Boyd Martin

As of 2018 he has competed in two Olympic Games, two World Equestrian Games, a Pan American Games and has been a member of five US Nations Cup teams. In all ten appearances for the USA, he has never picked up a cross country jumping penalty. Throughout his 4-star career, Boyd is the only rider in the world to have competed at every 4-star in the world, including the Olympic Games and the World Equestrian Games. He has competed in a total of forty 4-stars, producing a total of nineteen individual 4-star horses. In US Eventing in 2017 he had over 175 starts and became the US Eventing Association Rider of the Year.

In 2015 Martin was ranked 3rd in the FEI World Eventing Athlete Rankings. In order to view Boyd's most up to date results, please link to US Eventing.

Martin purchased his best-known horse, Neville Bardos, for $850; Neville had been rescued from the racetrack by another trainer and declared 'no good' as a jumper. After overcoming great adversity including a devastating barn fire at True Prospect Farm in 2011, and the deaths of his father and father-in-law shortly after the fire, Martin and Neville made an amazing comeback to finish 7th at the Burghley CCI4* (England), one of the toughest three-events in the world. Martin finished 2011 ranked 8th on the HSBC World Rankings, Neville Bardos was named the 2011 International Horse of the Year by the USEF, and The Chronicle of the Horse named Martin its 2011 Overall Rider of the Year. They were featured on Rock Center with Brian Williams on NBC Television, the cover page of the New York Times, and were the subject of a Pulitzer Prize winning feature in Sports Illustrated magazine.

For the first three years in the US, Martin worked as an assistant to Phillip Dutton, then in 2010 Silva and Boyd started their own business Windurra USA, LLC. They leased the upper barn from Dutton, running their business out the same farm. Dutton continued coaching and training Martin through this transition. Dutton became somewhat of a father figure to Martin in the United States and remains his coach and mentor.

German-born dressage rider Silva Martin obtained US Citizenship in 2010 and competed on her first US Team at the Nations Cup in Wellington, Florida in February, 2014 riding Rosa Cha W, helping to bring home a team gold medal. She also operates a separate business under the same banner at Windurra USA. She specializes in training dressage horses and coaches a number of high level eventing and dressage riders.

As the son of an American citizen, Martin has always enjoyed dual citizenship, and in 2009 he officially began representing the United States in International competition. He was the top-placed US rider (10th) at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky riding Neville Bardos; top US rider (7th place) at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France riding Shamwari; and was a member of the US Olympic Eventing Team in London in 2012 riding Otis Barbotiere. In 2015 he placed 4th individually and was a member of the gold medal winning US team at the Pan American Games in Toronto riding Pancho Villa. In the following year Boyd competed at his second Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil riding the Off the Track Thoroughbred gelding Blackfoot Mystery. He placed 16th individually and thus was the second best US-rider, behind Dutton who won a bronze medal.

In 2006 Martin traveled to the US to compete at the Rolex Kentucky CCI4* riding Ying Yang Yo, and fell in love with eventing in the U.S. He then returned to Australia to liquidate most of his assets before he and his wife, Silva (née Stigler), moved to the U.S. in 2007 to pursue their dreams of competing internationally. They both walked away from a very successful business and lifestyle in Australia, starting over from the beginning to build a business in the United States.

The day after he finished high school he moved into the bunkhouse at Heath and Rozzie Ryan's Newcastle Equestrian Centre, and stayed there for the next eight years, first as a working student and later running his own business. Heath Ryan imprinted hard work and horsemanship on Martin and was a huge influence on his early career. During this time Boyd represented Australia at the Young Rider level against New Zealand on a Trans-Tasman three-day event on Brady Bunch, and won the very last long-format four-star event at the 2003 Adelaide CCI4* riding True Blue Toozac. He was long listed for the Australian Eventing Team for the Summer Olympic in 2000, 2004 and 2008. To maintain his horses Martin supplemented his income by selling school books for the family business, picking grapes at the local wineries in the early morning, and selling holiday packages as a telemarketer.

Boyd Martin (born August 20, 1979) is an American equestrian. Competing in eventing, he participated at two Summer Olympics (in 2012 and 2016).

Olympic three-day event rider Boyd Martin was born to Toy Dorgan, an American speedskater, and Ross Martin, an Australian cross-country skier. His parents met at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. Martin and his sister Brook were raised in Terrey Hills, New South Wales, on the outskirts of Sydney. Boyd started his riding career in Forrest Hills Pony Club, with a pony named Willy.