Boyd said, before we went over there if we’d known we’d come in seventh we’d have been elated; but the night before show jumping, even though none of us said so, we all knew there was a chance he could be the winner, so it was disappointing.” Before the show jumping at Pau, Prudent was supposed to help Boyd warm up but at the last minute she wasn’t able to make it. Densey says that she was distressed about that, because “there’s a very particular way you have to show jump Remington and at the last minute we found out she wasn’t coming. I think that was a big problem for Boyd and the horse and then the rain complicated it further. It was just one of those things.”
Olympic Aspirations Remington is 16 years old now. He’s no spring chicken, but he may have a couple of good years of eventing left in him. Following the trip to France he had a month off, hanging out in a pasture at the Juvonen’s farm with their hunt horses, eating green grass and wind-sucking to his heart’s content on their post and rail fencing. “I brought him back slowly because it’s an exhausting
trip there and back. On the way home he had to go through Amsterdam to New York, and then spend a couple days there before he came back to Pennsylvania,” says Boyd.
He adds that Remington is a very sound horse and
didn’t have any injuries to recover from. “I brought him back with a week’s walking on the road, light flat work, and slowly building up to long trot sets, dressage and slow
Boyd and Remi stand with Densey and Ron Juvonen in 2008.
canter work. I jumped him a few times before sending him to Katie’s and had him cantering five miles twice a week, so he was really fit enough to take all the jumping training down there in Wellington.” Meanwhile, in addition to Remington, the
Juvonens own a Holsteiner mare named Charla (Alcatraz x Sir Shostakovich xx/Fasolt) that Boyd rode to the U.S. Eventing Association’s 2010 Preliminary Horse of the Year award. They also have a share in Neville Bardos as well as a share in Otis Barbotiere, a Selle Français gelding that Boyd recently imported from France and is hoping will be his ticket to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Densey jokes that she and her husband could sell their houses and just travel from event to event now with their four horses. “We’re very excited about Otis now and look forward
to competing him,” she says. “Remington enticed both Ron and I into this sport in a very peculiar way. We do have Charla who’s going extremely well and we’ve really enjoyed watching these horses come along. We can do that because we’re a couple of miles down the road from the Boyd’s barn both in Pennsylvania and in Aiken, so we can watch the whole process, and we look forward to that.” She notes, “As a Selle Français, Otis reminds me of a
cross between Neville and Remington. We’d love to go to the Olympics and we’re looking forward to another future star! Who knows what the gods have in store for our horses. It’s the gamble you take.” Boyd expresses his appreciation for the Juvonens.
“Remington’s career has been a roaring success the majority of the time, but there have been a few devastatingly disappointing weekends. Having owners like Ron and Densey, who are true horse people, has been fantastic. They understand the great highs and the shock of the lows. They’ve stuck by me and supported me through the good times and more importantly the disappointing times. I urge any owner that has a horse with a rider to follow in their footsteps and understand that while each experience won’t be exhilarating, to push on, trust the rider and hang in there for better times.”
Warmbloods Today 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84