Catching Up with Bruce

I had a chance to chat with Bruce last night after his exciting win on Keltic Lion this past weekend at Fair Hill!  When I asked him about their weekend, he immediately went to how proud he was of David and his efforts on Looks Sweet and their 2nd place finish in the Open Intermediate!

Charlie (Keltic Lion) was just fantastic, and even with a small mistake in the dressage, and a XC round which he didn't press for time, he still came out on top.  He is such an impressive and well mannered stallion who is a total gentleman in the barn and a real contender for the future!  Bruce was also quite pleased with Here's Lola who was 4th,  with Bruce taking all the blame for the rail down & break in the dressage.  In addition, HRH Patricia, who was sold to Emily Beshear's barn, was 3rd on the weekend at FH & also at Loch Moy at the Training Level!   See Fair Hill Full Results

Up next they will go off to Richland with both Prelim horses (Charlie & Lola), and David will take his young horse Look at Me in the Prelim as well.  Looks Sweet will move up to Advanced after such a successful weekend at Fair Hill.  Plantation will be on the docket for mid September and then it's back to Fair Hill International in the beginning of the fall.

The Eventing Issue of the Chronicle also gave the Chesterland crew their fair shake of the media.  On page 24 there is a full 4 page spread titled "Bruce Davidson's Chesterland - BehindBarnDoors".   If you are a magazine subscriber, you will be able to access the online magazine here, with your login & password!  Many thanks to our friend Amy Dragoo for the amazing pictorial spread on the farm!!  

There is also a wonderful 5 page article (page 38) on David's Mom, Vicky Koss, and her "Horse of a Lifetime: Goldmill" with a full page picture of the pair riding at Badminton, plus a great galloping shot of Goldmill and David during their partnership which helped teach David the ropes of eventing at the age of 17.   David's quoted as saying, "I don't know that I would have started riding if it wasn't for Barney.  But he was so great to ride cross-country, and we had so much fun".  David rode Barney at his first 3 day event & even was able to experience the long format back in 2004.  Barney really gave the Koss family his heart until he was euthanized at the age of 19 back in 2006.

It does seem that David has become a solid fixture at Chesterland, and the plans are for David to stay on to spend the winter down in Ocala, and to help bring along the now 7 headcount of coming 4 year olds, 2 of which belong to Vicky Koss.  Looks like Bruce and David are going to have a busy winter!!