Tinkerbell is An Amateur's Dream!

Take a look at Tinkerbell! She is one of our homebred fillies by Keltic Lion, who will not only be an amazing event horse...but has the brain and jumping form to clean up in the hunter performance ring as well.

Tinkerbell by Keltic Lion

Tinkerbell is coming 5, has a solid start, and will make her next owner one happy competitor.  She's currently 15.3h, but most likely has a bit of growing left to do.  She's in Ocala at Chesterland South, right across from HITS.

Check out her form over a jump!!

Call Bruce Directly for an appointment.  484-431-8262

2017 Chesterland Year In Review!

Bruce & Aubrey at Rolex
Photo Courtesy Samantha Clark

It's been a long time since we've updated our fans on Bruce Davidson Eventing.....but needless to say we've been quite busy!  It's well known that Buck moved his training operation back to Chesterland this year, and we are thrilled to have Buck, Andrea and Aubrey home with us! 

The farm was hopping with activity this past spring and summer.  Not only with Buck's string of competition horses, but Bruce is quite busy coaching and bringing along his young homebreds.

Bruce also has several top notch young riders training with him as well.  One of the highlights of his summer was traveling with young client, Sofia Baussan to the Central American Games.  Sofia is from El Salvador, and previously was the youngest rider at the 2015 Pan American games to represent her country.  For the past year she has been training with Bruce, while she balances her studies at the Savannah School of Art & Design.  She's an amazing young lady, who won the Individual Gold this past summer at the Central American Games and contributed to her team from El Salvador winning Team Silver!  Her horse, Durango, is with Bruce in Ocala, and Sofia will continue to travel back and forth from school to compete this winter.

Sofia Baussan and Durango
Central American Games
PC Susie Tuckerman

Lee Camiolo has also been training with Bruce for several years.  Lee hales from Kentucky, but spends quite a bit of time traveling between Unionville and Ocala to train with Bruce.  Lee had an amazing 2017, clinching the Prelim win at the area VIII championships at the Ky Horse Park!  Lee has just recently completed her high school requirements, and we're looking forward to her visits to Ocala again this winter.

Lee Camiolo, Caharron V.E. and Bruce at the Ky Horse Park!

We should also mention that two other Chesterland offspring had another impressive milestone this year.  Bruce became the first American breeder to have two of his homebred horses successfully complete the (Rolex) Kentucky 3 Day Event!  Petite Flower, ridden by son Buck, finished 21st and Truly Wiley, piloted by Kelly Prather, finished in 33rd place.  Of the 59 starters, 26 horse and rider combinations did not complete, so this was no easy feat!

Next up we're going to cover our sales horses, so keep an eye on the blog and our FB page to see which young talented Charlie babies are ready to take on their next career!  Stay tuned.............

Cheshire Hunt Campers Relish In A Day with Bruce Davidson!

Last week, Bruce treated the kids from Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Foxhounds to a extraordinary morning at Chesterland!  After Thursday morning out walking hounds, the campers trotted across the street to Chesterland where they learned from an eventing icon, who happens to take a great deal of pleasure from teaching our next generation of eventers, fox hunters and race jockeys!

Sanna with Bruce, Susie and Campers

The week long Cheshire Hunt Camp held a bit of a different format this year, which was a huge success.  Organized by one of the joint hunt Masters, Sanna Neilson Hendricks lined up an action packed week that included 7 am hound walking, followed by days training with the Unionville area's experts in Fox Hunting, Eventing, Horse Showing and Steeple Chasing.

Cheshire Hunt Campers at Chesterland!

On Thursday at Bruce's there was a full house of kids on ponies, with parents, hunt staff and BDE clients as spectators who wanted to take in the great experience of watching Bruce teach young riders of every level.  The kids were divided into groups by either kid or pony experience….and each group had their first introduction to the Normandy Bank learning proper position riding a drop!  All of the kids followed in line over various jumps and those who were brave and game even jumping the infamous 3 railer log, which stood taller and wider than some of the ponies!

