The ultimate bond

Frank and Paula Sweeney say there is a special connection between horse and rider when competing in eventing. Trust is essential when the rider asks a horse to perform the precise movements of dressage, or flawlessly execute the obstacles in cross-country, or clear rails in show jumping.

“That’s one of the reasons it’s so much fun,” Frank said. “You have to form that bond with your horse if you’re going to ask them to go over jumps and fly through the air. You form that bond — they trust you and you trust them.”

Virtually all eventing riders take care of their own horse on a daily basis including feeding and training, which forms an even deeper connection, he adds.

“In this sport, you live with your horse,” Paula says. “In some disciplines you ride and then the horse goes off to their stall. In eventing, the horse is not your vehicle — they’re your partner.”

The Whitefish couple will both compete in The Event at Rebecca Farm July 21-24. The Event is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year with about 600 competitors, including Olympians, and 10,000 spectators are expected to attend.

Frank with his horse Charlie will compete in the Training Three Day A division. Paula will compete with her horse Worth the Wait in the Open Preliminary A and in the Senior Opening Training B with horse Quick Trick.

Frank points to a description by the United States Eventing Association that he says perfectly describes eventing: “unlike other sports, where only the human will and body are pitted against the clock, in eventing two minds and bodies have to work as one.”

“That gets to the essence of eventing,” he says.

The three competitions of eventing are dressage, cross-country and show jumping. The sport of eventing started as a way to test military horses, showcasing what it took to be a great horse on and off the battlefield.

Dressage is designed to test how well-trained in general a horse is to compete in the other events by asking riders to take their horses through a series of exact movements. It tests the communication between the rider and the horse.

Cross-country demonstrates the strength and bravery of horse and rider on a course that mimics battlefield conditions of jumping natural obstacles, riding long distances and negotiating the hazards of the countryside.

Show jumping, as the name implies, is designed to test how well the horse obeys while jumping over high obstacles. This tests the physical condition of the horse and requires clearing a series of rails set at specific heights.

For Frank, the cross-country course is the highlight of the eventing competition.

“You get to go across a golf course at a dead run and jump,” he said. “You can’t have any more fun with a horse.”

Frank began riding horses for the first time in his early 50s. Paula rode horses as a child and after they married purchased a trail horse. Soon she was buying an eventing horse and competing. For a time, Frank followed Paula to equestrian competitions helping her and enjoying watching the events.

“I had a great time doing that,” he said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to wear breeches [riding pants]. I was fine in my jeans. But she encouraged me to give it a try.”

Frank has been converted to the sport.

“For a long time I didn’t consider myself much of a horse person, but now I do,” he said. “You spend so much more time with the horses than in any other discipline.”

The couple spends five to six days per week riding and training their horses. During the summer months, they travel to about one eventing competition per month.

Frank says he enjoys training just as much as the competition, but competing is a chance to test the horse and rider in a way they wouldn’t during a practice session.

“I’d just as rather do the training, but the shows are a measure of where you are and what you have accomplished,” he said. “There’s also the adrenaline rush that you don’t have during training.”

The horses also love the competition, says Paula. She points to her horse Worth The Wait, affectionately known as Marshmallow, as an example. She says he’s very stoic most of the time, but put him at the start of the cross-country course and that changes.

“He squeals,” she said. “Horse do that when they’re excited. You don’t think of the warmblood [breed] as getting excited, but he loves to go out on cross-country.”

To get to Rebecca Farm, from the junction of U.S. Highway 93 and Highway 2, drive two miles north on Highway 93 to Reserve Loop and turn left to head west for two miles, and then travel south on W. Springcreek Rd. The entrance is three-quarters of a mile on the right.

For more information, visit www.rebeccafarm.org.