Show jumping training with Boyd and “Bali”
Just a few days after Practical Horseman returned from covering Boyd and Silva Martin’s Windurra Camp, Boyd and Cooley Nutcracker were selected for the U.S. eventing team lineup for the FEI Eventing World Championships, which will be held this August in Aachen, Germany.
During three days of intensive instruction, private lessons, and riding demonstrations, we not only had the chance to get to know Cooley Nutcracker and feed him carrots, but we also attended show jumping and cross-country sessions with the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse stallion, who had previously been under saddle with Liz Halliday and competed with her at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Boyd, a four-time Olympian, and Peter Wylde, Olympic gold medalist and leading show jumping coach, both rode “Bali” — as he is known in the barn — for a group of about 70 riders and spectators from around the country who gathered for the third annual Windurra Camp at Boyd and Silva’s 75-hectare farm in Cochranville, Pennsylvania.
During these demonstrations, they shared key skills they have been working on since Boyd and Bali’s first CCI5-L start at the 2026 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, where the pair placed 11th in their debut as a five-star combination.
Wylde first got to know Bali when Halliday bought him at seven years old and said the stallion is one of the all-time favorite event horses to train and ride.
“He is very hot, he is scared of horses, he has quirky behavior, but he is incredibly talented.
He is truly one of the most talented horses that Boyd and I have ever worked with as a team.
” Next, we take a behind-the-scenes look at the Windurra Camp sessions with Bali and review the most important points Boyd and Wylde raised about their strategy for Aachen.
We hope you can use some of these top tips from two Olympic champions to improve your show jumping and cross-country with your horse.
Groundwork in Bali’s show jumping Wylde, in addition to being the show jumping coach at Windurra Camp, is also Boyd’s jumping coach and has been working with him to sharpen Bali’s skills.
As Boyd warmed Bali up on the ground, he explained to participants that Halliday had fully described all of the horse’s traits and sensitivities to him before handing him over.
“He was, as far as we know, born that way.
The French rider Astier Nicolas had ridden him before Liz and said that even at a very young age he was an anxious horse.
Sometimes that can be a reflection of being a little frightened as a youngster, or perhaps having been pushed too hard when he was young.
” Boyd emphasized the importance of understanding how your horse warms up best for show jumping, and noted that it becomes even more important in competition.
After cross-country, you have to change his jumping mindset.
To warm up Bali, Boyd and Wylde have found that getting him very round and soft is absolutely essential.
Peter Wylde, the Olympic medal-winning show jumper who rode Bali in the Windurra Camp jumping lesson, prepares him to be round and soft before working on fences.
©Amy K.
Dragoo Wylde, when working on the flat, adjusts his stirrups one or two holes longer than for jumping so he can wrap his legs better around Bali’s ribs.
©Amy K.
Dragoo Boyd said: “It is very important to spend time on this horse and do a little extra softening work.
If you watch Peter’s flatwork, you’ll notice that he does a lot of work on lengthening and shortening the stride and really softening Bali.
Peter keeps the base of his neck supple and elastic, and also creates a lot of bend and arc in his body.
” Another important point Wylde taught him when they first started working together was that, in flatwork, the stirrups should be a little longer than the length used for jumping.
Boyd said: “This is especially helpful for tall riders like me, because it helps you wrap your legs more around the ribs of your horse.
Peter and I usually set the stirrups one or two holes longer in flatwork than for jumping.
But when the fences get bigger, shorter stirrups are needed so you can stay with your horse in the air.
” Using warm-up fences For warm-up fences, Boyd and Wylde usually ask Bali to jump a vertical from both directions and then move on to a small oxer from both directions.
They both believe Bali is a talented show jumping horse, but after clearing fences he usually gets tight and drops his back.
Wylde, while working over the warm-up fences, focused on slowing down and returning to the walk, or straightening and softening after the fences, because that is exactly where they usually lose control and rideability.
Boyd said: “When I first rode Bali, after the jumps he would lift his head and leave like a racehorse, so that kind of head tossing and tightening has been an important part of our jumping training.
Notice how on the landing side, when Bali wanted to leave in a rush, Peter responded to him but calmly.
” Boyd told the camp participants in the jumping lesson that Bali sometimes has trouble landing on the left lead after fences, but found that it is often better to ignore it.
Wylde brought him through the left-hand exit several times in a row with the same riding, and Bali found his own way.
©Amy K.
Dragoo Boyd explained to the camp participants that Wylde also used a slower, more even canter over the warm-up fences to encourage Bali to take off closer to the fence.
He said: “The early jumps are more about restraining and slowing him down to encourage him to jump up.