Bruce Watching Over Scarlett Davies

Thanks to Laura Fazio for this great video of the Cheshire kids rocking the Infamous Log!

Nina McKenna

My favorite quote of the day from Bruce came after one of the young jockeys popped out of the tack after a jump.

Nina McKenna immediately sprang up to go chase down her pony and Bruce noted, "Did you see her, she didn't wait for someone else to go get her pony, she jumped right up herself.  This is why I wanted my kids to ride…so they could learn in life you get up, dust yourself off, and get back at it!"

Kendal Thomas

I interviewed my daughter Kendal Thomas who summarized her experience perfectly, "He pushed our limits but it was amazing because it gave me such confidence afterwards!"

All of the kids had such a positive experience and if you note in the pictures with Bruce, he is grinning like a cheshire cat  throughout the morning.  It was an honor and a thrill for the kids, parents and hunt staff to spend the morning at Chesterland.

Now to make readers green with envy, here's a sample of the camp schedule that Sanna arranged for the week:

Tuesday -  7am Hound Walking followed up by XC schooling with Cheshire Hunt's Ivan Dowling, Steph Boyer and Paddy Neilson at Laurel Hill Farm (Neilson's Hill)

Wednesday -  9am hack from kennel lawn to Janice and Vince Dugan's for show jumping

Thursday - 7am hound walking followed by
Instruction by Bruce Davidson at Chesterland!

Friday -  9am Instruction over Hurdles at Sanna's - Lead by Paddy Young

Saturday - 7am Hound walking followed by a mock Hunter Trial over the Cheshire course followed by pony mounted games in the arena at Plantation Field!

Each day the kids spent the afternoon swimming either at joint Master Ann Moran's pool or tearing up the zip line at Rush and Phoebe Fisher's.  The kids even got to swim their ponies at Sanna's pond……experience that many of the Mom's relished when they were kids growing up in Unionville!

The week of festivities was capped off by a party Saturday night at Sanna's farm where hunt staff, kids, instructors and parents all celebrated a week that will be engrained into our memories for a lifetime.

Work to Ride's Marisol (9 years old) Rocking the Log!

There were so many pictures that I couldn't possibly get them into this post…..so please check out all the kids and their photos on Facebook!

Here's a link to the full Facebook photo album from Chesterland. 
Photos courtesy of Lisa Thomas, Mid-Atlantic Equestrian Services
Do not reproduce without permission.

Jam & Rolex Foals (by Keltic Lion) Arrive at Chesterland!

Exciting week at Chesterland as both Jam and Rolex have foaled two beautiful fillies by Keltic Lion!  These two are destined for greatness with athleticism and talent on the dam and sire side.

Jam and her Filly by Keltic Lion

Jam's Filly

Rolex's Filly by Keltic Lion

What a face!

Sales Horses with World Class Breeding Lines at Chesterland!

Chesterland has several beautiful Keltic Lion offspring for sale…….yearlings through active competitors.  All of these young horses have his bone, confirmation and athletic capabilities to be top show horses in a variety of disciplines.

Keltic Lion, aka "Charlie, is by Lux Z out of a Karigal Lion dam and has been matched with mares who have produced youngsters with the athleticism for excelling at eventing or pure show jumping and the movement and form over fences for the hunter ring.

We are going to plan an open house at the farm in the near future, but in the mean time please call Susie directly to set up an appointment to see the young stock or any of the other horses who are currently under saddle and competing.

Bruce has unfortunately broken his hip, so the decision has been made to offer both Happy Days (The Fonz) and Splendid for sale as well.

PLEASE EMAIL SUE TUCKERMAN OR CALL BRUCE DIRECTLY @ 484-431-8262.

