VideoFrom the moment I arrived at Boyd and Silva Martin’s breathtaking 75-acre farm in Cochranville, Pennsylvania, to be Practical Horseman’s eyes and ears on the ground at the third edition of their annual Windurra Camp, it was clear that this was a special weekend for four-time eventing Olympian Boyd and Grand Prix dressage rider Silva.
As giddy participants filled the main dining tent to enjoy libations and barbeque during the Windurra welcome party, Boyd served as sommelier, making his way from table to table to take wine orders and greet guests, while Silva welcomed other camp-goers with their 3-year-old son Koa in tow. Later in the evening, Boyd jokingly invited attendees to tour their “very expensive stable block that’s about to fall down”—referring to Windurra Farm’s signature old shed-row style barn.
He led guests along the short walk, where his older boys Nox and Leo, along with his top groom Steph Simpson, produced 25-pound bags of carrots and encouraged guests to feed the horses. Boyd introduced participants to some of his top mounts, including his partner for the 2024 Paris Olympics Fedarman B, Commando 3, and Liz Halliday’s former ride Cooley Nutcracker, his mount for the FEI Eventing World Championships in Aachen, Germany, this August.
As campers enjoyed doling out carrots to “Bruno,” “Conner” and “Bali,” I couldn’t resist grabbing a few and joining in the fun—after all, how often do you get to feed treats to an Olympic equine athlete?
Much like the beloved summer riding camps that introduced many of us horse-loving kids to equestrian sports, Windurra proved to be a uniquely magical experience. Here, we’ll give you an exclusive, behind-the-scenes’ glance of what Windurra Camp is all about and share key takeaways the participating riders and auditors offered about their experiences.
Creating Windurra: Learn How Top Riders Train
Windurra Camp 2026, held June 25-28, drew approximately 70 riders and auditors from around the country for an action-packed weekend of education and one-on-one instruction from Boyd and Silva, as well as with Olympic gold medalist and top show jumping coach Peter Wylde, dressage trainers Brett Parbery and Laura Graves, and steeplechase jockey Mark Beecher.
During his welcome speech, Boyd explained that he and Silva created Windurra Camp to share the most important components of their training program to help riders improve in their respective disciplines and become better overall horsemen and women.
“Here, we’re trying to share things in greater depth than you can find in a book or from watching a 30-second YouTube video,” he explained. “Over the last few years, the people who come to this camp really want to get better. And I’ve found you can’t just sit around and expect to improve. Sometimes, you have to go out there and stick your neck out.”
Both Boyd and Silva have found good old-fashioned consistency and discipline key to success. “It can be frustrating because the rate of improvement in our sport is often undetectable,” Boyd said. “So, it’s important not to look at where you were last week or even last month—but instead look where you were six months or a year ago.”
He explained that the camp’s environment—including the crowds of auditors, rider families and supporters—was designed to help both riders and their horses get into a competition mindset.
“This weekend, people are going to be watching you, and you’re probably going to be intimidated by some of the great trainers we have coaching you,” Boyd advised campers. “The horses are going to be fresh and spooking at some of Silva’s kids on the tractor or the flags in the jumping arena. So, it kind of puts you in a place where everything can go wrong.”
However, he reminded riders that it wasn’t a bad thing if issues did show up over the weekend. “Tomorrow is going to be challenging. It’s going to be very similar to your first ride at a competition when the horses are in a new environment with spectators, noise and other distractions,” Boyd said. “Go into it with an open mind knowing things aren’t going to be perfect. When you’re put into a little bit of an uncomfortable situation, it mimics the feeling you get at competitions and that’s often when you learn the most about yourself.”
Summer Camp on Steroids
In addition to the personal coaching campers received, they also enjoyed a number of unmounted educational sessions, including an interactive sports psychology lesson with personal performance coach Natalie Hummel, hands-on bit-fitting tips from Stübben experts, stable management and horse conditioning advice from Simpson, an equine nutrition tutorial with SmartPak and a session with Kevin Keane, DVM, outlining his top five reasons on when you need to call your veterinarian.
