"The Event" at Rebecca Farm

Usually when I'm writing about Montana, I'm talking about mountains, waterfalls, hiking trails, etc.

(The entrance and fountain of Rebecca Farm -- see the mountains in the background)

But today I'm going to write about one of my favorite subjects -- horses. And specifically "The Event" at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell, MT -- an amazing combined training and 3 Day horse show.

For non-horse people, combined training is a triathlon for horses, which is comprised of 3 phases -- dressage, cross country jumping, and show jumping.

"Dressage" is a French word which translate to "training". Dressage is an Olympic sport on its own, and takes the horse through the various levels of training -- from a very young horse and amateurs to the International and Olympic competition. It's fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. The horse learns to respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and appearing effortless.

(The picture is of Karen O'Connor, a 4 time Olympian, with her horse Mandiba, who was flown on a 727 into Kalispell with 17 other horses from the East Coast. She won this year's competition)

I spend a little more time explaining this, because to most "eventers", this is the boring, required part of the competition before they can go out on the fun cross country jumping. The dressage test is a part of eventing because 1) it is the basis of the competitor's final score (and if you blow the dressage test, you have little chance of placing or wining the competition), and 2) it shows that the horse does listen to the aids given by the rider, is obedient, and can go forward and come back in the various gaits (walk, trot, canter). When I am galloping down to a very large, very solid fence, I want to know that the horse is listening to me (and not making all the decisions for himself -- usually meaning he is running away with the rider), and if I feel I need to "check" back the horse, or push him forward, he is listening and will immediately do as I ask. Otherwise, we could have a fall over the fence or a refusal (which is costly to the score).












(This is a picture of the main dressage arena -- one of the 4 very large arenas at Rebecca Farm. The grass "berms" make a perfect viewing point)

Okay.....enough of my ramblings. The second phase of the competition is the Cross Country jumping. The sport of "Eventing" has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test requiring mastery of several types of riding. In the days of the European cavalry while in battle, a rider might have to carry a message, and the horse had to cover ground in the most direct manner, which would mean jumping fences, going over banks, through water, etc. So the cross country phase, in a way, emulates the natural obstacles a cavalry officer would encounter. It proves the fitness and bravery or the horse and that the horse and rider trust each other.


Today I say "in a way" because the sport has taken on a life of it's own. Horses jump obstacles into and out of water, jump up and down on banks, but to put fun for the spectators into the sport, the obstacles may now look like a Jurassic Park dinosaur (love that he is eating someone), a giant sea serpent, a "moose" or a large duck. Please see the pictures of some of the fences at Rebecca Farm. The horse doesn't care of they are jumping a large log or a dinosaur egg, but it adds fun for spectators.















The Show Jumping phase tests the technical jumping skills of the horse and rider, including suppleness, obedience, and athleticism. In the case of eventing, it also tests the fitness and stamina of the horse and rider, as it is normally run after the cross country when the horse covered a 5 minute cross country course at gallop speeds. If a fence is knocked down within the show jumping ring, the rider will get penalty points added to their score. The riders say "you can't always win the event in the show jumping ring, but you can lose the event". And several riders found that to be true this year at Rebecca Farm.

(This is a picture of the show jumping at the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day event. I wanted to show the difference between cross country and show jumping, and I didn't attend the show jumping at Rebecca Farms)

I have been to an Olympic competition in Atlanta, and go to the "Rolex 3 Day Event" held in Lexington, KY (which is one of the 3 highest ranked and most difficult events in the world). I have never seen an event as large as this one. There were 475 horses running 10 different courses over 4 days. I've never seen an event that had 2 FULL days of cross country -- from the novice level (beginner) to the highest ranked division which was a CIC3* international competition. They also had a CIC2*, CIC1*, Advanced, CCI, Intermediate, a full 3-Day Preliminary (which includes roads & tracks, and steeplechase -- for just 8 horses), and many different divisions of Preliminary, Training, and Novice. It was a marvel of organization, and the team at Rebecca Farms does a great job.

The farm is laid out in a valley with the mountains heading up the back side. They have 3 different water complexes, about 4 extremely large arenas, which means they can run 5 dressage rings, with one set aside for the international levels of the sport. They run 2 show jumping courses at the same time as well.

For spectators, it's a great place to watch the horses. There are no real "bleachers", but they have grass covered "berms" which give you a little stadium type seating on the grass. And for cross country, there is a very large hill where most people park their chairs and their picnic baskets. Two of the water complexes are at the foot of this large hill, and you can literally see 3/4's of the cross country courses. And having binoculars helps a lot to see the action close up.

And of course, there are always lots of dogs at a horse show. It's a fun time for them as well, although if you go to any event, don't take a dog that barks at the horses. It's a distraction to horse/rider, it's irritating to other spectators, and you'll send the entire day trying to get your dog to "shut up", and you won't be successful. I thought these 2 dogs were quite cute -- the first was at the dressage arena, and did spend a lot of time sleeping. The 2nd picture is from the "hill" on cross country day, his owner in his lawn chair, but I think the dog has the best of the deal.














IN SUMMARY.....the design of my blog is a travelogue of the state of Montana (and a few from Georgia). If you are in the Northwest part of Montana, around Flathead Lake or Kalispell the 3rd weekend in July -- you should come take in this event. It's a great time, you get to spend time outdoors, and even if you are a non-horse person, I think you would enjoy spending some time at Rebecca Farms. And you won't find an event done better!!!!!