HAPPY DAYS (AKA THE FONZ)

2009, 16.3H Gelding by Keltic Lion

Out of a Comic Bid/Spectacular Bid Dam line

Competed through Prelim with Bruce Davidson

SPLENDID

2010 16.1+ Gelding

By Keltic Lion out of Our Staple

Competed through Novice level with Bruce Davidson

2015 YOUNG HORSE SALES LIST - FACEBOOK PICTURE ALBUM

Picture Perfect - 2010 Mare
(Keltic Lion x Comic Bid by Spectacular Bid)

Cleo - 2011 Filly
(Keltic Lion x In the Beat by Pleasant Tap)

Jelly - 2012 Filly
(Keltic Lion x Jam)

Jubilation - 2013 Filly
(Keltic Lion x Tears of a Loss- Irish TB - Dam of Petit Flower)

Jersey Girl - 2013 Filly
(Keltic Lion x My Testarosa TB by Black Tie Affair)

Tinkerbelle - 2013 Filly 

(Keltic Lion x Roll-X by Amber's Lust (tb) sire of Petite Flower)

Jif - 2013 Gelding (Keltic Lion x Jam)

Photos by Lisa Thomas and Susie Tuckerman

Listen To Your Horse (Clockit Presentation by KER)!

It's that time of year, the lead up to Rolex!!  Please join our sponsor, Kentucky Equine Research, as they unveil their findings on equine fitness with a free seminar on equine fitness tracking.

Dr. Joe Pagan, president of Kentucky Equine Research, will present findings from a study that tracked the training programs of dozens of three-day event horses and racehorses. This seminar is sure to be useful to anyone with an interest in training of any type of sport horse or racehorse.

Join KER!
Tuesday, April 21
Fasig-Tipton, Lexington, Ky.
5 p.m.

Open to the public. Pre-register at right to receive a gift bag, complimentary drinks, and be entered to win prizes such as:

Equine heart rate monitor
Free lessons and clinics with KER-affiliated equestrians (Bruce)!!
KERx products

The event is open to the public and walk-ins are welcome. A lesson with Bruce will be among the door prizes. More event info and to sign up: http://promos.ker.com/clockit.

Living the Amateur's Dream - A Report On Training With Bruce Davidson at Chesterland!

For some, the concept of training with the great Bruce Davidson may seem a bit daunting.  But for those who are part of the team at Chesterland, we know the truth about training with such a legendary horseman and accomplished Olympian.  Bruce cares deeply about his horses, his breeding program and his clients, and is eager to pass his knowledge onto others.

Laura Fazio, who came to ride with Bruce last winter season in Ocala, eagerly agreed to share her story of training with Bruce over the past year.  Laura is an amateur rider who has juggled a demanding career in the NYC financial market, but this year she decided to focus on her equestrian pursuits.  We are so thankful to her for her insights into riding with Bruce!

Here is her story.........................................

It should be incredibly intimidating to ride with the legendary Bruce Davidson Sr.;  the Olympic medals, unparalleled wins at ROLEX and the other global 4 star events are truly remarkable........ But the experience of training with Bruce is just the opposite.    This is my story:

Bruce is relaxed and chatty, sitting on one of his absolutely perfectly mannered Charlie babies, recounting names and tales from past Badminton or Burghley events.  He always has a story or quip from other legends one only reads about, but he is always getting to the heart of understanding dressage, jumping or general horsemanship question at hand.  If you have the heart for it, you will achieve more in your riding than you ever dreamed.

Bruce on homebred Moses while instructing Laura, on Bunny.
Photo Nora Battig

Training with Bruce is about filling in the gaps of your equestrian education,  and for me it's about living out a dream that started many years ago as a child.   Watching the equestrian segment of the Olympics I marveled at the abilities of these athletes (both horse and rider) and their ability to jump unprecedented heights in perfect form.

It's been a long time coming, with the usual travails of work and family superseding my equestrian passion. I spent a few years as a weekend foxhunter and then began eventing at the lower levels 10 years ago.  It's hard to make too much progress riding just weekends but I managed to get the basics down with a local trainer.  Last year the stars aligned and I came to Chesterland South with two of my horses, Bunny, a well bred Irish Sport Horse, and Howie,  my newly purchased American Warmblood.  

