Min Wins at Sporting Days

It was a great weekend at Sporting Days Farm in Aiken, South Carolina. I rode six horses and was happy with all of them. The weather was nicer than at Pine Top a couple weeks ago, but not by much - it was a sloppy weekend but all the horses rose to the challenge.

Minotaure du Passoir led from "go to whoa" in the Open Preliminary A division, finishing on his dressage score of 30.4. It was the best he's ever gone, so I was pretty happy with his performance. I talked to his owner and she wants to keep him at prelim for a while and aim for a CCI*, maybe at Bromont this summer.

Also in Open Prelim A I rode a horse called Macintosh (pictured, right) for the first time. He came from Ohio for training and I rode him a bit cautiously on cross-country since it was our first competition together and I didn't know him well, so we had a few times faults, but I was happy with how we went around the course. His owner Ashley Johnson (pictured above, with Macintosh) sent him here to be sold and he's a quiet, easy going guy.

In the open training I rode Annie Jones's Young Man and Nina Gardner's Forgotten Emblem. They were both first timers at training level and they are both impressive young horses. They're still green but they have a lot of ability and talent and I think they are both good horses for the future. Young Man finished fourth on OT-A on 28.5 and Forgotten Emblem finished third on 34.1 in OT-B.

In Open Novice A I rode Bruce Duchoissois' Model Cadet in his first eventing start and he had a fantastic dressage test, scoring 24.5, which put him in the lead, but unfortunately dropped a rail in the show jumping and finished second.

In Open Novice B I rode AFW Ami Fidele, a horse I've been training. It was my first competition with him and he was fantastic and won the division. with 29.5.

For complete results click here.

Today I'm teaching a clinic at Carolina Cadier's in Athens, Georgia and tomorrow I'm looking forward to having a jumping lesson on Remi with Captain Phillips as a prep for running advanced at Southern Pines. We're heading up there on Wednesday and I'll be riding about ten horses over the weekend.

-Boyd

Jeff's Success at Wellington Classic

In addition to Prosecco's successful and well-publicized showing last weekend at the Wellington Classic Dressage Challenge II show, Silva and Jeff the Chef won the Young Horse Prix St. Georges on Sunday.

She says, "I am very excited because we have been working so hard and it finally came together. Jeff did a great test with no mistakes. There were three judges and one judge gave us 71%, one judge gave us 70%, and one judge gave us only 66%. But with a final score of 68% we still won the very competitive class!"

Silva continues, "Sea Lord also did a great test. He went in the Fourth Level Test 3 and for the first time he did not feel as green in the canter. We scored 68% and finished second!

"Caitlin and her new mare, Gabriella Rossellini, did very well for their first show together. They scored almost 64.47% and finished sixth."

A New Horse for Caitlin

Silva's working student Caitlin Silliman has just purchased an exciting new young horse named Gabriella Rossellini (photos, above, by Amber Heintzberger). Having sold her experienced Young Riders horse Twain, Caitlin felt that it was time for a young horse.

A Dutch Warmblood by Gambol out of a Dutch mare, Gabriella Rossellini is seven years old and was purchased from Alex Robertson in Ocala, FL. She is schooling fourth level dressage and does her flying changes, and has competed in one novice horse trials, which she won.

Silva says, "I'm obviously very excited about her because she's such a good mover. Simone Kann was also impressed with her jumping - they let Caitlin take her on trial for two weeks, which is almost unheard of these days. We also took her to Marcia Kulak's, who liked her too, so we're hoping Boyd approves, since he hasn't seen her yet! We also took her to the show and rode her around. If she does not work out as an event horse she's good enough that Caitlin can sell her as a dressage horse or a jumper, but it looks like she loves eventing."

Caitlin, who is 18, still has three years to compete as a Young Rider, but she knows she has her work cut out for her before she considers trying to compete at the NAJYRC again. "When we tried her she was wild!" Caitlin says. "She nearly bucked Silva off, but we knew she could move and she jumped really well."

"I'm excited to have a young horse," continues Caitlin. "She knows a lot of dressage already. In addition to lessons with Silva, I'm working with Marcia Kulak while I'm down here and I'm excited to work with Boyd at home, too. We'll probably do novice at Plantation Field as our first event."

Silva and Prosecco Featured on DressageDaily.com

After winning the FEI Prix St. Georges at the Wellington Classic Dressage Show, Silva and Prosecco were featured on DressageDaily.com. For the whole story, click here.

"It's really exciting, and I appreciate the support," said Silva, who was also sure to thank her coach, Oded Shimoni. "I've had so much help from Oded and I also want him to know how much I appreciate all he's done."

