Area II Intermediate Champion Ryan Wood to work for Phillip Dutton

Australian event rider Ryan Wood is pleased to announce his employment at Phillip Dutton's True Prospect Farm in West Grove, Pennsylvania. A four-star level competitor, Ryan, 25 will assist with training and competing the long list of high-class competition horses in Dutton's barn.

"I am excited to have Ryan riding for me," says Phillip. "He has a great work ethic, horsemanship skills and a desire to learn. He has a bright future in this country."Ê

Ryan had worked with Phillip previously in the lead-up to the Rolex Kentucky three-day event, (injuries kept him from competing), and says that he is looking forward to spending more time training with the Australian-turned-American Olympic eventer.

The move comes shortly after Ryan and Wynella Wolverine, a Thoroughbred/Warmblood cross gelding owned by Analisa Hegyesi, won the Area II Intermediate Championship at the Plantation Field International CIC and Horse Trials in Unionville, Pennsylvania.

"All the horses in the Area II Championship had to have placed first or second in an event to qualify, so it was the best of the best," says Ryan. "It's good to have a strong result like that to give us confidence going up to Fair Hill."

The upcoming championship at Fair Hill, in Elkton, Maryland, will be Ryan's final event of the year. The inaugural CCI** division has drawn more than 80 entries. "It's going to be pretty tough but I'll be going for the win," Ryan says. "Hopefully we'll be in striking distance after the dressage and then jump around well."

Back at True Prospect, "There is plenty of riding for me to do, which is good," says Ryan. His longtime friend, fellow Australian four-star eventer Boyd Martin has been employed as Dutton's assistant trainer for the past couple of years so Ryan is also happy to be working with him, as well as with recent Young Rider Gold Medalist Jennie Brannigan, whose horse Cooper is currently tied for the USEA//Nutrena Horse of the Year title.

"Working alongside Boyd and Jennie is fantastic," says Ryan. "It's a really fun working environment."

About Ryan
In Australia Ryan competed to the highest level of international eventing, the four-star level, with several horses: Koyuna Azgard, Countdown and Wonder. A native of Sydney, he moved to the United States in February to work for eventing legend Bruce Davidson in at Chesterland Farm in Unionville, Pennsylvania.

Ryan swiftly made an impression in the United States at the beginning of 2008 when he sustained severe injuries in a fall at the Ocala Horse Trials in Florida, when his horse hung a leg over a table fence.

The horse was uninjured but Ryan incurred a fractured knee, a shattered eye socket and cheek bone, a broken nose, jaw and palate and a collapsed lung. He was airlifted to the Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida and underwent nine hours of reconstructive surgery on his face; he is now held together with three metal plates and 25 screws.

In spite of the severity of his injuries, he was back in competition by early summer, winning the intermediate division at the Fair Hill Horse Trials, with a score of 26, riding Wynella Wolverine. He then went on to place second at the CIC** at Bromont, Quebec.

After the 2008 competition season is wrapped up, Ryan will spend a few months working hard at True Prospect as well as teaching students in the area and breaking young horses for riding and racing in the hours after he finishes at True Prospect. "I finish at the barn around four p.m. so that leaves a few hours each day to earn some extra money on the side," he explains. "It's a lot of work but I enjoy it and it's worth it."

He plans to purchase a young horse as a resale project while Wynella Wolverine takes a well-deserved rest, but he also has his eye on the long-term with his upper-level partner.

He says, "I hope to get a good result at Fair Hill because I am looking to put together a syndicate to purchase Wolfy."