PrintWhen Buck Davidson first took over the ride on My Boy Bobby in the summer of 2008, he didn’t expect to be filling out an entry for the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** the following spring.
In fact, Davidson recalled that during a disastrous outing at the Express Eventing International Cup (England) in November 2008, Phillip Dutton quipped to him, “I don’t think that one’s going to Kentucky, mate.”
But in the spring of 2009, “Bobby” seemed out to prove everyone wrong. He was undefeated in three outings at the advanced level, including the CIC*** at The Fork (N.C.).
“And it wasn’t just that he was winning—it was that he kept going better and doing it easier. He was liking it again,” Davidson said. “After every event, we just kept re-evaluating, and it just sort of led up to Kentucky.”
So Davidson found himself confidently galloping Bobby around the imposing Rolex Kentucky cross-country course, where they finished as the highest-placed U.S. pair in third.
“Buck and Bobby’s performance at Rolex was incredibly memorable because we all had doubts about whether Bobby could get through the cross-country course as well as he ultimately did,” said Carl Segal, who owns Bobby along with his wife, Cassie.
“He’s a bit draftier and heavier than most—we all knew he could jump all the jumps, but we just didn’t know if he’d have the stamina,” Carl continued. “It was something he’d never experienced before—that length of course. It was fun to see him do something we weren’t really sure he would be able to do. That made it especially exciting.”
Bobby chalked up a CIC***-W win at Wits End (Ont.) in August, then finished 2009 with a 13th-placed finish at the HSBC FEI World Cup Final CIC*** (Poland).
“He was amazing at the World Cup Final. He gave me everything he had,” Davidson said. Bobby lost both of his front shoes early on the muddy cross-country course and had a stop after slipping on a turn. “It’s amazing to me the heart that horse has. At the age he is, that kind of thing just doesn’t happen. For him to turn around like that is just amazing.”
Jessica Kiener, who runs the Segals’ farm in New Jersey, found Bobby for them in Ireland nine years ago as a green 5-year-old. Bobby had hunted and schooled cross-country, but because of hoof-and-mouth disease, hadn’t competed.
Kiener took Bobby up the levels successfully, including a third-placed finish at the CCI** at Jersey Fresh (N.J.) in 2007. But she ran into trouble at the advanced level and turned to Davidson for help.
“The decision was mine to get Buck to ride the horse and build his confidence, and it’s gone so well,” Kiener said. “Neither the horse nor I was confident anymore. It was hard, but it was what I knew needed to be done. I wanted to see the horse go on to the next level and succeed. It was bittersweet.”
At Davidson’s first event with Bobby, at intermediate in August 2008, they won. “But I finished and said, ‘I’m not sure this horse really wants to do this anymore.’ He tried to stop at a few things and scrambled over a fence,” Davidson said. Bobby ran two CIC***s with somewhat better efforts before Davidson then attempted the Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.) on him.
“He gave me everything he had, but it just wasn’t enough. He ran out of juice at the end and just stopped at the skinny coming out of the water. He was just tired, mentally and physically,” said Davidson, who was discouraged but thought he might have figured out the key to Bobby’s problem.
