The Event at Rebecca Farm

The beautiful Flathead Valley of Montana is a perfect backdrop for the Event at Rebecca Farm. It is evident that first class planning went into this facility. I seem to remember, but can't say for sure, that owner Becky Broussard had the advice of Capt. Mark Phillips when she planned the course. I love that spectators were amply planned for, with the entire course mostly visible from a spectator's knoll in the middle of it. There are also strategically placed shade tents with lots of room. Now that Becky is passed away, her family continues operating the world class event. Admission is free, but the parking costs $5 per day, which is all donated to the family's Halt Cancer at X charity. It's the best I've ever felt about paying a parking fee!
Being a former racehorse trainer, I especially enjoy seeing all the blood and blood-influenced horses. Lately, it seems like there is a trend back toward more blood in event horses, after the pendulum had swung quite a bit toward warmbloods the past few years. The equine athletes I have seen here are beautifully conditioned and, in spite of temperatures in the 90s, I haven't seen any heat related collapses or horses in distress. This is a testament to the skillful training and management of the event riders. It must be difficult to train horses for the strenuous cross country portion of the event, where they've got to be rarin' to go, and still keep them calm and quiet enough for a good dressage test.
When I wandered over to the event's commercial tent, I was pleased to see the Cindy Burge Memorial trophy, dedicated to my friend Cindy Burge. She died a few years ago at the event when her horse tangled feet as she circled him approaching a jump. I met Cindy when I was training horses at Playfair Racecourse in Spokane years before. She came through my barn looking for event prospects. She met her eventual husband Jerry Ackerman there, when he showed up looking for polo prospects. I took a few riding lessons from Cindy each summer. I did okay jumping, because I was used to riding two point from conditioning racehorses. But dressage was something else. She laughed like crazy when my rear end automatically came up out of the saddle when she asked me to canter. It was nice to remember her under the spacious Montana summer sky.