Grandioso III, the Pura Raza Espanola stallion owned by Kim Boyer's Hampton Green Farm and previously competed by Courtney King-Dye, will move to Jan Bemelmans' stables in Ratingen, Germany, to be trained and competed by Spanish rider Daniel Martin Dockx.
After Courtney’s accident in March, owner Kimberly Van Kampen-Boyer kept the horse in work with every intention of having him ready and waiting as Courtney progressed in her recovery. Courtney and Kim came to the decision in late 2010 that it would be in the best interest of the stallion’s career and a possible bid for the Olympics in 2012 that another rider be considered given King-Dye’s progress was going well, but not realistic for the work and campaigning which would be needed in 2011.
In the autumn of 2010 Boyer was approached by Spanish coach Jan Bemelmans, who was then flown by the Spanish Federation to Wellington in late December. At that time her options expanded into seriously considering what Bemelmans was asking: to put Grandioso III into training with him in Germany, eventually to compete on an international level for Spain under Martin Dockx.
In an interview with Dressagedaily.com, Kim Boyer confirmed the news of Grandioso's European tour and explained her reasons for putting a Spanish -- and not an American -- rider on the horse. When ask why Boyer preferred to send her horses to Europe to further their training, Kim replied the following:
"The trainer who brought along our younger horses the last two years, Maria Lithander, did a superb job with them and we were almost unbeatable here in Wellington at the low levels with her," said Boyer. "However, without Courtney in the saddle, our strategy for their FEI training had to change and Dani was a logical choice--very experienced with the breed, successful in the ring, and beginning to be liked by the international judges. When I considered all of our options for Grandioso, it became clear to me that in Spain I had not only a tradition of Olympic/World Championship success with PRE horses, but also a Federation (and judges) that did not consider the horse an "outside breed", a coach that wanted to be involved personally in his training, a talented rider and a country that would celebrate the horse if he were successful. I have some but not all of these here in the US. As a total package, this was the best opportunity for Grandioso."
Read the Full Article with additional photos on Dressagedaily.com