If you can get him to take off closer to the fence, even at a distance that is a little uncomfortable, he has to lift his body more in the air to get over the fence.
” Another of Bali’s challenges in show jumping is landing on the left lead.
His body usually gets caught up over the fences, and as a result he prefers to land on the right lead.
Boyd initially focused on fixing this problem, but over time he adopted another strategy.
He said: “The more you pretend at the beginning that you’re not seeing this issue at all, the more he starts to give us the left lead.
When you see Peter going left off the vertical, he didn’t change his ride at all.
He just came out over the fence a few times consistently with the same ride and on the left lead, and the second or third time, Bali understood the issue.
” Boyd stressed that the lively atmosphere of the jumping ring at Windurra Farm has helped Bali react less to new sights and sounds in competitions with more imposing environments; an issue that also gave campers and their horses a unique opportunity to step into a competitive setting.
Course Work: Putting It All Together Boyd said that for more experienced horses like Bali, after jumping lessons they do a significant amount of warm-up and hacking out, but they keep the jumping part of their training sessions relatively short, at about 20 minutes.
Wylde and Bali, during their show-jumping demonstration, get through the second bending line with an oxer to a vertical.
©Incanto Sports For a sense of Wylde’s course design for this year’s Windurra Camp — and the route he rode on Bali — this course began with an oxer on a bending line to a vertical, then had a left turn to a fence-and-cavalletti combination bounce line, then reached the second bending line with another oxer to a vertical, and finally finished with a four- and two-stride triple combination.
He explained: “Peter had designed the course very carefully so that the gymnastic bounce would be placed in the middle of the course.
So, you ride fences 1 and 2 on a bending line and then you have to really collect and balance your horse for the gymnastic before moving on to the next line.
Because horses gradually get faster during a jumping course and their tempo becomes more chaotic, Peter includes balance elements like the bounce in the course.
” Boyd explained that the bounce combination is very good training for Bali and all eventing horses, because it teaches them to leave the ground quickly.
He said: “Peter deliberately set the distances a little shorter so that the horses would be encouraged to use more of their hind end and jump off the ground with power.
” He added: “Shorter distances may feel a little uncomfortable for horses at first, but they help them learn to take quicker steps.
” The bounce combination in Wylde’s show-jumping route at Windurra Camp 2026 caused Bali to be quicker in leaving the ground.
©Incanto Sports Boyd explained to the participants that Wylde had deliberately designed the route with a gymnastic bounce in the middle so that riders would be forced to keep the horse collected and balanced between the bending lines.
©Amy K.
Dragoo Boyd says that when Bali makes a mistake, it’s important to slow down and repeat the exercise.
He said: “The worst thing you can do with a sensitive horse like Bali is lose your temper.
That’s why Peter stays so calm and relaxed, and after he got a bit quick on the previous route and was somewhat unsettled after the blue Stübben vertical and seeing the Philippine flag, he still works him on the ground.
I also like him to get through the red-and-white bounce line without touching the fence.
» After the route was practiced a few more times, Boyd pointed to subtle improvements in Bali’s jumping technique; especially when Wylde helped him relax and approach the fences with better balance and straightness.
After the jumping part of the lesson, Wylde continued working this gelding on the flat.
He said: “Many times, after riders jump the last fence, they walk about 10 strides and think the job is done.
But here we can see that Peter is still working with him on the flat; this helps Bali’s self-carriage and allows him to stretch in the trot a little before fully cooling down.
” Wylde noted that because Bali is a horse that is easily frightened and sometimes reactive, the presence of the Windurra Camp participants to add to the training atmosphere was a useful experience.
©Amy K.
Dragoo Wylde said after this lesson that having the larger Windurra Camp group helps manage any possible training issue that might come up in competition from this point onward.
He said: “This horse is really energetic, but that is exactly what makes him amazing.
Right here you can see how important patience is when working with a horse like him.
You don’t want to tiptoe around the problems, but you also should never take an aggressive approach to solving them.
” He added: “Bali has had a quiet spring after Kentucky, so we just need to get him a little more back into competition form.
The more we work with him, the better he usually gets.
And when he relaxes and his body moves more freely, he starts producing truly spectacular jumps.
” Cross-country lesson with Boyd and Bali On the final morning of the stay at Windurra Camp, the camp participants headed to the farm’s large training field to watch Boyd and Bali’s cross-country demonstration, where they worked around a table fence on a small hill and Wylde explained what was happening through her handheld speaker.
She said: “Just like in the show jumping lesson, as long as we are just here and not flailing our hands in the air, it is actually good for Bali to face us again.
