Final touches being put on 'The Event'

In just a few weeks, staff and crew at Rebecca Farm have transformed the 640-acre West Valley farm into a pop-up city — ready to host more than 600 horses and 560 competitors, a slew of vendors and thousands of visitors for the 12th annual The Event.

It’s a long process to set up for the four-day competition, one that often starts just a few weeks after the previous year’s competition ends.

“We start planning as soon as the competition’s over,” course designer Ian Stark said. He along with course builder Bert Wood, lay out any changes that need to be made to the course right away, giving the staff at Rebecca Farm time to execute Stark’s vision.

Now in his second year as course designer, Stark didn’t make any drastic changes to this year’s course, only modifying a few areas to challenge the riders. More changes are likely next year as the course changes from a CIC three-star event to a CCI three-star, a step up in competition and a qualifier for events like the World Equestrian Games and the Olympics.

Though even last year, when Stark turned the course backwards and modified nearly every aspect of the grounds, he found the crew at Rebecca Farm exceptional to work with.

“I amazes me,” Stark said. “Most events work quite slowly. My first visit here, the (final hill) was two big humps. I said I wanted to cut it and level it. I said that one day and the next day, before I got on the plane, the diggers were in and this was leveled.

“I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never seen anything work so quickly. I was so impressed. You just have to think something and it happens here.”

It’s part of a large process that includes massive coordination and cooperation. Crews are at the farm a month before the competition to set up hundreds of jumps and obstacles for every level of competition. Often made of thick logs, each jump is now getting touched up with flowers, pine trees and other adornments to liven up the course.

Crews also come in weeks beforehand to set up the vendor tents and parking areas to help make it a great experience for the spectators.

“It’s a beehive around here for about six weeks before The Event,” organizer Sarah Broussard said. “At this point, all we can do is fix the little stuff. Everything is so well laid out and so well organized with the amount of people I have involved, we don’t have to deal with very many crises.”

This year’s competition features nearly 80 more riders than in the past, forcing the staff to bring in more stables and find new ways to bring water to the horses. It took a company about four weeks to erect more than 400 new stalls that will house the competitors this week.

More volunteers were called in to help serve the added crowd, including many of the competitors themselves. This year, nearly 300 volunteers will give their time to help the event run smoothly.

“We’re doing something right,” Broussard said. “It makes me smile to know that we’re doing it right. They wouldn’t come if we weren’t doing it right ... I have a great group of people that help make this happen.”

The Event starts today with dressage for most divisions and novice cross country. Competition continues through Sunday.