by a truck during a cycling race. He was severely injured, paralyzed from the chin down, but lived long enough for Boyd to travel to Australia and see his father one last time. Just a couple of weeks later Boyd and Silva traveled to her native Germany when her father Christoph Stigler lost his battle with cancer, also gone before his time. (See video tributes to both Boyd and Silva’s fathers on
youtube.com.) “I think Boyd was just moving forward from the fire when he lost his father, and that was really hard,” says Densey. “They were best friends and his father was his biggest supporter. He helped him become who he is.”
Gifts and Gift Horses The financial toll exacted by the fire reached into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most of the horses were insured—except for Neville Bardos. Because of Boyd’s immigration status he could not qualify for affordable insurance rates and Neville was severely underinsured. The deluge of
support from the equestrian community was outstanding: fire relief funds were established and the monetary donations began pouring in. The Professional Riders Organization (PRO) organized an online auction and donated items included training sessions, breedings to stallions, the use of vacation homes and various items. Companies like Ecogold and Five Star Tack held sales with proceeds going to Boyd and schooling days were held around the country with the money going to the fund. Photographers like Amy Dragoo donated a portion of their proceeds, and parties were held with fundraisers bringing in thousands of dollars. Even the insurance company matched a $10,000 donation from Phillip’s longtime owner Bruce Duchossois. A couple of weeks before the fire Boyd had found a
four-year-old Irish Sport Horse by Brandenburg’s Windstar, bred by Phyllis Dawson, called Quinn Himself. Boyd had mentioned to Bonnie Stedt that he wanted to put a syndicate together to buy the horse. When Bonnie’s horse Cagney Herself died in the fire, she took the insurance money from Cagney and bought Quinn Himself. At Waredaca Horse Trials in Maryland, the weekend following the fire, Phyllis walked up to Boyd, handed him the lead
Above, left: Quinn Himself and Boyd. Photo by Phyllis Dawson Above, right (L to R): Caitlin Silliman, who works for Boyd, and Jennie Brannigan, who works for Phillip Dutton. Photo by Amber Heintzberger
rope and said, “Here’s a present from Bonnie!” The surprise gift did more than help Boyd put horses back in his barn; it also motivated him to begin moving on from the catastrophe and focus on riding again. In August, Anne Hennessey likewise used the insurance
money from Summer Breeze W and purchased a 6-year- old Thoroughbred gelding called New Cadet for Boyd to bring up through the levels. Also the weekend after the fire, Boyd’s wife Silva
competed Aesthete, owned by Faye Woolf, at a dressage show where they won the qualifier for the World Breeders Young Horse Championship in Germany. Although they were one- tenth of a point short of qualifying, their success was another light in the darkness following the fire. Recently the
Juvonens sent an
off-the-track Thoroughbred who had been foxhunting with the Cheshire Hounds for the past couple of years to Boyd as a potential event horse. The 9-year-old Rondo has started competing with Caitlin Silliman and shows promise for his new sport. “We wanted to give Boyd a horse and we know that
this is a lovely horse with a nice disposition, who has hunted up front with Cheshire, so he has to be a good cross-country horse,” says Densey Juvonen. “We said to Boyd to just try him, and if you like him fine, let’s go ahead with him; if not he’ll have had some training and can go back to foxhunting. He is a Thoroughbred, and they’re not the same kind of mover as the best of the Warmbloods. Rondo is, however, a very nice guy and is very trainable.”
Moving Forward Before the fire, Boyd and Silva, who had rented the barn at True Prospect for the past couple of years, had already started making plans for their future and had purchased a property with a house and barn in Cochranville, Pennsylvania. Silva had moved her dressage horses to the new barn already, but Boyd was holding off, planning to slowly build the new place into the training facility of their dreams. Suddenly in need of accommodations for his event horses, things were put on fast forward. A couple of shed row barns and an arena were quickly constructed, and Boyd’s event horses were moved to the new facility within weeks. “Boyd’s new farm is awesome,” says Caitlin Silliman. “It looks a bit goofy because we have a million shed rows but
Warmbloods Today 19
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