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Jul 25, 2019
Ian Stark's Four-Star Secrets
Each summer Ian Stark designs a big, bold, brush-filled course for the riders to tackle at The Event at Rebecca Farm and this year is no different. In his eighth year of designing in Kalispell, Montana, Stark has set out 25 numbered questions for the CCI4*-L over approximately 6,000 meters and 20 numbered questions for the CCI4*-S over approximately 3,900 meters.
Rebecca Farm has always used a pivot watering system, but the last few years the event has used the watering pod system from Richland Park and Stark said that has made all the difference. “For me this is the best ever footing we have had,” said Stark. “The pivot does a lot of the watering, but there are a lot of outreaching areas it doesn’t get to and these pods can get everywhere. It makes a tremendous difference.”
“Jerome [Broussard] has taken it upon himself to do a schedule of watering and it is honestly the best footing. Normally we stop the pivot on the Tuesday and this year I asked him if we could keep going right up to cross-country day,” concluded Stark.
Fence 1 (The Train), fence 2 (The Brush Oxer), and fence 3 (The Mountain Table) get things rolling for the riders. “The first three fences are just galloping fences to get the horses up into the air,” said Stark. “I like to make the early fences straightforward, but big because I like to get the horses jumping. Some places they start them lower and build up, but for fresh horses at the beginning if they are too small they aren’t going to respect them.”
The first combination comes at fence four – a Hanging Log in the water to a Shark’s Tooth. “This is your early morning wake up call,” said Stark.
Watch below at Stark walks us through several of the influential combinations on course:
4ab - Hanging Log to Shark's Tooth
7ab - Brush Corners
13/14 - Hanging log to Corner
16abc - Normandy Bank
17ab - Ditch Brushes
22abcd - Gator, Tabasco Bottle, Swamp Log to Water Drop
24 - The Trotter
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Jul 26, 2021
Young Event Horse
The Race to Le Lion: Three YEH Horses Fully Qualified, Seven YEH Horses Partially Qualified
The race to Le Lion continues with only three months to go! The 2021 FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships for Young Horses at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France, will be held on October 21-24. The 6-year-old Championship is a CCIYH2*-L, and the 7-year-old Championship is a CCIYH3*-L.
Jul 25, 2021
Competitions
James Alliston Locks in Double Wins at Rebecca Farm
James Alliston was the big winner today at The Event at Rebecca Farm, with three top two finishes in the FEI divisions. Alliston won first in the CCI4*-Long, as well as first place and second place in the CCI3*-Long.
Jul 25, 2021
Profile
Tokyo Talk with the Grooms of Team USA
We know a lot about the athletes representing the USA on our Tokyo team, but what about those essential people, the grooms? Catherine Austen finds out more about Courtney Carson, Emma Ford, Bridget London, and Steph Simpson in this edition of Tokyo Talk.
Jul 24, 2021
Jennifer Brannigan Takes the Lead in the CCI4*-L
Ian Stark’s cross-country course resulted in changes among the FEI divisions on Saturday
Cross-country day for the FEI competitors at Rebecca Farm resulted in big changes in the top three standings in the 4* divisions. The current top three riders in the CCI4*-Long all put in double-clear rounds to maintain their dressage scores from the first day of competition.
