Buck Davidson was feeling some pressure when he entered the show jumping arena at the Wits End CIC***-W aboard Ballynoe Castle RM. He’d never felt a lack of confidence in the gelding’s Sunday skills, but he knew his biggest competition was still to come: Buck Davidson aboard My Boy Bobby.

Davidson’s horses have been dominating across the country all year, so it wasn’t the first time he’d been his own biggest threat. In the end, the HSBC FEI World Cup-qualifier in Mansfield, Ont., held Aug. 6-9, wasn’t really a question of who would win, but rather which one of Davidson’s mounts would inevitably lead the victory gallop.

Davidson piloted “Reggie” and “Bobby,” both owned by Carl and Cassandra Segal, to double-clear rounds on Sunday, and they ended just .7 points apart in a one-two finish at Wits End. But it was Bobby who eventually earned the first-placed red ribbon and a last-minute trip to the World Cup Final in Poland.

“Since they’re owned by the same people, I didn’t care which one won,” Davidson admitted. “But Reggie’s going to Burghley [CCI**** in England, in September], and Bobby wasn’t going to have a big trip this fall, and these CICs are made for horses like him. [U.S. Eventing Chef d’Equipe] Mark Phillips said to me, ‘Would you like to go to Poland and knock heads with all the top guys?’ and I said, ‘Of course I would.’ And that’s what we’re going to do.”

Davidson, Riegelsville, Pa., and Bobby, a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse, won two advanced horse trials and The Fork CIC*** (N.C.) this spring and placed third at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** in April.

“This was his first run since Kentucky, and I sort of had a plan going in to have a lead in the dressage so I could take it easy around the cross-country course a little bit,” Davidson said. “The show jumping at Wits End is very difficult, but he’s amazing in show jumping, so I hoped I could catch back up on Sunday.”

But as it turned out, Bobby didn’t need to play catch-up at any point during the competition. He led from the get-go, scoring a 46.0 in dressage and adding 4 time faults on cross-country. Stablemate Reggie, a 9-year-old Irish-bred Belgian Warmblood-Thoroughbred (Ramiro B—Ballyvaldon Natalie), stayed close behind. But Davidson also kept his eye on Phillip Dutton and Woodburn, who eventually finished the weekend in third.

“It was a big class up there, everybody had their good horses,” Davidson said. “I watched Phillip go out of the start box on Woodburn, and I knew he was going for it. He had his horse jumping great. Basically, my plan was to stay within a rail of them on Sunday with both of my horses.”

Only four horses managed double-clears in show jumping—two belonging to Davidson—and Dutton’s two rails with Woodburn pushed Reggie from third place up to second.

“I’m just so happy for Carl and Cassie,” Davidson said. “If you have one horse that does what either of these two have done in this year, it’s amazing. But to have two basically do everything right next to each other the whole year—it’s pretty exciting. They’ve been so good to me, and I’m just happy that it’s all come together for them. They may be the owners of the century.”

While they’d already planned their trip to England for Reggie’s Burghley debut, the Segals, as well as Bobby’s former rider Jessica Kiener, will now be flying to Strzegom, Poland, for the World Cup Final on Aug. 21-23 prior to Burghley. Davidson hadn’t seriously considered competing at the Final until the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation established the Jack Le Goff Memorial Fund in late July. The new grant will provide annual travel support to riders selected to represent the United States at the World Cup (Aug. 14, p. 82).

“It’s such a good thing for this country and this sport,” Davidson said of the memorial fund. “Many people have already contributed money, and we’re definitely thankful to them.”

Rollie’s Got His Roll Back

Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II have done a lot of growing up over the course of their nine-year partnership, and the 22-year-old rider from West Grove, Pa., is the first to admit he’s made a few mistakes along the way.

So even though the advanced division win they scored at Wits End wasn’t their first, Chambers was relieved to feel confirmation that the rollercoaster they’ve been on is on it’s way back up.

“After a year spent trying to figure him out and get his confidence back, this weekend he was the best he’s been all year,” Chambers said of his 13-year-old, black Hessen gelding. “He was really taking me to the fences and not taking even a second look at anything. He was quite bold and quite aggressive.”

Chambers and “Rollie” (Rubin Star N–Jessica), won the intermediate division at the American Eventing Championships (Ill.) in 2007, then topped their first advanced outing last spring in Georgia. But a series of humbling disappointments set the talented pair back after that.

Rollie was leading his advanced division at Southern Pines (N.C.) last spring until Chambers made a silly mistake and jumped the wrong fence in show jumping. While the elimination there was embarrassing, it wasn’t as damaging as his experience at the Jersey Fresh CCI*** (N.J.) later that spring.

“I fell off [on cross-country] and got back on, but I wasn’t riding very well,” he admitted. “He’s not the boldest horse naturally, and that just shattered his confidence.”

Disappointed in himself for letting down the horse he’d received as a Christmas present as a child, Chambers worked hard over the remainder of the season to regain Rollie’s trust. They dropped back to preliminary level and sought full-time training.

“I ended up moving up to Phillip [Dutton’s] last fall to work in the barn, and we basically spent the last year getting him back to this point,” Chambers said.

After winning two intermediates and one advanced horse trial earlier this year, horse and rider have fully restored their confidence, and this time around they’re more prepared for a CCI***. Chambers is aiming for the three-star at Fair Hill (Md.) in October.

“He and I have been learning everything together, and I have made the mistakes,” Chambers said. “It’s a bit different learning on a horse who’s a bit more cautious on course. And, yes, there are a lot more cautious horses out there, but Rollie’s still a bit different to ride on course than a lot of them.”

Chambers said that while most of Dutton’s students will approach fences in similar ways, he’s often taking a different path with Rollie because the horse still needs very clear signals and a bit more guidance than most. He’ll frequently bend out a line to add a stride or give an extra kick of encouragement where others might check.

“He doesn’t always know his job, so it’s a matter of making sure I don’t give him any reason to be questioning me when he’s going in to something that’s a real question for him,” he said.

At Wits End, Chambers was thrilled to feel Rollie take the bit in his teeth and jump boldly down into the water and to practically pull him to a somewhat spooky shark’s tooth trakehner. Dressage and show jumping have always come easy for the gelding, so tacking on another clear cross-country round to their 2009 record was a relief. They finished the event on a score of 50.2 after lowering one rail in show jumping.

“That was my fault. It’s generally my fault,” Chambers said, laughing. “He really knows when it counts and puts the effort in. I was quite happy with him.”