United States Eventing Association

KALISPELL, MONT. (July 22, 2010) -- A new city has sprung here. At least for the next four days. Nestled along the rolling foothills of the Salish Mountains is Rebecca Farm - a 640 acre equestrian complex that has become a veritable city - or at least a good-sized Montana town. The Event at Rebecca Farm is expecting approximately 20,000 visitors over the course of the July 22-25 competition, has over 200 volunteers, 502 horses in stalls, and a record-setting 513 entries, including a host of riders that will compete in the HSBC FEI World Cup™ that begins tomorrow.

The Event at Rebecca Farm is also part of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series, where horse and rider combinations across the country compete at designated events for cash, prizes, and leaderboard points. The year-end winner receives a slew of prizes as well as a check for $10,000. This year, the CIC3*-W is the Gold Cup division.

Standing on top of the leader board of today's national Advanced division of 17 riders in the first test of dressage, is longtime Rebecca Farm competitor and Olympian, Amy Tryon of Duvall, Washington. Dressage is designed to test obedience and the harmony between horse and rider.

Tryon and her horses, Leland and Cold Creek, hold the first and third spots scoring 31.0 and 33.7 respectively. Buck Davidson, a first-time competitor here and the #2 ranked rider in the U.S. for 2009, placed second with a score of 33.0 on Titanium. He splits his time between Reddick, Florida and Unionville, Pennsylvania.

Tryon helped the U.S. team claim the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and was a member of the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Eventing Team in Beijing. She is an avid teacher and hosts an annual Olympic Camp at Rebecca Farm with Karen and David O'Connor, two other Olympic athletes at this year's competition

"There's a lot that I would like to do better and tidy up before the World Equestrian Games in September, but overall I am very pleased with my horses," said Tryon. "Today I am most proud of my students, many of whom are leading in their divisions. They all rose to the test."

While Tryon has been a longtime Rebecca Farm competitor, this marks the first visit for Davidson, who arrived at the Glacier Park International Airport on June 19 with 18 horses and 15 riders and grooms from the east coast.

"I came to Rebecca Farm for two reasons," said Davidson. "I want to win The Event and see a grizzly bear. So I've got one thing down - I saw a grizzly bear in Glacier National Park on Tuesday."

The visit by riders from the east, including Hannah Sue Burnett, Kristen Schmolze, Phillip Dutton, Karen O'Connor, David Adamo, Sharon White, Mara Dean, Boyd Martin, and Susanna Holder has been hailed as a significant step for The Event. Now in its ninth year, this is one of only two World Cup equestrian events in North America.

"The Event is always talked about and is hands-down the best one for organization and footing," said Tryon. "For Philip, Karen and Buck to see that this is run as well as the top events in the world - and it is run this way every year - it's great for these riders to know that there is a course here that has an atmosphere like this to expose the horses to."

"One of the things that is really important about Rebecca Farm this year is that since 1962 in Pebble Beach, this is the very first time that the competitors from the East Coast have come out to an event in the West," said Roger Haller, President of National Grand Jury. "It's not just western Canada and the western U.S. - it's all of North America that is coming here now. We're hitting the cream of the crop for North American riders."

Day 1 of the HSBC FEI World Cup™ at Rebecca Farm begins tomorrow, July 23 with tests in dressage from 1 to 6 p.m. Novice-level riders will compete in cross-country from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Training-level competitors will ride cross-country from 1:30 to 6 p.m.

The sport of Eventing is an equestrian triathlon. The horse and rider compete as a partnership in all aspects of horsemanship to complete three tests of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping as a team, with their cumulative performance determining their final standing.

Schedule of Events

Friday, July 23, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dressage, all FEI Levels. National Horse Trial Levels Dressage continues. Cross-Country phase begins at 8 am. National Horse Trials Novice and Training Levels.

Saturday, July 24, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Cross-Country phase all day. All FEI Levels. National Horse Trial Levels continue.

Sunday, July 25, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Show Jumping phase, all levels. Awards ceremony at end of each division.

The major sponsor of the CIC3*W is HSBC which is headquartered in London and is one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world. The Event operates under the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) rules and the rules of the United States Equestrian Federation.

For more information, visit www.rebeccafarm.org and check out the live scoring.

Media contact: Brian Schott, (406) 261-6190, [email protected]