Profile of Bruce and Howie!

Bruce on Howie at Ocala I
Photo Credits Palmer Photo

My checklist of things to improve and concerns about my riding technique was endless, and Bruce listened patiently.   Day by day, my riding and confidence changed as I began to truly understand how to get the best out of myself and my horses.  I had desperately wanted a formula for success, which I could quickly memorize and execute, but Bruce showed me that each ride needed to be custom tailored.  He taught me how to listen to my horse and ride each one to the best of their individual capabilities.  How many people also get to have Bruce Davidson "tune up" their horses?

Moving up to Preliminary had always been my dream, as to me it signified a higher level of competition where one could became a rider with a capital "R"!  I moved up to prelim late last season in area 2 and managed to complete 2 events.  For the 2015 season I'm focused on going clear in prelim here in Florida,  shooting for the Ocala HT 1* in April with my mare Bunny.  Competing in a 1* is a dream I thought unattainable until now. 

Laura Competing Bunny at Prelim

I've also checked off another bucket list item by breeding my kind, forgiving and super talented mare, Bunny, to Bruce's perfect stallion Keltic Lion (aka Charlie).   If you ever have the opportunity to come visit at Chesterland to see Charlie's amazing crop of foals, you will be impressed.  All of his offspring throw Charlie's lovely temperament, bone size and athletic ability.  The babies are very engaging and love to entertain visitors who take the tour of the farm.

Charlie Babies!
Photo Credit Lisa Thomas

Bunny managed to take on the first try when we bred her in May (which I'm told is quite amazing!) and we are now awaiting the birth of the foal out of a surrogate mare, Princess Julia.  Jan Smith, who oversees Chesterland's breeding activities, is closely watching Princess Julia up north. 

The colt will be born around Easter and I can't wait for "Keltic Pride" to come into the world.   I know he is going to be special, perhaps a Rolex horse for me?   I know this sounds improbable,  but since Bruce has helped me realize all my other dreams in 2014,  my future goals do not seem out of the question!

I'm confident that with Bruce bringing along my colt,  he will be as mannerly and talented as all the Charlie babies he's produced to date.  ~  Laura Fazio

Annie Eldridge Updates Us On Her Keltic Lion Youngsters!

We recently received an update from our friend and client Annie Eldridge, who has a small breeding farm in Massachusetts.  We love keeping in touch with Annie and getting the updates on her 2 Charlie babies, who are pictured here below with excerpts from her fun emails.  Thanks Annie!!

"Here is Cora at one day old(!) marching over to say hi to the photographer!"

"How lucky am I to have another Charlie baby!  Here is my filly,  "Encore Lion," "Encore" or "Cora" for short, who is one week old in these photos.  Like her full brother, "Fools Lion," Cora is amazingly personable, friendly, brave and curious."

" Here is big brother "Fools Lion", now a yearling, saying hello to some visitors in the paddock next to his little sister."

"Here is one week old Cora, brave enough to leave her mom and investigate the gentleman feeding the horses, pictured here. Cora will crawl into your lap if you give her a chance -- this astonishingly outgoing friendliness in a foal so young is a uniquely Charlie-esque trait!"

"Oh dear I'm getting carried away ... Can you tell how much Iove my filly? Here she is pictured with her mom, "Fabulous Jada"(TB), and in the other photo, you can see Cora staring purposely ahead to check out the photographer."

"Again, how many week-old fillies turn away from mom to check out the automatic waterer? Only a Charlie baby shows this kind of outgoing curiosity at such a young age!  Surely this little girl won't be shy as she matures!"

Thanks again Annie for all the fun emails and comments on your Charlie babies.  We look forward to chronicling their growth as they turn from precocious youngsters into true performance horses!

Winter Update From Eva Crossman at Chesterland South!!

We hope that Chesterland has an eventing prodigy in the making, with our youngest rider in training, 14 year old Eva Crossman!  Eva is the daughter of Denise Richmond and Curt Crossman, and currently attends Unionville High School while balancing an ambitious training program with Bruce.  Both of Eva's parents are avid horse people, with her father, Curt being a lifelong horseman who previously was on the hunt staff with Cheshire Foxhounds. 

