PrintIn this monthly series leading up to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in September and October, we watch a different competitor each month prepare for competition.
Boyd Martin’s goal isn’t to be selected for the Land Rover U.S. eventing team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. “My goal is to be a contributing member toward a team medal,” Martin said with a quiet, steely resolve to his voice—a distinct deviation from his usual cheery, jokester tone.
“I think it’s important that your goal isn’t just to go to the show. Your goal should be to put your armor on and go down in a blaze of glory trying to be a champion and bring glory to your country,” he said. “It seems like a lot of people switch off a bit once they’ve made a team, because that was their goal. It’s not about getting a badge you can slap on your jacket.”
Martin’s mother, Toa Martin, represented the United States in speed skating in the 1968 Winter Olympic Games. “She said the biggest regret of her life was that her goal was to go to the Olympic Games, not to go and try to win a medal,” said Boyd. “So I’m grinding away and sweating it out and walking the tight-rope of training as hard as humanly possible and keeping my horses sound to give a personal best performance at the WEG, not before.”
Lo And Behold
Boyd’s path to Lexington, Ky., in September has been a long one. He grew up in Australia and made his mark on the eventing world there, winning the 2003 Adelaide CCI**** on True Blue Toozac. But in 2007, Boyd made the move to the United States to work as an assistant trainer to Phillip Dutton. In 2009, he and his wife Silva, who rides dressage at the FEI levels and coaches Boyd on the flat, started their own business, Windurra USA, out of one of Dutton’s barns on True Prospect Farm in West Grove, Pa.
At the end of 2008, Boyd made the decision to switch nationalities and ride for the United States. Since his mother was a U.S. citizen, he’d always held dual citizenship and just needed to inform the Fédération Equestre Internationale of his decision.
“The main reason I changed my nationality is to try to support the country that’s supporting my career. I felt that if American people were going to be generous enough to allow me to ride their horses in competition, I should try to support the system and the country that they’re from. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” he said. Boyd had been shortlisted for Australia since 2000. “For one reason or another, it never came good, and I never made it onto a team,” Boyd added. “It was usually me not having the right horse at the right time or a little bit of bad luck here and there.”
Boyd, 31, is looking to change that luck. He has two horses on the short list for the U.S. team: Remington XXV and Neville Bardos. “They’re both good quality horses and exceptional cross-country horses. I had my eye on the WEG team, but there are so many hurdles to getting there. I just kept going to event after event, and lo and behold, two of them made the short list,” Boyd said.
It was Boyd’s stellar weekend at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** in April, where Remington placed 12th and Neville fourth, that put his name on that short list.
