Great Blog from ThreeDaysThreeWays!

Get to know Boyd just a bit better in this humorous blog interview with Three Days Three Ways!

Jeff the Chef Wins His First Intermediare 1!

Caitlin and I showed at Morven Park today and yesterday. Jeff was a star!! On Saturday he won the Prix St. Georges with 72 percent and today he did his first Intermediaire 1 and won it with 75 percent!!! I am so excited, not just because Jeff won but because he really felt like an FEI horse. He finally feels strong enough; he has always been a very powerful horse but now he is powerful and collected. I just feel like I have a great partnership with him and I can't wait until he goes Grand Prix!

Caitlin had a fantastic weekend with her new mare, Gabriella Rossellini (photo at right). They won the Second Level Test 1 on Saturday and then won the Second Level Test 2 today.

I also rode Ballatale (photo at left) in Fourth, Test 2 on Saturday and he scored 63.8 and finished third on Sunday. He went great and finished second in the Fourth Level, Test 3 with 67.8.

It was a great weekend!

-Silva

Cross Country Schooling at Fairhill 4/28

Come join Boyd for a cross-country school at Fair Hill tomorrow, Tuesday April 28. Groups are going out at 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30pm. All are welcome - join a group to have some fun and get a good tune-up before your next competition.

Cost is $50 per rider.

Please call 610-806-2381 or email Boyd at boydmartin007@hotmail.com to save your spot!

Big Weekend at Fair Hill

I had a pretty hectic weekend at the Fair Hill International Horse trials with a total of 9 rides over the three days of competition. I rode four horses in the advanced: Remington XXV, Belmont, Rock on Rose and In The Beat; one in the CIC**: Schatzi W; two in the preliminary: Minotaure du Passoir and Aberjoy, (pictured below left, Kellie Wright photo); and two in the training: Vidalia and This is Houston.

All of the horses jumped well in show jumping and cross country. The highlight of the weekend was a second place finish in the top class with Belmont (pictured above, Steve Berk photo). His show jumping is getting better and better, with only the one rail. Remington was close to his best as well, finishing sixth. This was the final run for these horses until their big outing at the Jersey Fresh CCI***.

It was my first outing with Bruce Davidson's two advanced mares, In The Beat and Rock on Rose. Both horses are fantastic jumpers but a little green on the flat. In the Beat gave me some trouble at the corner half way around the course, so I decided to retire her. Rose was great, finishing in the top ten.

Schatzi W (pictured right, Steve Berk photo), stepped up to her first FEI event in this country and showed her class. It was my first time pushing her along for speed in the cross country, which was a bit of an eye opener for her. She finished a creditable sixth overall and will do the CCI** three-day at Jersey Fresh next month.

It was a bit sad watching everyone pack up to travel down to Kentucky today. Phillip has his two hot shots, Connaught and Woodburn, primed up. It looks like a red hot field and I wish everyone well.

- Boyd

Hopefully results will be posted on the official website.

A Word From Our Sponsor: Choice of Champions

A word from our sponsor:

Phoebe Ingram of Choice of Champions International writes, “Choice of Champions is now sponsoring Boyd because he is a very successful event rider with a bright future and likes using our products but there was a lot more than that that went into the decision to sponsor him.

“I met Boyd in Aiken this winter. I spent time watching him doing some coaching with a young friend of mine and also training a young horse. I liked not only his style, with his easy, Australian, laid-back attitude but his obvious knowledge of how to teach both person and horse. How do get the best out of the person by pushing them to have more confidence in their own abilities, and how to get the best out of the horse by not giving in to any antics, which could be a funny process to watch, and equally giving it confidence in its own abilities. Boyd also came out to the farm I was staying on and taught people and horses from beginner novice up and they all really enjoyed his approach.

“Boyd is fun to spend time with. We had one memorable evening where he joined a group of us “oldies” for dinner and we all laughed and drank and ate a great deal and I think he probably went away rather bemused. It shows he relates to all types of people and is a great ambassador for his chosen sport and we are very happy to be sponsoring him.”

Macintosh sold!

It was a sad day at the farm yesterday for me to see Macintosh head off to his new home in Connecticut. The 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding was sold to an up-and-coming jumping rider. Even though I have only had him for a month or two, he has been a pleasure to have in the barn and I hope all goes well for him. His ex-owner, Ashley Johnston, from Ohio, was extremely happy to have her horse sold as she has just found out that she is pregnant.

-Boyd

Plantation Field

Photo of 'Forotten Emblem', owned by Nina Gardner, compliments of Dr. Steve Burkowitz

I was back home in Pennsylvania on the weekend competing at the local Plantation Field Horse Trials where I rode five horses in total in the training and prelim divisions.

It was my first ride of the year on Melissa Studenberg's mare 'Aberjoy'. She was great, finishing 4th in the prelim. I hope to compete her in a couple of months at the Bromont Three-Day Event in Quebec, Canada. The rest of the weekend was spent riding some of the up and coming training horses, that all ran well.

Next weekend is a big one for me, with four horses entered in the advanced at Fair Hill: 'Remington' and 'Benwald', and then two new rides called 'Rock on Rose' and 'In The Beat', both owned by none other than Bruce Davidson. I am also riding a bunch of other horses in the intermediate, prelim and novice.

Until then, all the best!

-Boyd