Eva has ridden primarily in the hunter/jumpers until coming to join the crew at Chesterland last September.  She has two horses of her own, Wylie, a 15.2h Hanoverian cross, who she herself backed as a 4 year old, and Summer Patriot, a grey OTTB gelding who was at Chesterland for sale when Eva arrived. 

Eva, a freshman at Unionville, was able to get permission from the school to take her studies on the road, and she's currently down at Chesterland South, in Ocala, for the entire month of February!  I asked Eva to be my guest blogger and roving reporter while down in Florida training with Bruce for the month.  This is the first of several reports she will be sending throughout the month. 

Eva and Summer Patriot

Thank you Eva for this fun report!

"So to catch you up on Chesterland South it's probably most important to know what all the horses are doing. The Fonz, or "Happy Days", is out of one of Bruce's mares Whoopee and by Charlie. He is an incredible mover and jumper, and currently resides as Bruce's favorite. Bruce has been working hard with the 5 year old to improve his dressage knowledge and help him become more experienced over fences. Fonz did great in the Training at Rocking Horse and all week long Bruce has been saying how much he would love to take him to Badminton.

 

 

 

Bruce and Happy Days, aka The Fonz!

Christine Pitcairn, or Pitty as she is affectionately called, has her top horse Oliver in training with Bruce and the two rocked the Training at Ocala a few weekends ago.

We also have two four year old superstars in the making. Ephraim, who is by Charlie and out of Memorial Cap, and Moses, who is Jam's first baby and by Charlie as well.  Ephraim has jumped only a few times now but was incredible at the Rocking Horse schooling day last week. Holy Moses, who is everyone's favorite to work with, has never looked better.  While he spends almost all of his time in the barn getting his beauty sleep, we all agree it's working!  Moses has jumped a few times down here and is a prodigy just like his mom!

And let us not forget the only Princess of the barn, the ever beautiful Lola.  Lo is doing great and is my personal favorite. She jumps with springs and moves like a Disney Princess strutting across the dance floor.  She charms everyone she meets and is loving her time down in Florida.

Last, but certainly not least, there's Ms. Susie's beloved Tuf. Susie and Tuf have been going sorting with Chuckie Walters and Tuf has been perfect as always."

And on to Recent Competition Updates:



Last weekend Kelly Prather also showed solidly at the Ocala Horse Properties Winter II HT, Winning the Open Prelim on Blackfoot Mystery and placing 4th in the same division on D. A. Duras!  She also finished 7th on Flagmount's Nightcap, in the Open Prelim B division to round out a productive weekend. 

Keep an eye on Event Entries for all the seasonal events in Florida, and also remember to follow us on Facebook for more updates and PHOTOS!

And for those who think Bruce is all work and no play...........he did give the girls in the barn - Sasha, Pitty, and Eva - the day off to go to Disney World over the weekend!!  Their plan, like true eventers, was to get up as early as possible and get on all the rides in the park!

USEA Press Coverage of YEH East Coast Championships!

Mr. Bojangles & Mr. Davidson, Sr. Win the 2013 YEH East Coast Championships

Posted

Fri, 2013-10-18 22:49

Authored By: 

• USEA

Mr. Bojangles and Bruce Davidson, Sr. winners of the USEA YEH East Coast 5 Yr Old Championships. Photo by Sarah Connell-Spriggs

Fair Hill NRMA, MD - It was a beautiful crisp fall day at the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships at the Fair Hill International Festival in the Country, but perhaps the day was most beautiful for Mr. Bojangles and his rider Bruce Davidson, Sr.  The Davidson homebred Thoroughbred owned by Buck Davidson and Carl Segal showed ample future potential throughout the competition.
Mr. Bojangles and Davidson found themselves in the lead after a lovely Dressage test and a solid showing in the Conformation phase of the YEH Five-Year-Old Championships. 

