"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!!!!!

I'M FEELING THE LOVE -- FINALLY!!!

I'm excited.....it's finally kicking in. I'm looking out my window at my pine trees, my little lake, my daisy wildflowers, and the beautiful Swan Mountains (they really are the prettiest in the evening when the sun is shining on the green, forested slopes). And I am really enjoying it.

Today was a great day.....sunny, 81 degrees, clear blue skies, and no humidity (my friends in Georgia will appreciate this). I rode Ludo with my friend Jane who was on her horse, Ike. I love riding in the huge fields, where your surroundings are the snow capped Mission Mountains. Folks do some things different here -- like this picture of Jane taking Ike back to the pasture. At most barns, you walk the horse -- here the fields are so large, you get in the Ranger and the horse follows behind. I've seen Jane do this with no less than 3 horses in tow.

And today was also the Polson Cherry Festival. In case you don't know, the Flathead Lake area is famous for Flathead Cherries. Up and down Hwy 35 on the east side of Flathead Lake, you will pass many, many cherry orchards. Almost any small area of grass has cherry trees growing on it. They line the drive ways of the orchards. In the spring, you can imagine how beautiful it is with the "zillion" white flowers covering the trees.

And of course, the Cherry Festival is held to celebrate the harvest. BUT.....this year's cherries are what I would call the "not ready for prime time" cherries. Montana has had a very cool and wet spring which is not typical. So the cherries are not yet ripe, although they cover the trees. Along with the orchards, there are also many, many little booths along the highway where the orchards sell cherries, and today, they are all closed. In fact, at the festival, there was only 1 booth selling any cherries at all -- cherry pie. And if they were made with Flathead Cherries, they would have been from last year. I was also surprised that I could not buy just a piece of cherry pie any where at the festival -- bummer.

And the drive along Hwy 35 and the lake was beautiful. The turquoise water shimmered with jet skis kicking up the water, speed boats pulling kids in tubes, and sail boats anchored lazily off the shore. Any of the waterside restaurants and bars were overflowing with people on their decks enjoying the sun and the water. It was the kind of day that I missed my friends in Georgia -- wishing they were here so we would be sitting on those decks with beers in our hands enjoying good company and great conversations.

This has been a real transition for me. Every time I have visited the "west", it has been on vacation, so my days are filled with sightseeing where I go to see a beautiful waterfall, enjoy hiking in Glacier or Yellowstone, "shop till I drop", etc. Here I am in this beautiful place, and I've been spending my time opening new bank accounts, getting a drivers license and registering the truck, buying new light fixtures for the house, and finally, I'm getting around to painting the inside of the house (which, by the way, may prove to be an job for the entire summer). So it has been interesting. I still have a list of "to do's" as long as my arm (and my arm is long), but at least now I'm enjoying my surroundings while I do the mundane, every day kinds of things we all do.

I do want to share another experience with all of you. I blogged about this last year, but it's worth more than one visit -- The Route of the Hiawatha Rail Trail. This is a scenic section of abandoned rail bed which the US Forest Service has turned into a world-class non-motorized trail. Bring your own bikes, or rent them from the ski resort at Exit 0 off I-90. It is 17 miles of trail (one way), down hill (drop of 1,000 feet in elevation), where you ride through 9 cavernous tunnels and over 7 high (and long) trestles. Of course, it is scenic going past waterfalls, scenic vistas -- absolutely peaceful and soul-restoring.

The first thing you encounter is a tunnel that is 1.7 miles long, which is pitch black and cold. You must have a light on your bike, or you can see nothing. And even with the light, it's not unusual to see someone ride right into the stone wall.



Here are the guys on our trip by one of the historic signs, with that great mountain vista behind.





Another great feature of the trail are the detailed signs that provide historic information about the railroad and what it was like to have been part of building the railroad. There were towns that sprang up along the railroad, accidents, fires -- these signs are a great stop to rest your sore butt, and to learn about the history.







One of the 9 trestles that cross the mountain valleys










Of course if you a fit and athletic, you can start at the bottom of the trail and ride up the 1000 foot elevation -- and we saw people doing this. No one I knew!

There is also wildlife along the trail -- we heard stories of bear and moose sightings. What we found in many places were ground squirrels who were most happy to relieve you of any lunch or snacks you wanted to get rid of. The funniest thing was that they would take the food, put it in their mouth, and keep gathering more food. Pretty soon there cheeks were puffed out to the point where you thought they would explode. Obviously these little critters don't starve to death -- at least not in the summer.





A word of advice -- bring lots of water, and some food. For you and the squirrels. This is our "lunch bunch" having a "butt break" and enjoying a sandwich.






This is our little friend, the ground squirrel. He got some of everyone's lunch.