USEA Convention Recap

Boyd relays his experiences from the USEA Convention:

I had an entertaining three days in Reston, Virginia for the USEA convention. For the first time I was involved with a few of the high performance meetings with Captain Mark Phillips and some of the US officials. We had a good couple of meetings making plans for next year and it gave me the opportunity to talk to some of the coaches about my horses’ plans for 2010 and getting them set up for Kentucky.

Mark Hart and Ann Jones have organized the Owners Committee, helping US riders get owners together. I’m still working on a syndicate for Belmont and I think this is the way of the future: syndicating gives people the opportunity to own a top event horse at a fraction of the cost. Belmont is begging to go to Kentucky and I think a good performance there would put in line for the WEG.

The awards ceremony was a big thrill, especially seeing Amy Lindgren receive the award for Min- he has easily been the best in the country at the preliminary level and she has supported me since I came to this country.

The finest hour was seeing the likes of Bruce Davidson and Denis Glaccum inducted into the Eventing Hall of Fame. It was really touching seeing these champions get up and receive their applause.

Boyd is USEA Adult Preliminary Rider of the Year

Boyd attended the US Eventing Association Annual Convention and awards banquet this past weekend:



Boyd Martin receiving the Adult Preliminary Rider of the Year Award



Amy Lindgren receiving the Preliminary Horse of the Year award for Minotaure du Passoir (ridden by Boyd Martin) from USEA President Kevin Baumgardner



Photos linked from the USEA Website

Winter Clinic Schedule for Silva!

DECEMBER
Dec. 5th & 6th - Boyd and Silva Martin Clinic at Jen Simon's, Middleburg
Filled!

Dec 12th - Silva Martin Dressage Clinic Earlesville, Md.
Contact Barbara Weinbrecht's

Dec 20th - Silva Martin Dressage Clinic Earlesville, Md.
Contact Barbara Weinbrecht's

JANUARY
Jan 2nd & 3rd - "New Year Revolution" German Position Clinic
Contact Mary Grace.

Jan 10th - Silva Martin Dressage Clinic Earlesville, Md.
Contact Barbara Weinbrecht's

Jan 17th - Silva Martin Clinic, Earlesville, Md.
Contact Barbara Weinbrecht's

Jan 26th - 28th - Silva Martin Clinic, Aiken, SC
Contact Boyd Martin

FEBRUARY
Feb 9th - 11th - Silva Martin Clinic, Aiken, SC
Contact Boyd Martin

Feb 13th - 14th DVCTA Dressage Clinic
Contact Gayl Bowden

Feb 23rd - 25th Silva Martin Clinic, Aiken, SC
Contact Boyd Martin

Photo Credit BHS Photography

Video: Silva and Jeff in Morten Thomsen Clinic

Silva rode in a clinic with trainer Morten Thomsen yesterday at Hilltop Farm in Maryland. Thomsen represented Denmark at the 1988 Olympic Games with Diplomat and at the 2000 Olympic Games with Gay. He also was the official Danish young horse trainer from 2005 to 2007.

Boyd Takes a Jump Lesson with Olympic Champion Joe Fargis

On Wednesday I was treated to a real tune-up to my jump riding with show jumping Great, Joe Fargis. I rode Charla, one of the best young horses I have. She is a new horse owned by Ron and Densey Juvonan, and she is a real fire cracker!

I was in a group of riders from True Prospect farm that included my two working students, Lillian Heard and Caitlin Silliman; my vet, Dr. Kevin Keane; and my good mate Ryan Wood.

We had a very focused two hour session with Joe mainly concentrating on perfection in riding.He was into me about my leg position and about being loose with my upper body. He gave me a few exercises that I need to work on over the winter to help with these issues. I left the lesson very impressed with the detail Joe showed to his teaching. It was a real honor working with a true champion.

Boyd and Neville Named to USEF "A" List

U.S. Equestrian Federation Eventing High Performance Committee members announced the revised 2010 Eventing High Performance Training List, and Boyd and Neville made the cut for the "A" list. These horse-and-rider combinations may participate in winter training sessions with Capt. Mark Phillips and may receive training grants. The committee will announce session dates and locations in December; expected locations are California, Florida and South Carolina.

USEF officials welcome the public to attend the training sessions and ask that auditors be respectful of lessons and the property on which they will be held.

The "A" list is as follows:

* Will Coleman, a 26-year-old from Gordonsville, Va., with Twizzel, a 13-year-old Westphalian gelding owned by Tivoli Farm
* Buck Davidson, a 33-year-old from Ocala, Fla., with Ballynoe Castle RM, a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Carl & Cassandra Segal
* Phillip Dutton, a 46-year-old from West Grove, Pa., with Truluck, a 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Shannon Stimson and Ann Jones
* Phillip Dutton with Woodburn, a 13-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred gelding owned by Acorn Hill Farm, Mardie Faucett and Ann Jones
* Boyd Martin, a 30-year-old from West Grove, Pa., with Neville Bardos, a 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Windurra USA, LLC
* Amy Tryon, a 39-year-old from Duvall, Wash., with Leyland, a 9-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Elisabeth Nicholson

The Last Dance

Silva and Caitlin wrapped up the season at Morven Park this past weekend. It is always good to finish off the season with a final good result, and they certainly did!

Silva said: Fendi W was the star of the show this weekend. He really really impressed me and showed me that he is the real deal. I showed him for the first time in training level and he tried his little heart out.

He got off the trailer and nothing fazed him; we got to the warm up and he was all business. There was none of that drama that you usually get when you take young horses to their first shows. He warmed up beautifully and when he went into the ring for the first time all by himself he tried even harder to impress me. He was showing off to everybody!

Fendi and I won both our classes with great scores: 73.3% the first day and 75.5% the next day.I am a little sad that I have to sell him, but I think the person that buys him will be a lucky person and is going to have so much fun.



Jeff the Chef W did his first Intermediaire 2 test at Morven! I was very happy with him. The I-2 test is very difficult and he really tried his best. We had some especially great moments in piaffe and passage and did all our one-tempi changes. All of these things are new to him in the show ring and he handled them very well.I really think he is going to be a big-time horse.



Caitlin and her beautiful mare Gabriella Rossellini placed second on Saturday in their first time competing at third level and won on Sunday at second level with very good scores.