While Friday’s 43.35 jumping score was not the highest of the day, it was more than enough to solidify his cumulative point total to win on a final score of 82.53.  In the words of judge Susan Graham White, “[Mr. Bojangles] had a lovely Dressage ride, forward, fresh, which showed off his gaits”, while his jumping exhibited his “quickness from behind, and scope.”  The highest jumping score of the five-year-olds, a 43.95, came from the 2012 USEA YEH East Coast Four-Year-Old Champion Esccord RGS (a.k.a. Garth). Garth is a Hanoverian bred by Page Brook Farms by Escudo I out of the dam EM Arabella RGS, and ridden and owned by Katie Murphy.   Their superb jumping performance enabled Garth and Katie to finish the competition as the reserve champions in the division.

In the Four-Year-Old Division Championship, two horses bred by Dr. Laurie Cameron of Clear Blue Farm in Stockton, NJ proved themselves to be the top mounts.  Rider Lillian Heard won the Championship aboard Cameron-bred Quarlotta, an Oldenburg by the stallion Quite Capitol out of the mare Merging.  Then, Cameron-bred Early Review, a Hanoverian by the sire Earl out of the dam Lois Lane, received the Safe Harbor Award.  That award is given to a horse that the judges view as exhibiting the most graceful and rider friendly performance throughout the competition.  As a "small time" breeder, Dr. Cameron noted that it is “very exciting that the YEH is now a part of the USEA record on these horses…hopefully more people will be riding American bred horses in the future.”


Breeders, owners, and competitors had a sense of optimism regarding the quality of the field of YEH entrants in the competition this year.  Marilyn Payne, the Chair of the USEA’s YEH Task Force, noted that there was not only a “phenomenal number of horses” but also the highest “quality of horses” that they have seen at a USEA YEH Championships to date. 

She attributed much of that success to the lure of the Holekamp/Turner YEH Lion d’ Angers Grant.  The grant, made possible through the work of Timothy Holekamp of New Spring Farm in Columbia, MO and Christine Turner of Indian Creek Farm in Spring Branch, TX, supports costs associated with competing the highest scoring USEA YEH Champion as a 7 year old at the FEI World Young Horse Championships at Le Lion d’Angers in France. 

The owners of Mr. Bojangles will now have to wait on the results of the USEA YEH West Coast Championships taking place later this month at Galway Downs in Temecula, CA to see which of the YEH Champions will have the highest score to be awarded the grant.

For information on the Holekamp/Turner Lion d’ Angers Grant visit the following link.
For the full results of the USEA YEH East Coast Championships visit the following link.

News From Maddie Blackman!

Many thanks to Maddie Blackman for sending in her Plantation wrap up and plans for the finish of the 2013 season.  We plan to keep our blog and Facebook page lively with updates....so stay tuned!!

Maddie on Gordonstown

"Plantation was a great weekend all around. I had both my horses competing, Gordonstown and Khoi Traveler.

"Gordy" started the weekend out by doing his last prep before Fair Hill in the Advanced division.  His dressage was ok (as it usually is), maybe a little less opinionated than usual, which was refreshing. He show jumped in lovely form and had an unlucky rail, but was double clear XC for a very exciting finish with 7th overall.   Our eyes are set in Fair Hill now!

Randy and Maddie heading to the start box

"Khoi" was competing in the one star that weekend. He had a very steady dressage and a great SJ round with just one rail.  Around noon he went out XC and put in a double clear, so I was very excited to have this horse go so well, as we are still getting to know each other.   He is just getting better and better with each event and has such a bright future!  Khoi's plans include the prelim at the NJ horse park before finishing the year at the VA horse park before moving up to intermediate.

Khoi at the Startbox!

It was so nice to be on home turf and to have all of us from Chesterland there to support and help eachother over the weekend.  The best part was having both my Mom and Dad be able to watch Gordy go on Saturday. They are such big supporters and it was nice to share  such a great day with them!"