Local couple competes at Rebecca Farm

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

A local couple, Frank and Paula Sweeney, took part in the Event at Rebecca Farm over the weekend, competing in the equestrian triathlon.

"It's more fun than you can stand," Frank said.

He placed 17th in the lower-level Open Novice B division with his horse Adagio. Paula, riding her horse Lodewijk, placed fourth overall in the Senior Open Training A division.

"It's absolutely the most fun thing I've done on a horse," she said. "To have this in our backyard is so incredible."

This is the third year Paula and Frank have participated together in the Event, with Paula having a couple extra years of experience.

"She kind of got me into it," Frank said. "She bought a horse, and she was doing mostly trail riding. Of course, you can't have just one horse, so we eventually bought another. She started participating in the Event five years ago, and I started doing it three years ago."

The three competitions of Eventing are dressage, cross-country and stadium jumping. All three are meant to replicate what a horse and rider would go through in the cavalry.

Dressage is designed to test obedience, how submissive a horse is to the bit, and how well-trained in general a horse is to compete in the other events.

Cross-country is designed to test endurance, because the horses have to run long distances at high rates of speed. It also tests courage, boldness, confidence and stamina, because the horse must obey commands from the rider.

Stadium jumping, as the name implies, is designed to test how well the horse obeys while jumping over high obstacles. The horse must turn when the rider commands it.

"It's all similar to what they would have had to do on a battlefield," Paula said.

Frank said they initially bought a "green" horse that hadn't been trained. They later bought a horse that had been trained.

"We learned from the horse," Frank said.

Frank said that although he didn't grow up with horses, he has become a fan of equestrian events.

"It's amazing. We love it," he said. "We really enjoy any kind of horse activity at this point. It's a leisure activity."

The couple travels to five or six equestrian events every year between April and October, but the Event at Rebecca Farm is by far the largest. It is one of only three World Cup qualifiers in North America.

"It's the biggest event of its kind in the western half of the United States," he said. "It's incredibly well done. The event was run for 15 years before the current owners of Rebecca Farm bought the land and turned it into what it is now. It's magnificent what they have done."