Bruce Davidson (rider)

Bruce Davidson senior with Cruise Lion , CCI 4 * Lexington 2009

Bruce Oram Davidson (born December 31, 1949 in Rome , New York ) is an American horse breeder and eventing rider . With two Olympic victories and three world championship titles, he is one of the most successful riders in this discipline.

Career

Davidson initially had no relationship with horse riding when he was a child and only discovered the sport after the family moved to Westport , Massachusetts . Every summer he bought a pony at auction at a low price, trained it and sold it for a higher price before the school holidays ended. He repeated this process for several years until he could finally afford a high quality horse.

From 1971 Davidson played international competitions. His breakthrough came at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich with second place in the team ranking. Two years later he won the gold medal in both the individual and team rankings at the 1974 World Cup in Burghley . At the competition of the Pan American Games in 1975 Davidson was stopped by the jury during the cross-country ride because he had been mistaken for a disqualified rider: he was able to continue his ride and won two silver medals (individual and team).

At the 1976 Olympic Games , the American team was victorious again. 1978 followed in Lexington another individual world title and a bronze medal with the team. In 1980 Davidson could not take part in the Olympic Games in Moscow because of the American boycott . In contrast, he won the team gold medal again in Los Angeles in 1984 . In 1995 he was individual winner and team runner-up at the Pan American Games in Mar del Plata . A fourth Olympic medal was added in Atlanta in 1996 when the American team finished second.

Davidson won two bronze medals at World Equestrian Games , in Stockholm in 1990 (individual) and in Rome in 1998 (team). With a total of six successes he is the record winner at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day , one each of which he won the Badminton Horse Trials and the Burghley Horse Trials . In 1993 and 1995 he led the world rankings of the World Equestrian Federation FEI .

Davidson is still active in sports, but his work as a trainer has become more important. He trained numerous successful riders, including Olympic champion Phillip Dutton . He runs a stud farm in Unionville , Pennsylvania , the Chesterland Farm.

His son Buck Davidson (actually Bruce O. Davidson junior) is also active as an international eventing rider.

successes

• Olympic games
  • 1972: Silver Team (on Plain Sailing )
  • 1976: Gold team (on Irish Cap )
  • 1984: Gold Team (on JJ Babu )
  • 1996: Silver team (on Heyday )

• World championships
  • 1974: Gold Singles, Gold Team (on Irish Cap , as part of the Burghley Horse Trials)
  • 1978: Gold Singles, Bronze Team (on Might Tango , as part of the Rolex Kentucky Three Day)

• World Equestrian Games
  • 1990: Bronze singles (on Pirate Lion )
  • 1998: Bronze team (on Heyday )

• Pan American Games
  • 1975: Silver individual ranking, silver team ranking (on Golden Griffin )
  • 1995: Gold individual ranking, silver team ranking (on Heyday )

• Other major tournaments
  • Badminton Horse Trials: Winner 1995 (on Eagle Lion )
  • Rolex Kentucky Three Day: Winner 1983 and 1984 (on JJ Babu ), 1988 and 1989 (on Dr. Peaches ), 1993 (on Happy Talk )

Web links

Commons : Bruce Davidson (tab)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bruce Davidson's website