Lindsey Taylor

A barn fire. Olympics. Burghley. Boekelo. Luhmühlen. World Equestrian Games. It’s an understatement to say Boyd Martin and Lindsey Taylor endured a lot together in her four-year tenure as head groom and barn manager at Windurra in Cochranville, Pa.

And that makes it all the more difficult to leave, Lindsey said after last week’s announcement that she has moved on from Boyd’s program following his eighth-place finish with Shamwari 4 at the World Equestrian Games.

“It’s been a wonderful thing for me, and, honestly, I didn’t want to leave,” Lindsey said. “I’ve been feeling very mixed about the whole thing, but in order for me to have more of a balance in life and be heading in a direction to pursue my own goals, I had to consider a different working situation.”

Lindsey started working for Matt Flynn last week, which provides a much more low-key environment than Boyd’s busy Windurra program. And the new job will also give her the spare time to pursue her newest endeavor of launching a grooming school in Ocala this winter.

She’s also hoping to make herself available as a freelance groom at FEI competitions, whether in the U.S. or abroad, though she said she especially loves traveling with the horses overseas. And she certainly whet her appetite for overseas travel while working for Boyd.

“Boyd really helped me get my career going and taught me a lot, giving me amazing opportunities along the way,” Lindsey said. “I want to use that knowledge to go forward and continue to pursue horsemanship and teach other people.”

Lindsey came to Boyd’s program about four years ago, five months before the fatal barn fire that claimed the lives of six horses at True Prospect Farm.

“[Boyd] has an amazing work ethic, and he instills that in everyone around him,” she said. “He inspires everyone to work hard and do the very best they can. Those are things I’ll always remember and take with me for the rest of my career.”

And that commitment to horsemanship is ultimately what’s inspired the concept of a grooming school, she said. “A grooming school will let me develop my own business and help people see the importance of horse care, because I think it’s lacking in a lot of programs.”

Text by Jenni Autry, modified from:

http://eventingnation.com/home/lindsey-taylor-reflects-on-a-whirlwind-three-years-with-boyd-martin/