Boyd Martin claimed the win aboard Fedarman B on a final score of 29.0 in the CCI4*-L division to claim the CCI4*-L USET Foundation National Championship, adding nothing to their dressage score after two double-clear jumping rounds. In reserve, and the highest-ranked international rider, Colleen Loach and Vermont, the 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Van Helsing x Heraldik XX) owned by Peter Barry, also completed their weekend without adding any points, ending on a score of 29.3. Clinching third place honors via double-clear stadium round for a total of 31.0 points was Leslie Law and Lady Chatterley, the 11-year-old Holsteiner mare (Connor 48 x Mytens XX) owned by Lesley Grant-Law, Jackie Brown and Steve Brown.
Martin and the 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Eurocommerce Washington x Fedor) owned by the Annie Goodwin Syndicate had a good dressage outing by Martin’s standards, but he was blown away by the class performance “Bruno” gave on cross-country day, he shared.
“He was absolutely brilliant in all three phases of the contest. He put in a solid dressage test, and impressed the heck out of me on cross-country with his speed, endurance and bravery. To come out today in show jumping like he did – I’m just blown away by the quality of him,” he raved.
Though the event clinched a CCI4*-L National Championship for the duo and was an objectively successful outing at the World Championship qualifier, Martin primarily utilized the week to continue learning more about the mount he now rides in memory of Annie Goodwin. A special horse to the entire eventing community, Bruno is under the watchful eye of many who have high hopes for his career, and Martin relayed that the future looks brighter than ever after such a win.
“It’s sort of a long-term plan. He’s a newer horse for me, so to be honest, this is a stepping stone event. I feel like he’s proven himself to be a high caliber event horse, now. We’ve still got a little bit of building and improvement to do, but I’m very excited. I think he’s going to be a superstar in the future.”
