Warmblood By Boyd Martin Mentors and Mentoring A
round the globe, there are many paths to becom- ing a top professional in the elite ranks of our horse sports. For me, the path was simple: the day I finished high school I moved into a bunkhouse at New South Wales Equestrian Center and lived and trained for eight years under the notorious Heath Ryan. He was ex- actly what I needed at the time: coach, in- spirer and mentor, who, without question, changed my life. In 2007, my wife Silva and I moved to
the United States and into Phillip and Evie Dutton’s garage. For three years I worked as Phillip’s student and assistant. By about day two I realized he had replaced Heath as my new messiah. Without the guidance of these two great horsemen, I’m not sure where I’d be in my life or career. I really don’t think I’d have accomplished much. In my experience, this is the best way
evaluating whether a horse is capable of a four-star, for example, and if not, working on relocating that horse to a more suitable situation and encouraging the owners to find the next one. Everything is focused on the goal of finding the best horse possible and giving that horse un- believably focused training every day so he can reach his greatest potential. Again, it’s impossible to get an understand- ing of this by just trailering in for a couple les- sons every week. You really have to immerse yourself daily in someone’s program. In 2010, I ventured out on my own. With-
to become an elite-level rider in any horse sport. “Monkey see, monkey do” is a great way to learn the ropes, and there are a lot of things you can’t learn in just a 45-minute lesson. The biggest lesson when you’re working underneath someone is observing how they operate day to day: exactly how they work, their work ethic, horsemanship and stable management. Just being around someone who’s accomplished great things, you get a sense of their daily life: their discipline, what time they get up in the morning, what they accomplish in a day, their business decisions, coaching and balance with family life. You can really only get a true understanding of this if you are around these people 24/7. I’m still blown away with the work ethic Heath Ryan
Olympian Heath Ryan of Australia was Boyd’s mentor when he was young.
out my realizing it, my position had changed. Suddenly I had young, up-and-coming riders coming to me for advice and working for me as assistants and working students. At first, it was a little bit tricky for me to change roles from being a student to being a mentor—I’d always
felt like a student, and in reality I wasn’t that much older than the people working for me. That said, it created a different sort of moti- vation for people like Lillian Heard and Caitlin
Silliman, who each worked for Silva and me for several years. They were able to see someone not much older than them able to make a go of it in the horse business. Since that time, I’ve represented the U.S. in team interna- tional competition several times—and there was always the feeling that if I could do it, they could do it. Without working so closely with Silva and me, they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get a true feel for international competition and what it takes to get there. Today both these young women are successfully running their own businesses—and competing with the best in the world. As a coach and a mentor, it’s a great feeling to see
continues to demonstrate every day, month and year. I’ve never seen someone work so hard. At five a.m. he starts riding horse after horse and teaching lesson after lesson. He doesn’t stop until nine or ten every night. It’s relent- less, bordering on obsession. As a young boy in Australia I quickly learned from Heath that if you want to be any good in this game you have to work very hard and put everything you have into the sport. From Phillip Dutton I learned the important lesson of concentrated focus. You can see Phillip constantly
66 September/October 2016
my students go out on their own. Their success is my success.
Four-star event rider Boyd Martin represented the United States at the 2010 World Equestrian Games and the 2012 Olympics. He and his wife Silva, a G.P. dressage rider, own and operate Windurra USA in Cochranville, PA. Learn more about them at www.
boydandsilvamartin.com.
an-eventful-life.com.au
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