You’re correct, looked up his bio and sure enough he evented first then did some SJ, and stopped eventing when he came to the US and focused on show jumping. Amazing what stuff we learn on COTH.
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They’ll fall down, but I’ve walked courses in the International ring at Spruce Meadows and it’s hard to describe just how big they are
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I would love to read it if one of you geniuses can get a link!
Boyd said the same thing in the video where he took Daniel Bluman xc schooling! I think his exact words were “no f***ing way, you couldn’t pay me” which probably echoes most everybody else’s sentiment about what he does!!
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Way back to 1995 and I remember seeing Monica Theadorosco (I’ve totally slaughtered her name) riding a dark bay or black gelding in the world cup dressage. It was said the horse was a retired eventer.
I don’t know who is in charge of Boyd’s social media, but they put out extremely entertaining content.
High on the list would be that video with the Blumans, the dressage rider doing some cross-country jumps, and then Peter Wylde doing the same thing.
The best part was when Peter asked how many strides up one line, and they told him to do whatever number he wanted!
I laughed and laughed and laughed.
Boyd did say one time that they would put out the super impressive videos with him flying over some humongous jumps out on cross country and it would get X number of views.
And then they’ll post a video of one of his kids bombing around the farm on a pony, and it will get 10 times that number. Lol.
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There was a great one of Boyd riding Silva’s dressage horses while she was very pregnant and he was taking over her spot at the DaD Master Class.
She was trying to teach him one and two tempi changes and he made a joke that he strategically planned his career so that he only ever had to do one change at a time.
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What killed me even more is where they told him 5 and it was very much a 6 
His social media team is amazing. And Anna Buffini (the dressage rider) really nailed it out xc!
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I don’t know if you are trying to agree with me or not but you are making my point - it still takes money to be where you need to be to be seen by the sponsor - whether that’s private or government sponsorship.
Somewhere on some predominately Western forum someone is commenting that people are siloed in their disciplines and don’t “crosstrain” and someone else is pointing out some English rider/horse combo in a Western show. That first commenter is noting all the issues with their tack and their horse’s way of going and how it isn’t “really Western”.
In all that judgement the point is getting lost - people are trying other disciplines.
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My point is that people in the UK use private money - and some business sponsorships - to fund their equestrian career until they are deemed to be on an Olympic trajectory when Lottery funding comes into play for a fortunate few. The Lottery is not the Government. However, the cost of breeding/buying, keeping, training and running a horse is miniscule in comparison to the costs in the USA.
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No – they aren’t. That’s the point.
Inside the silo of any breed or discipline organization, an ‘all-around’ is NOT attending competitions run by the other discipline, the other FEI affiliate, to prove versatility.
Instead, some aspect of the other discipline is incorporated into the silo’s own silo – and then modified and re-criteria’d for judging. To frankly make it easier and more palatable for more riders who are already inside the silo. The silo’d ‘discipline’ drifts further and further away from its origins. Until it is no longer a truly different discipline, inside the silo.
‘English’ inside of Western is a classic example. In no way is a horse winning in those classes ready to perform credibly in a real h/e environment. They are not trying something different, they are doing what they already know under different tack and outfits.
As are various ‘disciplines’ re-framed to fit inside the Arabian show silo. And so on.
In the horse world, very very very few riders/owners who ever compete outside of their own silo, to prove the versatility of their own horse. The handful that do can become high profile and notable – because they are rare, not because they are common.
The only place there is any real crossover that I’ve seen is traditional and Western dressage. And those are diverging more and more as well. They are beginning to silo themselves away from each other.
The reason for silo-ing an outside discipline is control over each sport silo. That’s what people are really about. The more things can be made consistent throughout, the more control there is over the means and the rewards.
The same thing often happens in other non-horsey endeavors as well. There is less true versatility, and more incorporation of an outside thing into another silo, by re-framing the thing to be less what it was, and more like the silo.
Interesting that the riders who are drifting back and forth across eventing, show jumping and dressage, are not taking their horses with them, for the most part. They are fully exiting the other discipline, even if it is only part-time or temporary. And dressage is considered foundational for all of it.