Campers picked up further insights watching showing jumping demonstrations with both Boyd and Wylde, a dressage demo with Silva and Graves, a galloping-position lesson with Beecher, a course walk with Wylde, and a cross-country ride with Boyd demonstrating what he’s been working with Cooley Nutcracker on in preparation for Aachen.
The camp also included a stretching session with Boyd’s physiotherapist Andrew Russell and a yoga lesson with his instructor Biz Magarity.
Never one to slack on his personal fitness or being an involved camp “director,” Boyd, along with the Martin family’s dog Sugar, were on hand early in the mornings to demonstrate the various stretching and core exercises Russell led campers through and for yoga with Magarity. He also held bits for campers to compare during the bit-fitting lecture and was there for Hummel’s session to share how her coaching methods have helped him become a more resilient athlete and push through challenges and disappointments.
On the evening before Windurra officially kicked off, Boyd told campers he wanted them to leave on Sunday with one or two key insights from every session that will positively impact their riding and horsemanship skills.
“To get better, guys, you’re just trying to steal a little bit of information—take one exercise from Peter’s jumping lesson, one comment from Brett’s session about the way he likes to warm up his horses, one ‘aha’ moment from me on cross-country, or from Natalie on the mental aspects of competing, or a tip from Mark on your galloping position,” he said. “Then, you can formulate your own style of riding based on what works for you and your horse.”
(Click here to watch our live video highlight’s from this year’s Windurra Camp.)
Kate and ‘Mopsi’ Cruise into Confidence
After an incredible learning experience at last year’s Windurra Camp, 16-year-old Kate Wood couldn’t wait to come back. Kate, who’s been riding competitively for eight years, her plucky 17-year-old German Riding Pony Prinz S.W., or “Mopsi,” and her mom, Claire Wood, made the four-hour haul from Earlysville, Virginia, to attend again this year.
“Kate learned a great deal from each of the sessions last year and loved it so much that her dad and I recognized the value of the experience. You rarely have access to so many top coaches, riders and their support teams at one time,” Claire said. “To help contribute to covering the cost this year, Kate started saving money the moment we got back last year. She rode horses for a neighbor and did farm-sitting jobs. She’s looked forward to this all year, and Mopsi seems to love it, too. We think he likes showing off for the Olympians!”
Following her cross-country lesson with Boyd, Kate, who currently trains with Kiki Osbourne, said his advice was helpful for her training at home.
“Boyd teaching us how to get in a deeper driving seat was really beneficial to help Mopsi see the jump and be confident about where he’s taking off from for all different types of questions,” she said. “He also helped with my confidence and taught me when to use a little tap-tap with the crop to help give Mopsi encouragement if he was unsure of something.”
Kate also appreciates Boyd’s calm, collected teaching manner. “He’s just such a great coach. He’s very kind and encouraging but also really pushes you to be the best you can be,” she said. “He gave us some harder questions but in a way that we could be confident about answering them. And after doing those hard questions I feel much more prepared for my next competition.”
Claire noted her daughter’s marked improvement in recent years and says she and Kate were both inspired by the positive, can-do attitude at Windurra last year.
“It’s been really meaningful to watch her learn how to reset when something doesn’t go perfectly, adjust, and figure out what to do next time. That’s so valuable because in eventing you’re always doing that,” Claire said. “It’s also so beneficial just to be around riders of this caliber for an entire weekend and getting so much one-on-one attention from them, as well as all the bitting and stable management professionals on hand to help you and your horse be the best partners you can be.”
Karen and ‘Match’: Putting It All Together
Karen Elbert, who hails from central New Jersey, returned to Windurra Camp for her third time this year with her Dutch Warmblood gelding Matchpoint. Elbert says all the information she soaks up over the course of the three-day experience has made the trip worth it every year.