Photo of Silva and Prosecco Copyright www.phelpsphotos.com

Working Hard in Florida

Lillian Heard, Silva Martin, Caitlin Silliman and Brody the dog enjoying the sunshine at Stillpoint Farm in Wellington, Florida. Amber Heintzberger photo

Palm Beach Dressage Derby

The Palm Beach Derby went really well for all the horses. On Thursday Jeff placed third (64.4) in the Developing Horses class. First place scored 64.8 and second scored 64.6 so it was very close, and a little frustrating because I made two mistakes in the canter and probably would have won otherwise, but Jeff was very good.

On Friday Prosecco was awesome in our first Prix St. Georges together. His trot work was beautiful and his canter was good. I was still worried about his changes, and the four-time changes were so good that I got excited and made a mistake in the three-time changes. He placed second on 69%, just behind Betsy Steiner with 70%. I am going to keep showing him in the open classes for now and probably enter the CDI at Raleigh, NC in June.

Jeff did a different PSG on Friday and was good in the trot but got tired in the canter, so he got just a bit flat. He scored 62%.

Ballatale went in Fourth level test 1 which was a warmup for Fourth level 2 and got 61.3, then scored 63.8 on Saturday in 4th-2, which is a qualifying score for Devon. It's exciting that he's qualified. He's really easy to ride, not an Olympic horse but very obedient - he's a really good guy who tries hard and rarely makes a mistake.

Sea Lord (pictured above and right, Amber Heintzberger photos), scored 65.5 in the same test and placed 5th; he was a little tense, and got strong in the canter. Today in 4th-3 he was so much better! He placed second out of 13 horses. He's already qualified for Devon and I am going to compete him at Fourth level again next weekend. For him it was a big step up from Third to Fourth level - for some horses it's not a big step, but for him it was - so I am going to keep him there a while and then do the Developing Horse classes. I'm not in a hurry with him and he needs to get physically stronger.

My student Lillian Heard did 2nd level and did really well. Last weekend she scored 68% and this weekend 61%. None of the judges know her since she's an eventer and her scores don't really matter because she's getting ready to go intermediate in eventing and her horse has improved so much. She's also working on her jumping with Katie Monahan-Prudent and plans to enter the Plantation Field horse trials when we get home, which will be her first event of the year.

Caitlin (pictured left, hard at work; Amber Heintzberger photo), had to sit this show out because Waimea has an ulcer in her eye and we don't want to take any chances with it until it's healed. Caitlin is looking forward to possibly having a new horse soon though!

I am catching a flight to Pennsylvania today to teach a two-day clinic so hopefully I will not be stuck up there in the snow!

-Silva

Tough Conditions at Pine Top

Well folks I can tell you that I am well and truly soaking wet. For the last three days I have been competing Minoture du Passoir, Shatzi W, Remington XXV and Benwald in the mud at the Pine Top Horse Trials in Thompson, Georgia. All four horses put in great dressage tests and clear show jumping rounds on Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday night the storm of all storms hit Georgia. The organizers of the event wisely chose to cancel the cross-country phase of the preliminary and the intermediate due to the harsh conditions on Sunday morning. This was a little bit of a shame for Min and Shatzi as they were within striking distance of the leaders. The organizers did choose to run the advanced cross-country.

Remington was having his first advanced start of his life. The challenge was set with not only a big course but with pouring rain and muddy conditions. Remington was a champion flying around the course clear. He felt a little bit green, especially the bounce fence out of the first water. I also felt he really noticed the bigger size in fence, so I took my time setting him up. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw he held onto 2nd place in Advanced A-1 on 59.0 out of 19 horses, only eight of which completed the event. This was a big effort for such a green horse.


Benwald, (pictured above and right, photo by Kat Netzler/The Chronicle of The Horse), was also a legend today. The Irish Thoroughbred went cross-country later in the day when the track was well and truly chopped up. He was all heart, slipping and sliding around the course. There were three corners on the course that he jumped well. Apex fences and corners have been his weak link so I have been training hard over them. I was really impressed with his effort over these accuracy fences, and it's good too see the training is paying off. He recorded the fastest time of the day, finishing 2nd in the second Advanced A-3 class on 56.4, out of 18 horses.

So all in all, I am very pleased with the efforts of these top horses. For complete results, click here.

Kat Netzler of The Chronicle of the Horse kindly provided these photos of Benwald in action. Thanks for the photos Kat, and for standing out in the rain to get them!

Until next time...

Boyd