Millbrook Horse Trials: The Olympians are coming!

MILLBROOK — The largest horse trials in the Tri-state area takes place this weekend at Coole Park Farm on Bangall-Amenia Road in Millbrook. Starting Thursday, Aug. 5, and running through Sunday, Aug. 8, the event encompasses all six levels, from beginner novice through advanced, with more than 450 horse-and-rider teams entered in the competition.

The Millbrook Horse Trials, which is marking its 10th anniversary at Coole Parke Farm this year, draws competitors from up and down the East Coast and Canada.

But the appeal for many of the spectators will be the opportunity to see an unusually large number of professional riders, including several Olympians, because there isn’t the usual overlap with other international events. Karen O’Connor, Leslie Law, Philip Dutton and Buck Davidson are just a few of the high-profile names registered for the event.

In the realm of horse sports, what makes eventing so interesting is that it combines three distinctly different disciplines: dressage, cross-country jumping and show jumping (also referred to as stadium jumping), performed by the same horse-and-rider team. And each of the six levels gets progressively more difficult.

According to the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) rules book, by the time a competitor is at the advanced level, their challenge will include jumping obstacles with heights of 4 feet 7 inches, spreads of 8 feet 10 inches and drops (jumping off a cliff, basically) of 6 feet 7 inches.

The cross-country course will have somewhere between 32 and 40 jumps on it. The names of the jumps can be scary for the uninitiated; coops, coffins, banks, drops, trakeners, oxers, ditches.Whatever the name, all the jumps have one thing in common: They’re big. And they’re interesting to watch. The multi-jump water complex draws the biggest crowds.   

A beginner novice rider, who may just be getting his or her boots wet in this sport, will have to negotiate jumps that are 2 foot 7 inches at their highest. These riders will go around a cross-country course with between 14 and 18 jumps. Seems more manageable by the numbers but the nerves of a first-time competitor, horse or rider, may well make those jumps seem more formidable.

The competition schedule for the Millbrook Horse Trials has dressage dominating the schedule on Thursday.

Friday will have additional dressage as well as cross-country for the lower levels. Saturday features the upper-level cross-country, while the lower levels take on the stadium course.

Sunday will culminate with show jumping for the upper levels.

This will be followed, for the first time, by an unusual competition made up of relays and games between teams of professional riders and young, local Pony Clubbers.

Dressage aficionados should come out on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 4, and Thursday morning Aug. 5, when Oded Shimoni, an internationally recognized dressage trainer, will offer training sessions for riders short-listed to represent the United States in the World Equestrian Games at the end of September.

This is a prime opportunity for spectators to sit in on a master class.

Admission to the event for spectators is free and there will be food vendors on the show grounds. In addition, there is a trade fair with vendors selling just about anything a horse or rider would need.

For directions or more information, go to millbrookhorsetrials.com.

Tara Kelly is a volunteer for the Millbrook Horse Trials and a Lakeville Journal copy editor.