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

Pine Top Advanced Event This Weekend

This is a big weekend for me, taking Remington and Benwald in the advanced horse trials at Pine Top Farm in Thomson, GA. It's pretty exciting for Remington since it's his first run at the advanced level. Benwald is doing his second season at advanced so he's a little more confirmed at this level. They both jumped well schooling yesterday and I'm looking for a good run from both of them to set them up for their first three-day event at Jersey Fresh later this year.

Shatzi W is doing her fourth intermediate and I got some good advice for her from Mark Phillips at the team training session; I've changed my tactics in dressage and I am interested to see if she can come up with a better test.

Minotaure du Passoir entered in the preliminary division and I think this should be one of his last preliminaries before he moves up to intermediate level.

Unfortunately I have some depressing news as well: Neville Bardos tripped in a hole the other day while I was doing his slow canter work and the next day his leg was swollen, so I've scratched him from this weekend. I had it scanned and there is no tear or anything like that, but it's still swollen. I'm a bit wary of putting him straight back to work when the swelling goes down so I'll probably play it safe with him for a while just to be careful.

-Boyd

Vidalia and Boyd pictured at the Young Event Horse Championships two years ago in Chicago, photo by Amber Heintzberger. Click here to see the entire gallery.

I had a fantastic weekend at the Paradise Horse Trials in Aiken. I rode two horses in the training level: Vidalia and Houston. Vidalia is slowly but surely becoming a seasoned horse. She destroyed the competition in the dressage with a score of 20! This is my best-ever dressage score in the US. Vidalia did not miss a beat after her fabulous dressage, and with a great cross-country round and a clear show jumping round she won the class by a staggering lead.

It was Houston's first training level event and I have to say, he impressed me. He was a little green in the dressage with a score of 37, but like his stablemate was faultless after that and finished a creditable 8th.

Picante looked all class over the weekend in the Preliminary division. He has had a few outings at that level now and is starting to feel like a real prelim horse! He finished second, which is his best placing at this level.

Click here for complete results from the event.

Next weekend all of the big guns are coming out at Pine Top...

Until then, be good,

Boyd

Boyd's first US training session with Captain Mark Phillips

All photos in this blog entry compliments of Emily Merrill.



I had my first official US training session with the US eventing coach Captain Mark Phillips. The Captain has been in Aiken for the last few days, and I have been lucky enough to secure dressage, show jumping and cross country lessons with him. I have focused my training sessions with my two "up and coming" horses, Remington XXV and Shatzi W. Both horses are just hitting the big time, so I thought it would be beneficial to see what Mark thought of them.

The most exciting session was yesterday with Remington. We jumped at a new equestrian facility called "Three Runs Farm" that is just down the road from Phillip's farm. Mark worked with Remi a couple of days ago over the show jumps so this was actually his second show jumping session. Mark felt I was giving him too nice of a take off distance every time, and wanted to get Remi to a deeper take-off spot to make him work a bit harder. I must say, it took me out of my comfort zone, as we were jumping bloody big fences! Bigger than I usually school over. It was very interesting, as after a few jumps with me "daring" Remi in, he just jumped better and better.

The other main focus of the session was the connection between the bit, rein and hand. This connection can be a little inconsistent sometimes, and can sometimes lead to Remington being too bold to a fence, which is were we have had a rail in competition. After all this it was encouraging at the end of the session when Mark commented very positively on Remington's potential as a top class horse.

Remington's owners, Ron and Densey Juvonen, (pictured at right with Remi and me), are staying down here in Aiken with their team of fox hunters from Pennsylvania, and were keeping a close eye on their horse's progress.

I compete this weekend at Paradise Farm Horse Trials on three horses.

Boyd