Page 17 - The Hunt - Summer 2020

“But he’s never talked back to me once when I’m teaching him dressage.”
Silva and Boyd met in 2002 when she was training horses in Australia and learning English. They were married four years later and moved to America in 2007 because Boyd felt he needed to compete against a broader base of riders. He’d won the major competitions and shows in Australia and New Zealand, but he felt isolated. “I felt I could be one of the best,” he says.
Accomplished equestrian Phillip
Dutton was a friend of a friend who lived
in West Grove. He welcomed Boyd and Silva, providing shelter, employment and
a launching pad for their competitive endeavors. Boyd started competing from
his new base, and he and his wife grew more and more comfortable in Chester County. After about four years, they purchased Windurra, thanks to “a lot of financial juggling” and help from the National Bank of Malvern. “We had to borrow every which
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“We want to make enough to pay the bills and our staff—but at the same time, I’m driven to become the very best in the world at three-day eventing.”
way,” Boyd says. “The income of equestrian riders is sporadic.”
The couple weathered a major scare in 2014, when Silva took a nasty a fall from a horse. She suffered a traumatic brain injury that forced her to learn how to walk and talk again. Since then, the Martins have developed an interesting balancing act, training and participating in their own competitive pursuits as they welcome riders to Windurra for instruction. They also have two boys under the age of 5, Knox and Leo.
People come from as far away as New York and Virginia to ride and train at Windurra. The Martins want to make it into “one of the best training facilities in the world.” Each
has a barn from which to work and a specific collection of pupils. “It’s a real juggling act,” Boyd says. “We want to make enough to pay the bills and our staff—but at the same time, I’m driven to become the very best in the world at three-day eventing.”
Last year’s Pan American triumph was an important one, and he hopes it signals the beginning of a run of competitive prosperity. Silva has faith that her pupil can get it done. “Boyd is one of the most disciplined people
I know,” she says. “To be as good as he is, he has to be a little selfish. He’d rather die than come in second.”
Sounds like a proud teacher—one that Boyd Martin actually listens to. TH
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