United States Eventing Association

In May, Boyd Martin reached no. 1 on the FEI Eventing World Athlete rankings, the first time a U.S. rider had held that position in more than 20 years.

Martin described the feeling as “a surreal moment,” after sitting second and third several times over the years. While world no. 1 wasn’t a “massive goal,” he felt that his monthlong reign was a reflection of years of hard work and having a solid group of horses in 2025.

“I never feel like I'm the best rider in the world, and I don't think it's an accurate sort of feeling of the best in the world, but it's a reflection of someone that’s got a bunch of good results in a time frame,” he said. “It was very, very rewarding for the short time I lived it.”

With results on four five-star horses and several other international and national horses, Martin was named the 2025 World Equestrian Brands USEA Rider of the Year for the ninth time with an unprecedented 510 points, more than 200 points ahead of his fellow riders.

Commando 3, a 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Connor 48 x R-Adelgunde) owned by Yankee Creek Ranch, helped Martin to many of his top placings in 2025, and as a result was named the Standlee USEA Horse of the Year.

In April, Martin was crowned the Defender/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Champion at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event with Commando 3, and finished in sixth with Fedarman B and seventh with Luke 140.

He and Commando 3 went on to help the U.S. team to a silver medal finish at the Aachen CCIO4*-S (Germany). In October, Martin won the inaugural US Open of Eventing at Morven Park (Leesburg, Virginia) aboard Deborah Halliday and Ocala Horse Properties’ Miks Master C, a 14-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Mighty Magic x Qui Luma CBF).

He headed straight the MARS Maryland 5 Star next where he and Commando 3 finished third, then he hopped on a plane to France for the Pau CCI5*-L with The Nutcracker Syndicate’s Cooley Nutcracker, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Tolan R x Ballyshan Cleopatra) and finished third.

With the FEI World Eventing Championships at Aachen on the horizon this summer, Martin is staying focused on each event as it comes. He’s currently sitting at world no. 2.

“I never get too focused on making a team,” he said. “I think team selection just comes from great performances in the spring and finishing with a sound, healthy horse. I've always been a massive believer that if you deliver at Kentucky or Badminton, and your horse is in good shape, then you should earn your spot on a team, and not get actually think past that day. My biggest goal is to line a couple of these champion horses up towards Kentucky and Badminton and give it a real good crack and then see where the chips lie after that.”

Now that you know how amazing Martin’s 2025 eventing season was, we wanted to find out some fun facts about him. Read on (with a sense of humor!) for few things you might not know about our 2025 World Equestrian Brands USEA Rider of the Year!

You’re a cat lover and recently welcomed two Bengal cats home. Tell me about them and your love of cats.

[We had] Manny Pacquiao and Kostya Tszyu [named after two famous boxers] for 13 years. They passed away, and we had a service for them last year.

We've now got Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez [also named after two famous boxers.]

We stepped it up a notch. Basically, our family's full of cat lovers, except [my wife] Silva who's a cat hater. Me and the boys had to secretly distract her and meet with one of the top Bengal breeders in the United States in a cattery in Delaware, and we got two of the rarest Bengal cats that money could buy, and they’re both show quality. I nearly got divorced when Silva insisted they go get castrated, just because we felt like we were closing the door on an incredible breeding program that we were going to try and fire up. But unfortunately, I had to keep the marriage together. So, both cats got [fixed] which is a breeding crime.

You’re a Philadelphia Eagles football fan. How’s it been going for you this season?

It's a terrible, terrible season for the Eagles. It was horrible. We exited in the first round of the playoffs, and they're chopping heads in Philadelphia. There's an execution of some of the coaches, and we're regrouping for next year. We had a couple subtle changes from our Super Bowl team, and it was a disastrous season.

Devonte Smith [is my favorite player.] I haven't met him, but I met Zach Baun the other day at the airport.

Do you think you’d be good at football? Have you ever played?

I'd be terrible. I would get snapped in half on my first snap.

Your sons play hockey. Do you ever get on the ice with them?

I ended up with a bloody nose when I hopped on there in December and did a father/son game. I caught a stick in the nose and had to come off the ice with blood dripping everywhere.

Are you talented in any other sports?

I grew up in Australia. I was a very good runner in high school, a 1500-meter runner. But now that I've got a rod in one leg and three screws in my other ankle, I think my running career is over.

What is one of the oddest jobs you’ve had?

[When I was starting in Australia] I basically couldn't make any money out of horses, and so I did a four-hour shift every afternoon as a telemarketer, and it was good. It's not a bad experience, actually. I was selling beach resort holidays at Albaña Beach Resort, and basically they give you a piece of paper with about 200 phone numbers on it, and you have to ring 200 people, and 98% of them hang up on you and tell you to get stuffed, and then, every now and then, there'd be one or two that purchase a deposit for the holiday.

I quite liked it. I sat in a room with about seven or eight other telemarketers, and for four hours straight, just got on the phone and just dialed in number after number after number.

Do you remember your first horse or pony?

A great pony called Willie Do It.

I did my first Novice horse trial on him. My mom had to lie about my age on the entry form. I think I was supposed to be 12, and I was 11.

My first competition, I actually fell off three times. I fell off twice in the cross-country and once in the show jumping. And each time I came off him in the cross-country, he just took off back to my horse float [trailer] and was eating the hay.

So, I had to run on foot all the way back to the trailers and hop back on him. I would love to see the scores again. I think I had like 180 time penalties, and then each fall was 60 penalties. I think I finished on a score of over 300 which in today's standards would be a mandatory retirement!

What are the origins of your cross -country colors?

That’s my school rugby jersey. I was pretty average at rugby. I was in the under-13 H team—A being the best. I was a winger, and I played a couple seasons for high school, and then just used my footy jersey on the weekends when I rode eventing.

My mom still goes to the school and buys me jerseys [when I need a new one.]

When I was in Australia in November, I went back to my school and had a talk in front of all the students about a bit of my journey and what I've gone through, and I'm still wearing the footy jersey from school.

I just tried to inspire the students there. I think my story was a bit different, you know—like everyone at my school sort of played cricket and football, and then I got into the horses and I tried to talk to the students about not being afraid to take a different path. It was cool to actually show Silva and my kids around where I went to high school. It was right across from the Sydney Harbor Bridge. For physical education, we used to run across the Harbor Bridge around the Opera House, and then back again. I took it for granted.

Do you remember your first date with Silva?

Basically, I had long hair down on my shoulders, and I had a broken leg at the time [from falling off at a dressage show.] I broke my knee in nine places. Then I saw this beautiful blonde sort at [another] dressage show and gathered up the courage to go ask her out. That was on the Saturday, and the next day, we all went to the Newcastle horse races and invited her along.

I think I was with eight of my mates and took Silva along. And it was a disastrous day on the punt, and we lost some money. And the good news is I carefully selected seven real rat bag friends, so I got in there the best of a bad lot. That was our first date, and I don't know what she what thinking. She experienced a bit of Australian culture. She didn't speak much English. I don’t think she knew what she was in for.

She worked in a really big dressage stable in Germany for Rudolph Zeilinger. And Rudolph Zeilinger said, if you're going to be any good at dressage, you have to learn English. And he had just sold a couple of stallions to a dressage stable in in Australia, not far from where I was working. She basically came to Australia for three months to get the stallions going for the buyer. And it's just around the corner from where I was working at the New South Wales Equestrian Center, which was mostly event horses.

I heard you had a favorite snack?

I like Skittles. One of the ladies that owns horses for me, Tammy Pollard, gives me a packet of Skittles if I jump a clear around on her horse at the competition.