Photo by Samantha Clark
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As mentioned this morning, the equestrian world recently lost one of the great eventing horses of his time, Bruce Davidson’s illustrious partner Eagle Lion. The Thoroughbred/Irish Sport Horse gelding by Gipfel out of Stream Lion and owned by Dr. George Strawbridge was 27 years old. Eagle Lion wasn’t the flashiest of horses, and he may not have earned the most blue ribbons, but he had an incredibly solid, if not stellar, record. With him, Bruce became the first American to win Badminton, in 1995. The bay gelding backed this up with other top-5 finishes at Burghley (1993), Badminton (1994 and 1998), and a win at Fair Hill CCI*** (1992). He completed Badminton four times with double-clear cross-country rounds; he placed in the top 15 in ten three- or four-star events in all.
