Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM. Photo by Kasey Mueller/Rare Air Photography.
When the horse Buck Davidson was riding in the Richland CCI2* hung a leg and fell on cross- country yesterday, Buck did exactly what you’d expect Buck to do: hop on an Advanced horse and jump a double-clear show jumping round.
Less than an hour later.
With broken ribs.
And then compete six more horses cross country the next day.
(For the record, he was wearing an air vest but forgot to put in the canister. Oops!)
Today was, admittedly, kind of rough. He had five in the CIC3* — Ballynoe Castle RM, Carlevo, Wundermaske, Copper Beach and Be Mine — plus Park Trader in the Advanced. He woke up this morning in pain, no doubt, but also leading the Adequan USEA Gold Cup CIC3* on Reggie.
Good thing the pair can practically jump around with their eyes closed. They collected a carefully calculated 4.8 time faults, keeping them at the front of the pack for the win. “I did the math and figured Jennie (Brannigan) would make the time, and figured that some others wouldn’t, so it gave me a bit of a cushion,” Buck explained.
At the end of the day Buck expressed, almost apologetically, that he “was not on his A game.”
“I’m not joking when I say I usually let Reggie go at his own pace, but today I was just too sore to go that fast,” he said.
We forgive you, Buck. This time.
“For sure it was not as smooth as it could have been; once you pull on [Reggie] he starts to pull on you,” he said. “My goal was just to get balanced and try to survive today. He is a champ. He looked after me.” #LoveWins
Buck Davidson and Park Trader. Photo by Kasey Mueller/Rare Air Photography.
As prophesied by Buck, Jennie and Cambalda did move up from 5th to 2nd thanks to a double-clear trip. The pair made today’s course look like a (really fast) canter in the park, finishing just 1.7 points behind Buck and Reggie.
“I have been joking around for ages that I have always wanted to win this event, and I have been second a lot,” Jennie said. “I have been second to Buck before in a tie at this event so I am laughing. Buck is a great guy and we have gone head-to-head a few times on these horses. This was his weekend to win and Ping feels great so it is like a having a good ol’ friend.”
Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda. Photo by Kasey Mueller/Rare Air Photography.
Here’s some crappy iPhone footage of them at #18AB, the double of oxers. Warning: I just got an iPhone 6 and am obsessed with the hilariously dramatic slow-mo feature, so apologies in advance. EN’s favorite unpaid videographer buddy The Horse Pesterer was wandering around all over Richland this weekend so perhaps he’ll show up with better videos that we can sub in later.
Emily Beshear and Shame on the Moon came into cross country tied for 2nd and slipped to 3rd having collected 5.20 time faults. The pair looked sharper than ever and we’ll all be cheering them on at Blenheim next month.
Emily Beshear and Shame on the Moon. Photo by Kasey Mueller/Rare Air Photography.
More terrible iPhone footage of them making short work of the first water:
Rounding out the top five were Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High, who turned in another of the day’s 10 double-clear rounds to move from 7th to 4th…
Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High. Photo by Kasey Mueller/Rare Air Photography.
…followed by Caroline Martin and Center Stage, who moved from 8th to 5th on their double-clear.
Caroline Martin and Center Stage. Photo by Kasey Mueller/Rare Air Photography.
Here they are coming through the #17AB, the offset ditch-and-rails:
Overall the CIC3* course rode beautifully and according to plan. For many of the veterans it was a perfect knock-the-rust-off run before fall CCIs, while less-experienced horses came off the big, galloping course feeling like stars.
The few problems that cropped up, mostly consisting of a glance-off here and there, were scattered. Kim Severson and Fernhill Fearless retired after collecting 20 at the #9ABC, the sunken road; Nilson Moreira da Silva/Muggle and Buck Davidson/Be Mine bowed out after running into a bit of trouble as well.
A few of the more interesting questions included #15AB, a double of corners…
…#9ABC, the sunken road…
…and #13, the ditch-and-wall keyhole.
Sharon White and Cooley on Show. Photo by Leslie Wylie.
Ronald Zabala withdrew Che Mr. Wiseguy after show jumping to save his 16-year-old partner’s legs for another day — perhaps, he said when we spoke with him yesterday, the Olympics next year. Ronald has some exciting stuff in the pipeline that you can look forward to reading all about on EN this week.
CIC3* Top 15:
The show is wrapping up and I’d kill for a sandwich, so I’m going to take this party to Panera Bread and finish up my Advanced report there. (Spoiler alert: Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border won.) Check back soon!
Go Eventing.
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