Otis Barbotiere Returns to Competition at Pine Top

Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere at Pine Top. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere at Pine Top. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Otis Barbotiere returned to competition at Pine Top this weekend, running his first cross-country course since the London Olympics 18 months ago. He looked raring to go in the show jumping yesterday — bucking and carrying on in warm up — and Boyd unfortunately jumped the wrong fence on course, leading to elimination. Otis jumped beautifully though, and you can see video below courtesy of Thehorsepesterer. Boyd had his usual good sense of humor about the mishap, and super groom Lindsey Taylor joked poor Otis has now been eliminated from his last two competitions. Bless his heart.

The officials at Pine Top were kind enough to let Boyd cruise around the Preliminary course to complete Otis’ triumphant return. They had an easy trip around today, looking in good form both times I saw them on course. Boyd said Otis really likes the hustle and bustle of competition, and the horse was quite puffed up and proud of himself after his run. We were hoping to show you some of Otis’ tricks in the interview — Boyd said he likes to chew on your hair and give hugs — but we ran out of carrots!

Boyd also wanted to send a special shoutout to his wife Silva, who was selected for the U.S. Nations Cup team with Rose Cha W at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington this past week. Her team ended up winning! Click here to watch Silva and Rosa’s awesome freestyle to Neon Trees, Rihanna and Spice Girls. And if you’re in Aiken tomorrow, don’t forget to swing by to audit the George Morris clinic at Bridle Creek Farm. Boyd and a slew of other big names will be riding. Click here for all the details and a full schedule. Many thanks to Boyd for chatting and congrats on bringing Otis back to competing. Go Otis!

Update: Here’s video of Boyd and Otis running Preliminary cross country at Pine Top courtesy of Thehorsepesterer:

Update: And here’s a cool slow-motion video sent in by EN reader Andrew McConnon:

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments