By Helen Townes
Portraits by Kacy Brown
Eventer Mary Bess Davis doesn’t come off as someone who craves the spotlight, but her talent is undeniable. Her unassuming, no-nonsense manner was instilled at an early age as she grew up in Covington, Georgia, in a family devoted to horses. Her father, Dr. Michael Sigman, was a mixed-practice veterinarian who treated large and small animals in the area and her mother, Cathy, was an avid rider, so they always had horses on their 60-acre farm.
“I don’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t riding—there are pictures of me as a baby on a horse with my dad,” Mary Bess said. “My brother Michael and I started doing Pony Club when I was only 4 years old, and he was 8. I started foxhunting on my Shetland pony when I was about 6. The weird thing is that I never had the intention to be an upper-level eventer or do it professionally. It was just always a lot of fun!”
Over the years, however, Mary Bess has excelled in spectacular fashion. Most recently she and her gelding Imperio Magic, aka McColl, were named to the USA Eventing Nation’s Cup team to compete at Boekelo in the Netherlands in October 2024. It was the first appearance for them at a major international competition. Leading up to the event, Mary Bess remembers feeling “terrified that something would happen.” After all, it had barely been 18 months since she’d left a show in an ambulance with a broken neck. She didn’t get excited about it until after she jogged McColl in Boekelo.
After returning from the competition, Mary Bess appeared on The Jon and Rick Show, a popular eventing podcast, and shared that “once McColl stepped off that plane, he was all business. He just grew up a ton and didn’t put a foot out of place the whole time we were there.”
Growing Up Horse-Girl Style
Growing up with horses was more fun than glamorous, Mary Bess remembers. “This was back in the old days, when you just went out in your backyard, took off on your horse and your parents let you free roam and do all the fun things,” she laughed. She had talent, however. When older brother Michael transitioned from Pony Club to eventing, Mary Bess chose vaulting. Until she was 19, she rode and traveled with a vaulting demonstration team, the US Friendship Team, made up of the top 50 vaulters in the nation. The team performed guest demonstrations at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and Spruce Meadows in Alberta, Canada, among other events.
“It was a wonderful experience, and I got to see some really incredible horse competitions,” Mary Bess shared. Mary Bess enrolled in college at the University of Georgia, studying biology, while teaching riding and helping run horse farms near Athens, Georgia, while finishing her degree. She then returned to her parents’ farm to start her own business, Triple Creek Eventing. In the meantime, her father was busy with his own equestrian pursuits.
“My dad had helped at the Atlanta Olympics with the FEI veterinarians for the eventers. Then he decided he wanted to become an FEI veterinarian and got his certification. He even started eventing at the lower levels himself,” Mary Bess recalled. “He was 50! And then he said, ‘Hey, you should try it too,’ and he bought me a horse that I ended up getting to Training level. Next, we purchased an old Thoroughbred polo horse named Mojo Rising, who went by Moe. We went all the way from Novice to Advanced together, when I was about 22, and then I guess I was all in! It just took off.”
Mary Bess was hooked. Over the next several years, she brought three more horses up to the Advanced level and earned a spot—one of just 20 riders—on the 2008 U.S. Eventing Developing Rider List. But she also faced setbacks—first a broken back from a fall, then soundness issues with the horses once she recovered.
Raising a Family and Finding Her Unicorn
During this hiatus in her equestrian career, Mary Bess met her husband, Mark Davis, who works in IT sales. After they married, Mary Bess took a step back from competitive riding for several years to focus on family. The couple welcomed two sons, Austin and Grayson, who are now 11 and 8 years old. The Davis family lives on three of the 60 acres owned by Mary Bess’ parents, making it easy to continue teaching and coaching her Triple Creek clients while parenting her young children.
But it wasn’t long before she was itching to ride competitively again. Mary Bess asked her former coach, Canadian eventer Mike Winter, to help her find an upper-level eventing horse in England, where he lived and coached. “Mike knew me very well, and knew my type,” she said. She and Mark flew over to look at some prospects, without any luck, but then got a call from Mike after returning home. “I think I found your horse,” he said. Along came Imperio Magic, an exceptional young horse that Mike was convinced she would love. Mary Bess took a chance and bought him without ever sitting on him.
“He’s a very special little horse, and I got incredibly lucky,” Mary Bess said. At the time, McColl was a 6-year-old, 15.3-hand gelding “with a European passport—a little of everything—Holsteiner, Anglo-Arab, your typical warmblood type,” Mary Bess laughed. They gave him his barn name McColl in honor of the little English village convenience store, McColl’s, where her husband, Mark, bought wine and beer during their horse-hunting visit.
“I’ve ridden a lot of great horses, but this one understands it all. He’s caught on to everything so easily,” Mary Bess shared. They competed in a three-star-long at Fair Hill International, in Elkton, Maryland, when McColl was just 7 years old, and within a couple of years he had moved up to Advanced and the pair began to rack up impressive performances. They finished in the top five at both the Stable View Oktoberfest CCI4*-S in Aiken, South Carolina, and TerraNova CCI4*-S in Myakka City, Florida, during 2022, and then again at both those competitions in 2023.
Of course, being a full-time professional equestrian and running a training barn while raising two children isn’t always easy, but Mary Bess has a wonderful team behind her. “My parents have always been very supportive,” she said. Although Mary Bess’ father passed away in 2024, Cathy is involved with Triple Creek Eventing, handling the boarding aspect for the 10 clients in training and pitching in with Austin and Grayson.
Mary Bess’ mother-in-law, Gail Davis, is also very involved with the family’s busy schedule. “I’m so incredibly blessed, because when I go to these shows, my mother-in-law comes over immediately and just steps in for us,” she said. “I couldn’t do it without her!”
Triple Creek’s working students Courtney Lucas and Natalie Barnes have also been invaluable, as has its barn manager, Felipe Patino, who’s been working for Mary Bess for 12 years. “They are crucial to the workings of Triple Creek,” she said.
An Unexpected Setback
Just when Mary Bess and McColl seemed to be hitting their stride and rising the ranks, calamity struck. In March 2023 the pair had just placed 10th in the CCI4*-S at Carolina International in Raeford, North Carolina, alongside several five-star and Advanced level winners. Later that same weekend, when Mary Bess was riding another mount, a young two-star horse, she had a bad fall on the cross-country course. Mary Bess left the show in an ambulance, having broken her neck in two places.
“My first thought after that happened was, I’m going to quit. I’ve got these two beautiful kids and I’m just going to stay at home and be a mom,” she said. It was her husband, Mark, who persuaded her not to give up. “My husband is so supportive, and he said, ‘You have to go back out there one more time or you’ll always regret it.’”
Mary Bess sent McColl down to Ocala where her coach, Karen O’Connor, worked with him on the flat to keep him in shape while she recovered. Incredibly, Mary Bess rehabbed amazingly well and only missed half a season of competition. In April 2024, she fulfilled an item on her personal bucket list when the pair competed and placed a remarkable 12th at the Kentucky Three-Day Event in the CCI4*-S. “The #littlelegend was phenomenal all week,” she shared on her Facebook page. “He relaxed into the atmosphere and gave it his all from start to finish. Being able to finally show at the incredible Kentucky Three Day Event four-star was an unbelievable experience and I owe it all to this horse who has a true heart of gold.”
And then, in September 2024, Mary Bess and McColl were named to the USA Eventing Nations Cup team, one of the most prestigious honors an American equestrian can achieve. In Boekelo, the Netherlands, Mary Bess and McColl represented the USA in their first appearance across the pond, placing 19th overall and helping the team win the silver medal. Her teammates were other top eventing pairs Phillip Dutton on Possante, Cassie Sanger on Redfield Fyre and Hallie Coon on Cute Girl.
In her trademark low-key way, Mary Bess is hopeful about what’s ahead for her and this special horse, who is now 11. “I don’t want to jinx myself, but I think McColl is coming along really well, and if everything goes as planned this season, the goal is to do the five-star at Land Rover, and then hopefully Maryland in the five-star in the fall!” she said. “I’m just trying to be in the moment and not think too far ahead.”
For more information, follow Mary Bess Davis on Instagram @triplecreekeventing and on Facebook at Triple Creek Eventing
Photos by Kacy Brown, kacybrownphotography.com