When you go to Kentucky or other five-stars with an exciting atmosphere, he has to face a lot of things.
So it is good for him to face his fears at home too.
” The Windurra participants watched while Boyd and Bali warmed up for the cross-country demonstration, and Wylde also explained the things they had done with this gelding.
©Incanto Sports Boyd, after making several flying changes and loosening Bali up before starting the cross-country jumps, asked him to go into a quiet gallop.
©Alana Harrison Boyd, to warm up for cross-country, first made several flying changes and then moved Bali a little faster so that they could clear a few fences from a good, soft rhythm.
He then also worked in an eight-shaped pattern to jump a few box fences from both the right lead and the left lead; something that closely resembled their show jumping warm-up exercises.
Wylde explained: “In order for Boyd and Bali to make the time in the big five-stars, we have to do everything with as few strides as possible, of course safely and without making things difficult.
Top-level cross-country riding should look effortless, but that also has to be trained into the horse to some extent.
Boyd stays calm and relaxed while warming up, and this later shows when he asks Bali to do more difficult combinations.
When he gets a little fast and nervous after a fence, Boyd collects him after landing to correct him and then continues on the line softly and freely.
» Wylde, during yesterday’s visit to the show-jumping course with Wylde, talked about the calculations required when jumping a course and said that the same applies in cross country.
He said: “At higher levels, the importance of these calculations becomes even greater.
When the fences are on level ground, you take almost one stride fewer than you would need in a show jumping round.
” He added: “But when the ground changes and water and banks are added to it, these calculations can become more complicated.
” Wylde explained that for Boyd and Bali to make up time in five-stars, they have to do everything in the fewest possible strides while still staying safe, without the course becoming rough.
©Alana Harrison Wylde points to a course at Luhmühlen CCI5 from a few years ago that had a difficult combination; including a hanging rail dropping toward a boat fence in the water, then turning toward a chevron and then reaching another boat again.
He said with a laugh: “When we walked that combination, we all saw different numbers.
For the first fence we saw six, seven, and eight; in the middle three, four, and five; and for the last two and three.
” He added: “But those distances are actually very similar to show jumping distances, because it means you can slow down and collect yourself to jump them strongly and correctly.
” Boyd said one of the hardest parts of preparing for a five-star event is the lack of time; especially when he wants to prepare all three phases in the best possible way.
After reviewing Bali’s show-jumping lesson with Peter a few days earlier at camp, he noted that this gelding jumped well but was very energetic.
Boyd explained: “Like Peter said, he has had some time off since Kentucky, so today in cross country I wanted to do something I call a mini school.
A lot of the time with these more experienced horses, you have to take the time and do a few reminder exercises.
” After the cross-country work, Boyd told the camp riders that there are two things he wants to keep in mind from now on.
He said: “At the beginning of the course, when he is a little fresh, if the question is turning left, he gets a little stuck.
” He added: “For example, if 4AB is a sharp left turn toward a narrow or corner, I know he gets excited, so we are working on it calmly and gradually.
” Boyd told the camp riders that after reviewing Bali’s show-jumping lesson with Peter a few days earlier at camp, he realized that this gelding jumped well but was very energetic.
To address this, he spent time during the cross-country lesson and did a few reminder exercises.
©Incanto Sports To help further with this, Boyd practices in competition warm-ups jumping and preparing for a left turn.
He says Bali is one of the most honest horses and jumps every fence on the course, but from Kentucky he also understood that he needs to get this gelding focused earlier on accuracy fences on course.
He said: “Even though in some sections it has still dropped a little out of the rhythm, I feel like it is really in good form.
And sometimes with these experienced horses, less is more; it is better to do just a little review and reminder, and there is no need to jump over every obstacle course.
That is the short version of Cooley Nutcracker.
But don’t touch him or clap for him!
Because that may be enough for him and ruin his day.
”” Boyd said jokingly.
We are eager to see this pair in the field of competition as part of the Defender U.
S.
Eventing Squad at the FEI Eventing World Championships 2026, which will be held from August 13 to 16 in Aachen, Germany.
Boyd and Liz Halliday embrace after she and Cooley Nutcracker, her former horse and teammate at the 2024 Paris Olympics, competed in the CCI5*-L dressage section at the 2026 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event outside Rolex Stadium at Kentucky Horse Park.
©Alana Harrison For more information: Read here about which other rider-and-horse combinations in the U.
S.
Eventing Team will compete at the World Championships Aachen.
Watch a video of our Windurra Camp coverage this year, where Boyd talks about his cross-country training with Bali; here.
For more information about Boyd and Silva Martin’s annual Windurra Camp, click here.
Source: Practical Horseman – Training