‘Ride It If You Can’

MILLBROOK — There are horse trials and then there is Fitch’s Corner Horse Trials. Their slogan is Ride It If You Can. Competitors know that the courses are challenging — and spectators know that makes for exciting sport. This year, the United States Eventing Association has chosen Fitch’s Corner Horse Trials for the USEA Area 1 Regional Championships, sending the competition up another notch or two. USEA Area 1 encompasses the New York and New England region. The horse trials unfold at the farm of Fernanda Kellogg and Kirk Henckels in Millbrook this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 22 to 24.Horse trials are the triathalon of horse sport. They combine three different disciplines: dressage, stadium jumping and cross-country jumping. The same horse-and-rider team competes in all three arenas and the winner is the one with the lowest combined score. The Fitch’s Corner Horse Trials has four levels of competition: beginner novice, novice, training and preliminary. (Beyond those are intermediate and advanced.)In addition to the draw of high-level competition, spectators flock in droves to Fitch’s Corner for an assortment of other amusements: shopping, socializing and the pure pleasure of wandering around the bucolic countryside. There is Fitch’s Market, a tented area of shops offering items from the frivolous to the practical. There is a collector car parade on Sunday and also the Spectators Luncheon. It often seems that many of the women purchased their Kentucky Derby-style hats at The Madder Hatters booth in the shopping tent. Horses and dogs seem to go together, and spectators are welcome to bring their pets, but they must be kept on leashes and under control at all times. For more information or to purchase tickets for the luncheon go to www.fitchscorner.com. The ticket price is for the benefit of the Millbrook Rescue Squad.