“The Martins and their entire crew put so much into this camp. Their facility is fabulous, and they recruit so many top experts offering new information in all the facets we need to succeed in eventing,” she said. “I can’t imagine the logistics of coordinating everything with Peter, Brett, Mark and Laura, along with all of us who are attending and our tents and stalls and other needs. It’s just an amazing experience and has been truly worth coming all three years.”
During this year’s cross-country lesson, Elbert appreciated Boyd demonstrating how he methodically introduces horses to different components of a course or a final combination before putting them all together to ensure both horse and rider are confident in their preparation.
“The entire camp experience is great exposure for the horses. The first time ‘Match’ came into Boyd’s jumping ring, it took him about 15 minutes to decide the flags weren’t going to kill him,” she said with a laugh. “And working on his cross-country field allows us to introduce the horses to water and different types of hills and terrain and new obstacles. Like Boyd always says, it’s about all the little details that add up.”
Emma and ‘Melody’ Slow Down to Find Their Stride
Fourteen-year-old Emma Whitaker traveled from Howard County, Maryland, to attend Windurra Camp for the second consecutive year. This year, Whitaker rode her 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse Sing To Me Cooley, or “Melody,” a mare she’s only been partners with for about six months.
“There’s so much opportunity here to learn. You can go to whatever sessions you’re most interested in,” she said. “You get to watch Boyd ride his horses, and Silva and Laura do their dressage demos, and all the behind-the-scenes’ ways they manage their farm and condition the horses, so you can take home tips that might work in your own barn.”
During cross-country, Whitaker said Boyd helped her take the time to assess how Melody was going to go over Windurra’s scenic, colorful course, because she tends to run at jumps during competition.
“He reminded me that to get her to come back, I need to use my core and seat and keep my legs still to be able to balance her earlier,” she said. “He really helps you slow down and fine-tune everything. When you slow down, you can better feel any issues or problems that you might not notice when going at full pace.”
Whitaker also liked that the Martins’ included a session and one-on-one consultation with representatives from Stübben to help her find an ideal bit for some of the training issues she’s working with Melody on. “They gave me a new bit to try, which I appreciated because that’s a big part of how your horse goes,” she said.
An Auditor’s Experience
Katie Goodrich boards her mare at the Woods’ small, private barn north of Charlottesville, Virginia, and decided to attend Windurra Camp this year as an auditor after hearing about Kate’s experience in 2025.
“Even though I only do show jumping, I figured the knowledge I would gain by hearing about training for all three eventing phases would be immensely beneficial to me and my horse,” Goodrich said. “I’ve really enjoyed hearing the different trainers varying perspectives because sometimes it just takes hearing something in a slightly different way for it to click for you.”
Over the course of camp, Goodrich accumulated a long list of tips and new training techniques that she’s eager to put into practice in her own riding as adult amateur. “I feel like I’m leaving with a ton of valuable information. It’s also been so refreshing at how friendly and approachable everyone has been,” she said. “Even though they’re some of the top riders and trainers, they’re not pretentious. You feel truly welcome here—and that’s huge because not all clinic environments I’ve experienced have been that way.”
Throughout Wylde’s three days of show jumping instruction and commentary, Goodrich appreciated his continual insistence that there are never stupid questions when it comes to working with horses—only opportunities to learn, clarify and improve.
“I so appreciated their openness and willingness to answer questions, even if it wasn’t their scheduled time to be teaching,” Goodrich said. “Or if you didn’t quite understand what they were trying to explain to a different rider, they were very willing to help and rephrase it in a different way. It makes it so much easier to learn when you don’t feel insecure and aren’t afraid to ask questions.”
Fore More:
- To watch Practical Horseman’s video highlights of this year’s Windurra Camp, click here.
- Watch a video of Boyd giving campers tips on maintaining a driving position here.
- Check out our Reel from the first day of Windurra Camp 2026 here.
- Click here for another behind-the-scenes’ video from Windurra.
- Be on the lookout for more of our exclusive coverage from Windurra Camp 2026!
At a Glance: Windurra Camp 2026
Here are more behind-the-scenes’ views from this year’s thrilling experience at Windurra Camp to help you get a feel for what the weekend was all about.
