Thursday, May 10, 2012

Rock Star Riders: Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos on NBC's Rock Center


Maybe this has nothing to do with hoofcare or lameness, but it has everything to do with the business we're in, the people we work with or for, and the horses in our care.

International readers may not know who Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos are (yet) but I hope everyone in the hoof world will take a few minutes to watch this video and get to know them.

Not since Zenyatta was on 60 Minutes before the 2011 Breeders Cup have we had this depth of publicity about a single horse.

A few things are missing from this video: the other people in the background of this (hopefully) London-bound duo.

The local "vet hospital" where Neville Bardos was treated after the fire was none other than New Bolton Center's George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Boyd was very lucky to have a place like that so nearby.

The hyperbaeric oxygen chamber shown in the video would have been at Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.

Neville's vet is mentioned several times in the video. That would probably have been Kevin Keane DVM, who is an event rider himself, and/or Dr. Mary Griffin of Griffin Equine; both were mentioned by Boyd after the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event this year.

Lindsey Taylor is Boyd Martin's groom. She won the US Eventing Association's 2011 Christine E. Stafford Groom of the Year Award and was the first recipient of the Professional Riders Organization Liz Cochrane Memorial Groom’s Award. She was nominated by her employer, Boyd Martin, who had this to say about her:

“I believe the events that led up to, during and after the Memorial Day barn fire separate Lindsey from the rest of the list of candidates. This lady was able to deal with the tragedy of the loss of the horses that died, also rehabilitating the injured ones that survived, whilst working out of a number of barns, and was still able to fulfill her energy of the competition horses that were unaffected, all at the same time without complaint, negativity or fuss, which impressed me more than anything."

Last but far from least, Neville's farrier is sport-horse specialist Doug Neilson CJF of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Doug has been shoeing for Boyd (and Neville) for the past four or five years, he said today. He also gave a resounding endorsement to this NBC segment on his client. Doug's farrier business featured in the Philadelphia Enquirer a few years ago. 

Boyd and Neville are off to New Jersey this week for the Jersey Fresh 3-star event. 
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