Reigning US Open of Eventing Champion, Boyd Martin, Named 2025 USEF International Equestrian of the Year

The achievement acknowledges a year in which Martin demonstrated remarkable consistency across the sport's biggest stages. Among his seven international wins throughout 2025, Martin claimed victory in the inaugural US Equestrian Eventing Open Final at Morven Park aboard Miks Master C.

Martin recorded a total of 24 top-five FEI finishes with 11 different horses during the season. This included three podium places at five-star. Cooley Nutcracker was third at Pau. Commando 3 was second at Kentucky and third at Maryland. Commando 3 proved to be a very reliable player throughout the year, clocking multiple podium finishes. These results include a win at an early US Open qualifier at Stable View, contributing points to the series leaderboard, ultimately concluding with Martin winning the overall series, as well as the final event.

Boyd Martin grew up in Australia to an Australian father and an American mother. In his acceptance speech at the Pegasus Awards on Thursday night, he recalled when his parents brought him to get his American passport as a child: “At the time I thought, ‘why the heck would I ever need an American passport’... little did I know that that decision would ultimately change my life”.

As a young rider, Martin made the move across the world from Australia to America. He said in his speech: “I always wondered how I'd compare to the best in the world”.

This year, he proved that he is the best in the world. A defining moment of Boyd Martin’s phenomenal 2025 season came at the beginning of May, when he became the first American eventing athlete to hold the No. 1 spot at the top of the FEI World Rankings in 21 years. He finished the year ranked globally as No. 2 with 537 points and will surely be fighting to get back on top in 2026.

Martin has been an important member of the Defender US Eventing Team for many years. In 2025, he helped them to earn their third consecutive podium place at CHIO Aachen. Aachen is set to host the World Championships in 2026. Team USA will be eying up that gold medal, having taken home the silver at last World Championships in Pratoni in 2022.

Speaking on his representing America, Martin said, “In 2010, I was faced with one of the hardest decisions of my life and it was to change my nationality to represent America. I soon realized when I got to America that this is my home. I also wanted to support the country that was supporting my career. I also felt it was wrong for the owners that had poured so much support into me, being a rider with a different flag. It was the greatest decision I ever made”.

Boyd Martin is a proud representative of America and a worthy recipient of the International Equestrian of the Year award. We look forward to seeing him contest the US Equestrian Open Series in 2026.

Hear from Boyd Martin on winning the 2025 Series of US Equestrian Open of Eventing on The US Equestrian Open Podcast.

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