We love reader/tipster mail here at EN. This was sent to us by Julie:
Hello Eventing Nation!
While these are not “recent” photos of Buck, they have always made me laugh, and seemed relevant since Buck is going to be crowned the new overall points leader in US eventing. Never thought anyone would ever catch Phillip, I’m not sure how many years he’s been “King”–and always by a large margin!
The photos are actually from the summer of 2006, during my 2 years as Buck’s Groom/Barn Manager/Bookkeeper/Business Manager/Babysitter/etc/etc. Much like his father, it is amazing how he can ride any horse (proven by him catch riding a mare at Rolex 2005 and finishing as Top Mare – trust me dealing with a nervous rider Saturday morning at Rolex is challenging enough, but the morning before their first competitive XC ride with said horse–crazy!). So this is photographic evidence of Buck meeting his match with this stubborn mini named Horatio who is owned by Buck’s long time groom Kathleen Blauth. Just so not to give Buck too much of a hard time, I included the picture where he actually figured out Horatio’s buttons!
Thanks for such a wonderful website that keeps me in touch with the Eventing World while I hibernate here in my native Nova Scotia, Canada (it’s a small province North East of Maine – and trust me, you’d be surprised the number of Americans who would then ask me where “Maine” was!)
Also congrats to Buck’s owners who are also being recognized with horses on the top of the USEA leaderboards as well. Buck’s long time supporters Carl and Cassie Segal were actually the connection to this random Canadian girl getting the job at Buck’s barn – I started working on their farm exercising some horses, including a young My Boy Bobby and I groomed for him at his first CCI* and several others. There are a lot more juicer stories from my many, many hours on the road with the BDJ team, but I’m saving that for a tell all book in my retirement which I will write with Casey McKissock!
Thanks,
Julie
