Shamwari 4 is presented at the first horse inspection by Phillip Dutton for Boyd Martin (Stockimageservices.com)

Luhmuhlen, Germany - Land Rover Competition Grant recipients Boyd Martin and Shamwari 4 have traveled to Germany eyeing a top placing at this week's Luhmuhlen CCI4*. They will be among 53 combinations from 12 nations set to contest the event which runs June 12-15 and is one of only seven CCI4*s held annually throughout the world.  

Martin (Cochranville, Pa.) acquired the Hanoverian gelding, which represented Sweden at the 2012 Olympic Games and 2013 HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships in early 2014, and the pair quickly began to forge a partnership. However, Martin spent much of the spring season on the sidelines after breaking his leg in March. During this time, his mentor, Phillip Dutton, stepped in, piloting Shamwari 4 to third-place finishes in CIC3* competition at Fair Hill and Jersey Fresh. In May, the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and 2012 London Olympic Games veteran was back in the tack and has prepared for Luhmuhlen with a win in an Open Intermediate section on the Shamwari 4 Syndicate LLC's gelding at the Waredaca Horse Trials.  

In Luhmuhlen, Martin will also ride his London Olympic Games partner, the Otis Barbotiere Syndicate LLC's Otis Barbotiere, in CCI4* competition. Dutton (West Grove, Pa.) will ride Bruce Duchossois' 2013 Red Hills International Horse Trials CIC3* winner, Mighty Nice, at the prestigious German competition.  

Competition gets underway Thursday with the first of two days of dressage with Martin and Otis Barbotiere kicking things off for the U.S. at 1:54pm local time. On Friday, Martin will ride Shamwari 4 at 3:18pm local time and Dutton and Mighty Nice will head down centerline at 4:24pm local time. 

To learn more about the Luhmuhlen CCI4*, visit: http://www.luhmuehlen.de/index.asp?tree_id=65&sprache_id=2.  

Follow the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team here.