, in all disciplines, at the age of 16. If you are buying a green horse, and you were being a little bit picky, I suppose you would aim for under 10 years old. Again, similar to size, if it is the right horse, it is the right horse, regardless of its age.

History
Find out a detailed history of the horse’s training and experiences. Just be aware that if the horse is an ex-racehorse, it’s going to have more wear and tear on him than a purpose-bred horse. But, he has already learned in life how to gallop, be transported, and has been exposed to a lot of weird and wonderful places.

It’s fantastic when you can get hold of a horse that’s started his career with straight dressage, as he has been carefully educated and exposed to non-exciting competition.

Always be wary of buying a straight show jumping horse and then expecting him to be miraculously transformed into a dressage horse. There are always exceptions but more often than not, the basic dressage work is hard to establish.

In my opinion, stable vices should encourage you to buy the horse, as all the champions I’ve dealt with are real characters in this department! Windsuckers are always welcome!

Pedigree and Breeding
Fancy breeding is not an essential, but it is always interesting to check out the horse’s pedigree. The chances of the horse being a super mover or an amazing jumper are seriously improved by specialized breeding. If you are buying a dressage horse or a jumping horse, look for proven Warmblood lines. Eventers should search for Thoroughbreds or Thoroughbred/Warmblood crosses that can still gallop. And yes, there are always exceptions to this rule; for example, straight Warmblood eventing champions and awesome Thoroughbred dressage queens do exist.

Price
Don’t let the price dictate whether you buy the horse or not. If it is a $500 horse and exactly what you’re after, go for it. When selecting your horse, it’s either the right horse or not–it doesn’t matter how much it is. If it is the right horse, always haggle as hard as you can with the seller and try to get out of paying full price for the horse. It is common practice in horse dealing to negotiate to a
lesser price. Think of it simply as a business deal, a little like buying a used car.

Vet Check
If you want to be very cautious that you are not getting ripped off, use a vet check. But, be aware that many vets are on their guard about being sued and will find something wrong with the horse. Try to find a vet who has some balls about him and will give you an off-the-record recommendation whether this
horse will be sound enough for the job. I would much rather buy a freakishly amazing horse with a funny-looking foot than an absolutely useless goat with perfect feet.

Homework
Do a background check of your horse’s performances. Contact the USEA or the USEF, or search the ‘net and find out his results and scores. Do some snooping around. Ring up contacts that may have some confidential knowledge about the horse that the seller is not disclosing. The result should give you an idea how the horse behaves outside the home paddock that you’ve just tried him in.

In my experiences, if you are buying a competition horse, try not to get too hung up on the thought of resale. If you have resale in mind, you are going to have to be more selective in the horse’s age, size and vetting report. The most important thing in selecting a winner is that the horse is incredibly talented. You need a horse that you can make the most awful mistakes on while on course and yet he still goes for you. He needs to be simple and straightforward to operate, so that he’s an absolute pleasure to train and compete.

Note: This is just a preview of an article by Boyd in the upcoming issue of Eventing USA magazine, the official publication of the US Eventing Association. Be sure to look for the article for more entertaining and educational tips from Boyd!

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