Cal Riders Main Event at Rebecca Farm

By Matt Holloway July 16, 2012

Kristi Nunnink and R-Star topped the CIC3* competition at The Event at Rebecca Farm this weekend, the first among three California riders to top the leaderboard at the USEA competition in Kalispell, MT, July 12-15.

After leading each event in the three-day competition, Nunnink (Auburn, CA) and her 11-year-old U.S.-bred Holsteiner mare performed a near-flawless round in Sunday’s show jumping competition dropping only one rail to win the CIC*** division at The Event at Rebecca Farm.  Landing in a close second was Katherine Groesbeck and Oz the Tin Man, with only two rails down, with third going to Jolie Wentworth and GoodKnight. Total spectator count over the four days of competition came in at 19,500, with nearly 500 horses competing.

“I’m really pleased with our finish,” Nunnink said. “I felt really comfortable and the jumps didn’t seem too big to me.  But, like I said, my horse was bred for show jumping and that makes this phase much easier.”

Riding her first CIC3*, the 24-year-old Grossbeck, a UCLA student who lives in Canyon Country and rides out of Lakeview Terrace, was thrilled to place in the top three.  “I’m excited about my finish.  I rode forward, which I was happy with. But, I wasn’t happy with two rails, especially since the second one was all my fault and not my horse’s.  But, for our first time at this level (CIC***), I am very excited about a qualifying score.”

“I thought the course was plenty big,” said Wentworth, 30, of Martinez, CA, laughing and nudging Nunnink.  “I was wondering if there was any jump that wasn’t maxed out. This is one of the toughest events to show jump because it’s a smaller ring with enormous fences.  Then, I took a bit more time walking the course today than I had planned and so I had less time to warm up. We only got to jump five or six fences before we started and that wasn’t ideal or exactly how I planned on things happening, but he’s such a spectacular show jumper, we did well.  He goes in there and gives it everything he’s got,” she said of her mount, a 10-year-old Canadian Sport Horse owned by Tracy Bowman.

Nunnink, 50, has attended The Event at Rebecca Farm since its inaugural year in 2001, didn’t hesitate to praise the venue, the organizers and the competition. “I’ve watched the course, footing and jump design improve every year.  More than anything, the Broussard family has been the biggest supporters of eventing in the western United States. I always go home looking forward to next year.”

“The most amazing thing about Rebecca Farm is the volunteer crew,” Groesbeck added.  “A lot of events struggle to find help, but the community really supports Rebecca Farm and it is great to see.”  This year, more than 200 volunteers helped orchestrate parking, judging, hospitality, food, and most every facet of the event.

On a different note, Wentworth pointed out, “They treat every rider with the same respect – regardless of the rider’s level.  The Novice jumps are just as beautiful as the 3-star jumps, and that shows how positive they are in helping young riders.”

Los Angeles area rider Melanie Mullens rode her first “Classic Format” at the Rebecca Farms event. She and her Thoroughbred, McLaren, placed sixth in the “half star,” Training Three-Day A, a huge accomplishment considering her Saturday cross-country day spanned six miles of hard riding — two phases of roads and tracks and a steeplechase, in addition to the traditional x-c.

“It was so different than a horse trials,” said Mullens, who found it exhilarating and said her horse did too. “It changes the approach. Usuually on cross country day you show up at the arena to do your warm-up and you’re going in circles crowded around the same three jumps with a lot of other people. In the classic format you’re doing your warm up out in the countryside, the way it was meant to be done. McLaren loved it too. After the vet check, he was like ‘C’mon! Let’s do more!'”

In addition to the lovely amenities (lots of convenient ice machines!) several participants mentioned that they enjoyed the show’s philanthropic components.

Last year, event founder Rebecca Chaney Broussard’s family established the Rebecca Broussard International Rider Grant. Over the next five years, it will offer an annual $30,000 training and competition grant to developing riders who are successfully competing at the advanced level. The grant is bestowed Broussard, who passed away on December 24, 2010, after a battle with breast cancer, and is the fulfillment of her desire to help riders achieve the goal of representing the U.S. in international team competition.

Top CIC*** Final Results:

1)     #65 – Kristi Nunnink – R-Star – Kristi Nunnink owner.

2)     #62 – Katherine Groesbeck – Oz the Tin Man – Katherine Groesbeck owner.

3)     #66 – Jolie Wentworth – GoodKnight – Tracy Bowman owner.

4)     #71 – James Atkinson – The Alchemyst – Deborah Rosen owner.

5)     #60 – James Alliston – Tivoli – James Alliston owner.

6)     #72 – James Alliston – Parker – James Alliston owner.

7)     #63 – Rachel Jurgens – Ziggy – Rachel Jurgens owner.

Another initiative, “Halt Cancer at X,” also raises funds on behalf of  Broussard. The name comes from the dressage test—where the first movement is for the rider to halt the horse at X, a station marked in the arena.

Scottish equestrian Ian Stark was selected to design the sinuous, 4-mile cross-country course which was completely re-invented this year. The course featured more than 150 obstacles and four water complexes. In July 2011 a record 503 competitors ran the course and 20,000 spectators attended the 10th anniversary of what has become the largest equestrian triathlon in the nation.

Stark said he was excited to be part of “such a fantastic venue with so much more scope for the future.” Equestrians from all over the globe have lauded the beauty and creativity of the Rebecca Farm cross country courses, with some likening the jumps to “works of art.”  The course is made possible by large and dedicated staff, including course builders Bert Wood and Matt Langliers.

This year Stark and the team created a bevy of iconic jumps to look like massive trout, a moose, rattle snakes, a beaver, a water dragon, an old steam train-and even prehistoric creatures in the zone called Jurassic Park and the exciting Key Hole, where horses in the advanced and three-star divisions jump through a hole of brush hanging from a frame.

— Brian Schott contributed to this report.

Complete results click here www.eventingscores.com/eventsr/rebecca/ht0712/.

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