Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton at The Fork. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Good friend of EN Nancy Jaffer has written an excellent story on Phillip Dutton, which was published today on Practical Horseman’s website. She interviewed Coach David O’Connor, Boyd Martin, longtime owners Annie Jones and Bruce Duchossois, Jennie Brannigan and, of course, Phillip himself for a very extensive look at his career, especially focusing on the last couple years.
Phillip makes some really great observations about the sport in the story: “In my mind, it is the best all-around horsemanship sport. It has developed now with horses and riders needing incredible skills; to win you have to be pretty talented in all three phases,” he said. “You can still get a good all-around horse and make it a really good horse, whereas in some of the other disciplines, God needs to give those horses pretty much a gift to have them at the highest level.”
Nancy also included what Phillip considers to be one of the secrets to his success: “surrounding yourself with the right people and people who are loyal to you. The owners go through so much. For eventing, it has to be someone who really loves it, enjoys every day; not just when it goes right.”
It’s well worth the read. Click here for the full story.
