work as hard as I once did. Horses require an incredible amount of hard work and that doesn’t change no matter where the sport takes you. It doesn’t matter how many times you represent your country in the Olympics, stalls still need to be mucked out and your horses still need to be fed, groomed and exercised. It’s a physically labor- intensive job and I’m up front about that. At Windurra, “my guys” (male and female) work harder than at most farms— but they know that work can take them to their dreams. Students might get more one-on-one training some-
where else but at our farm, we have so much going on, riders are getting produced every minute of the day. It’s not just about the riding, but having the whole experience and having a look at how we produce fit horses, what methods we use in their soundness, their feeding sched- ule, and all of the little details. On top of that they see the results: our horses are competitively doing well and that’s perhaps the biggest motivator. You certainly don’t have to be a working student to be
successful. Phillip rode racehorses and learned a lot from Wayne Roycroft. Erin Sylvester’s never been a working student, but she’s at my place a couple times a week and we stable next to each other at shows. Buck Davidson pro- duces a lot of riders like Hawley Bennett and Laine Ashker. They don’t work for him but they’re in his system—under his umbrella, and learning from him all the time. These
“It's not just about the riding, but having the whole experience and having a look at how we produce fit horses, what methods we use in their soundness, their feeding schedule, and allof the little details.”
people didn’t start as working students but they have had a profound influence from the professionals in their lives. Don’t get me wrong—you can certainly find profes-
sional success without a mentor. But I believe it takes lon- ger when you have to make your own mistakes, learn from them and keep pushing through. A good coach or mentor has already made those mistakes and can offer you an in- valuable education—not just in your training, but in your life as well—and help you do what it takes to reach the top of your sport.
Four-star event rider Boyd Martin repre- sented the United States at the 2010 and 2014 World Equestrian Games and the 2012 Olympics. He and his wife Silva, a G.P. dres- sage rider, own and operate Windurra USA in Cochranville, PA. Learn more about them at
www.boydandsilvamartin.com.
98 March/April 2015
Amber Heintzberger
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