Boyd Martin scored a 52.4 with Ying Yang Yo (Thomas) in the Luhmuhlen CCI4* dressage on Friday. They are the highest placed US pair in the field and stand in 24th place going into the cross-country on Saturday. After winning the Fair Hill CCI3* last autumn, Thomas has not had the best preparation for Luhmuhlen after an eye injury on the way to The Fork derailed his spring season and prevented him from competing at Rolex. But Boyd and Thomas have about as much experience together as any pair in the world–Thomas and Neville are the two horses that Boyd brought with him to the US when he started working with Phillip Dutton.
Boyd was kind enough to speak with me from Germany on Friday evening. He told me that he had enjoyed a day of watching amazing eventing dressage in Europe. When I asked him about his test with Thomas, he said “Thomas was putting in the test of his lifetime, it was all 8’s and 9’s in the walk and trot work.” But they encountered problems when Thomas broke from the canter in their counter-canter loop. Suddenly the 8’s and 9’s turned to 1’s and 2’s and a test that could have been in the 30’s turned into a 52.4. That’s eventing for you. Boyd joked (I think he was joking) that he didn’t get a single 5, 6, or 7.
Boyd told me that Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz’s test was much improved from Burghley and included four perfect changes–something they didn’t have last autumn. He also praised Peter and Henny’s test and said that Henny was absolutely rocking the trot work. Sadly, Peter and Henny withdrew before the XC.
Boyd described Mark Phillips’ Luhmuhlen course as “brutally tough.” He told me that there are turning questions all over the course including an incredibly difficult right turn at the end of the course that looks “half impossible.” There are 4 water complexes on the course. He said that the Luhmuhlen XC is not the most massive course in the world but everything is turning. Boyd sounded excited for the challenge and ready to work with Thomas on Saturday.
Many thanks to Boyd for chatting with us. For more from Boyd be sure to check out his blog and follow him on Twitter.
I’ll leave you with a German preview of the Luhmuhlen XC:
Go eventing.
