The Event steps in, helps young riders

In a typical year, the three disciplines that make up the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships — pure dressage, pure show jumping and eventing — are held in the same location, resulting in a gathering of the best young talent equestrian has to offer.

Due to logistical issues, 2017 was not a typical year.

While Saugerties, New York, was chosen as the destination for pure dressage and pure show jumping competitors, eventing was left searching for a venue.

That’s when Rebecca Farm stepped in.

The organizers of The Event at Rebecca Farm were quick to jump at the opportunity to host the eventing portion of the NAJYRC alongside the annual contest, bringing the best of the best among young equestrians to the Flathead Valley for the first time.

“We needed a home, and they gave us a lovely one,” said Shealagh Costello, the director of eventing national programs for the United States Equestrian Federation.

Competitors and event organizers alike agree.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Ariana Freeman, a native of Northern Virginia competing in her first NAJYRC.

“This is such a beautiful facility. Definitely different from where we live. It’s really nice just to be in this atmosphere and be in the Championship, especially with my team.”

The team aspect of the Championships is one of the primary features that separates them from other competitions throughout the year.

Instead of competing on an individual basis, the riders are grouped into teams based on the region from which they hail.

For example, Freeman’s Team 2 is comprised of riders from East Coast states such as Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina.

“The team is probably one of the best parts about coming here,” Freeman said.

“We have such a great team from Area 2, and it’s just really rewarding to have everyone doing so well.”

The United States is divided into 10 teams, and seven are represented this week at Rebecca Farm. There is also a team representing Canada whose athletes come from three different provinces.

Four riders from each team compete in each of the equestrian triathlon’s three disciplines — dressage, cross country and show jumping — and the worst score in each is dropped from the team score.

As is the case with individual competitions, scores are tallied after all three events, and the lowest combined team score wins.

“This is the first taste they get of potentially going to an Olympic Games or a World Championship or representing their own country,” said Max Corcoran, a renowned groom who this week is serving as liaison between the NAJYRC and Rebecca Farm.

“They’re representing their area, which is very cool, but the competition is run almost identically to what you would have it run at a major championship.”

Some, especially those on the East Coast, were skeptical at first about having the eventing discipline of the NAJYRC in a decentralized location such as Kalispell. After all, travel time for some of the horses competing this week exceeded 50 hours.

Corcoran said the worries were no more after the riders and their families saw the “world-class” facility in person.

“People are pretty thrilled to be here,” Corcoran said.

“A lot of these kids have never been here. Their parents have never been here. People are completely in awe.

“Families love it, too, and I think it’s a great place because a lot of these families, they go to these events and they’re stuck at the horse show all day. Now they’re here, and they’re like, ‘Well, I can go to Glacier. I can go whitewater rafting. I can go fishing. I can go hiking.’”

The local attractions aren’t the only thing the visitors have enjoyed about the Flathead Valley.

“Back where we’re from, it is very humid and hot, 24/7,” Freeman said.

“Here, it is actually nice, expect for it does get a little cold at night. I wasn’t expecting it. We like it.”

“A lot of people were so worried about not being able to run a fan on their horse,” Corcoran said.

“I kept saying, ‘Look, trust me when I tell you this, you’re going to be fine. You can bring a generator, but trust me when I tell you you’re going to be fine.’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, you were right.’”

Despite the uncertainty at the beginning of the process, the NAJYRC found the perfect home, at least for one year.

There’s no guarantee the Championships will return to Kalispell and coincide with The Event once more in 2018 and beyond, but Rebecca Farm has checked all the boxes required to host a championship event.

The required infrastructure — most of it, anyway — is already in place at Rebecca Farm thanks to The Event, which is in its 16th year. Freeman described the cross-country course as “really fun to tackle”, while Costello called it “wonderful.” Volunteers are plentiful.

2017 may not have been a typical year for the NAJYRC, but there are smiles all around with how things turned out.

“I could not be happier with having ended up here,” Freeman said.

“It’s just an unreal experience.”