ANOTHER PROUD GRADUATE OF BRUCE DAVIDSON EVENTING!

Anna Kjellstrom and KER Marvin aka Everest!

Last year, Bruce took on an interesting project horse owned by Anna Kjellstrom and Kentucky Equine Research.  KER Marvin came to Bruce after being a research horse at KER, a nutritional science company owned by Anna's husband Joe Pagan.  

Kentucky Equine Research is an international equine nutrition, research and consulting company serving both the horse producer and the feed industry.  It's goal is to advance the industry's knowledge of equine nutrition and exercise physiology and apply this knowledge to produce healthier, more athletic horses.  KER Marvin (given the barn name Everest, due to his enormous stature), was raised in the perfect environment, being studied while he developed as a youngster.

You can see more about his KER history on this prior blog post.

XC at Rocking Horse 1

Anna did a lovely job starting Marvin, and competed him at the lower levels before sending him up to Bruce for boot camp.  Due to his size, Anna wanted to place him in training to determine if they would have a suitable partnership.  He came to Chesterland a year ago, showing great raw talent, and Bruce was able to put the finishing touches on this talented young horse for his Amateur owner rider!  

Everest went home to Anna in the fall, then came down to Ocala for winter training at Chesterland South, and Anna has successfully taken over the reins. They have formed a solid partnership and we're thrilled to watch her rise up through the levels on this athletic and talented horse.

When asked about her transition back into the saddle with Everest, Anna sent a humorous note stating "He went to Bruce Camp a boy and came back a lady's hunter!"

Obviously from the looks of these fabulous pictures and XC video, they are well on their way to become one of the best a/o pairs on the eventing circuit!

Everyone at Chesterland and Bruce Davidson Eventing wishes Anna and Everest the best of luck in their upcoming adventures!!  We look forward to reporting on their careers as they jump through the ranks.

Many thanks to the Horse Pesterer for this great XC footage from last weekend at Rocking Horse!

The Chronicle's Salute to Eagle Lion!

Many thanks to The Chronicle for this lovely tribute to Eagle Lion in the January 14th edition.  He will be truly missed.

Photo Credit Corbis Images

Compliments of The Chronicle of The Horse, January 14th, page 35.

Eagle Lion, the horse Bruce Davidson rode to the first US win at the Badminton CCI****, was euthanized on Dec. 18.  He was 27.

Davidson began training Eagle Lion (Gipfel - Stream Lion, Ideal Water) when the Irish-bred gelding was 3.  In 1992, Eagle Lion won the Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.) at the age of 7, and in 1995, he and Davidson won England's most famous four-star: Badminton.  They also placed in the top five at Badminton in 1994 and 1998, as well as placing fourth at the Burghley CCI **** (England) in 1993.  He was named the Chronicle's Eventing Horse of the YEar in 1997 after finishing 8th at Badminton and 11th at teh Open European Eventing Championships (England).  He was also chosen as one the The Chronicle's 50 Most Influential Horses of the 20th Century.

" He wrote the book on how to jump", said Davidson in a Feb. 2, 1996 article in the Chronicle. "All you have to do is stay on.  He has jumped me off three times in competition.  One was Kentucky in 1992 - I clucked, and he jumped me right over his head.  I'll never do that again."

Davidson often mentioned that he wished there was a five-star three day to really test "Eagle's" jumping.

In 2007, Eagle was immortalized in a statue by artist Jean Clagett at the Kentucky Horse Park.  The sculpture epicts Eagle and Davidson jumping into the Head of the Lake at the Rolex Ky Three-Day Event.

Eagle, who was purchased by George Strawbridge in 1994, retired to Davidson's Chesterland Farm in Unionville, Pa., where he lived until he died.  "I appreciate George as an owner.  He came through at a time that was helpful for me to be able to keep the horse," said Davidson.  "If we had horse like him now, we'd be winning medals.  He had character, he was an athlete, he was a competitor, he was intelligent, and he was tough.  We were a wonderful team, and he'll be sorely missed."

International appreciation of this legendary horse was also apparent in this article written by Horse Talk NZ