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I was unaware we were specifying it to other FEI/FEI equivalent disciplines. Got it - someone going to a lower level show, unrecognized, fox hunting (which was noted as an example of “cross discipline” but last I checked not FEI/FEI equivalent), doing ranch work, hacking out (which was also noted as “cross discipline” earlier) doesn’t count because we want people to feel bad about not doing things some exact way we deem appropriate…got it…
I mean, if acknowledge people are at least trying to expand their horizons, how could we then sit in judgement of them?
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I disagree that most people are trying to expand their horizons.
Yes, there are people who “do it all.” But it was a lot more common to “do it all” when I was a kid 30 years ago than it is today.
Most people, especially those who compete, more or less stay in their lane. And what’s different about the US is that we have created an absolutely inordinate number of “lanes” for people to stay in. Like, you really can own a champion arabian sidesaddle hunter while being completely unable to place in a sidesaddle hunter class at Ludwig’s Corner… because they are two different sports. I don’t think any other equestrian-oriented country has created so many distinct types of competition as we have.
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I think it is hard to make a judgement call here because we don’t know what people do outside of the limelight. Like I have no idea if Buck Davidson hunts with Cheshire hunt like his dad did because it isn’t something that horse media follows (and frankly, I don’t follow most professional horse riders). Just like you don’t see them being interviewed at some schooling show.
I do agree that there are a LOT more options in the US due to the plethora of unique US-developed disciplines (Western, plantation related, etc) that developed from the unique landscape and size of the US. At some point you have to focus on something and every competitive person does - they may play in another sandbox at times but they will focus and hence you will only really see them in their area of focus.
The US size is also a factor - as stated earlier, if a ride to a show is 5+ hours minimum, most people are going to bank their time at the bigger shows in their chosen discipline. England, for example, is about the size of Michigan. If all my national events were contained in that area, then yeah, it would be a lot easier to cross disciplines at the national level than at the local level.
To emphasize - I “did it all” as a child also, but I never went to a rated Western show. I did do the morning English classes and afternoon Western classes on whatever lesson horse I was riding at the time, but that was at either the shows at the barn or the few other local venues we went to that did both. I even won a trail class on an OTTB, against an Appaloosa and two QH’s. BUT no one really knows that,do they? How often is that relevant to talk about here? So if no one really knows me, they have no idea what I have done in the past or how often I hack out, trail ride, jump, ride bareback, do dressage, etc. That’s fine, it’s just a point that to pass judgement on what we THINK people seems off to me.
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I would love to do more but realistically it takes working 50 hour weeks to do a handful of schooling events and some unrecognized dressage shows. Most people straight up can’t pay for doing everything. I’d love to hunt and do hunter paces and derbies and working equitation and cut cows and drive and all the things but even if I could afford it and had time there’s a limit to how much one horse can be expected to do.
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I’m trying to show two horses this year, one in dressage, one in eventing/hunters, and for the month of May and the month of June I’m essentially gone every single weekend. It requires PTO to leave work early enough on Friday to get to the show grounds, and then if I decide to show Sat and Sun that’s two nights away from home. I have a farm so it’s a lot. Last year I got burned out trying to show two.
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this makes no sense…why would she use dish soap and not just marshmallow fluff?
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That was my thought as well. It makes no sense to me to put something so unpleasant into a horse’s mouth - if I were the horse in question I would be even busier with my mouth while desperately trying to spit it out!
I have a homebred mare who has a busy mouth; she internalizes stress and that’s where it comes out – she’s always been oral, especially for a mare (and this has been going on since she was a baby - it’s just her!)
After I put her bridle on, I give her a piece of apple (which she loves), and it helps keep her mouth moist – then after mounting up I gave her a couple of sugar cubes. I will also stop mid-ride and give her a sugar if she’s done something especially good. She knows the word “sugar?” (which comes immediately after I warmly say “good girl!” in response to something she does well, so it’s similar to training the R positive “click/treat”), and she will come to a nice square halt and wait to receive her reward. 
She produces nice lipstick and it helps keep her mouth moist and happy – but there is never excessive foam.
I can’t imagine putting anything unpleasant into a horse’s mouth, ever. Doesn’t this just defeat the purpose of promoting a happy, soft mouth and acceptance of the bit?
Also, it’s just cruel. 
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Maybe busy is the goal, if the intent is to stop the grinding.
