At the beginning of the 2023 season, event rider Mark Davidson hoped that this would be the year that would bring his first international victory. By mid-August, he’d notched up three of them, all on The Round Table Syndicate’s Fonbherna Lancer.
“This has definitely been the best year of my career,” says Mark, 30. “If you’d said at the beginning of the year that Fonbherna Lancer and I would achieve what we did together, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
Mark is based at Piggy March’s Northamptonshire yard, where he works for Piggy and also has a small team of his own horses to compete. Piggy and Izzy Taylor both rode Fonbherna Lancer at advanced level, and when the horse came on to the market, Piggy encouraged Mark to put a syndicate together to buy him.
“Luckily, I found some nice people to enjoy him, and I love riding him,” said Mark. “He’s such a lovely horse – a total gentleman.”
The pair won the CCI3*-S at Alnwick Ford in June, and followed that up with a second triumph in the CCI3*-S class at Burgham in July. That double meant they picked up a £7,000 bonus for winning two legs of the Northumberland Challenge – and in August Mark won the CCI3*-L at Hartpury on the Tangelo Van De Zuuthoeve 13-year-old.
They finished the season with a first CCI4*-S run at Little Downham, which resulted in fifth place.
“I had to keep saying to the syndicate who own him, ‘It doesn’t always go as well as this!’” said Mark. “I’ve been very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Piggy has been brilliant in wanting to help and support me – I’m in a very lucky position to have that support whenever I need it.”
Mark also picked up good placings on Kate Walls’ eight-year-old Bloomfield Manuscript.
“He’s a gorgeous stamp of a horse – a real oil painting – but he’s very big and Kate finds him too big to keep together in the showjumping, so asked me to have a go,” said Mark.
Next season he will also have Susie and Roger Wood’s Cooley Goodwood – another former Piggy March ride – to campaign. The pair were 14th in the eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S at Blenheim in 2022, but the OBOS Quality nine-year-old picked up a small injury in May and therefore spent some time on the sidelines this year.
“I hope to get both Fonbherna Lancer and Cooley Goodwood to a CCI4*-L next season – perhaps Bramham for Fonbherna Lancer and maybe Millstreet for Cooley Goodwood. It’s very exciting to have the two of them to take to some cool places, and both are capable of doing very well, which is a nice feeling. I have five horses to compete next year, and I am always on the look-out for others and open to ideas.”
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