Bonner Carpenter and Darkside Best Rebecca Farm CCI* Dressage

Bonner Carpenter and Get Busy. Photo by the official event photographer Shannon Brinkman Photography, courtesy of The Event at Rebecca Farm. Bonner Carpenter and Get Busy. Photo by the official event photographer Shannon Brinkman Photography, courtesy of The Event at Rebecca Farm.

Heather Morris and Get Rowdy grabbed hold of the Rebecca Farm CCI* lead early on in the nearly 50 horse strong division, and the only one who could wrestle it away from them was Heather’s own student of 14 years Bonner Carpenter.

Bonner and Darkside, an 8-year-old Dutch gelding owned by Cele Carpenter, scored a 43.1 to squeak past Heather’s score by just 0.2 of a point.

This is the first CCI* outing for both Darkside and Get Rowdy, a 6-year-old Dutch gelding owned by Team Express Group, with their first CIC*s being at Copper Meadows last month. At that event Get Rowdy finished fourth and Darkside finished seventh, so perhaps Bonner’s horse is out for a bit of revenge here at Rebecca.

Heather Morris on Get Rowdy are in second in the CCI1* dressage at The 2016 Event at Rebecca Farm. Photo by Alleyn Evan for the official event photographer Shannon Brinkman Photography, courtesy of the Event at Rebecca Farm.

Heather Morris on Get Rowdy sit second in the CCI*. Photo by Alleyn Evan for the official event photographer Shannon Brinkman Photography, courtesy of The Event at Rebecca Farm.

Both riders are based at Next Level Eventing, the training operation Heather runs alongside Tamie Smith in Temecula, California — a solid 24 hours away. The Next Level crew are repeat Rebecca offenders; Heather won the CCI2* here last year with Charlie Tango and Tamie won the CIC3* with Mai Baum, so Montana apparently suits the both of them quite well!

It will be fun to see how this weekend shakes out — a little friendly rivalry is never a bad thing.

“I’ve been riding with Heather since I started in eventing 14 years ago,” Bonner explains. “It’s a great partnership because everyone helps each other.”

Morris commented, “It’s awesome. As a coach, you always hope to see your students do well. Riding together helps put a little pressure on too and that’s a good thing.”

Both riders kindly stopped by the press tent at the end of the day to recap their rides:

Jessica Heidemann of Bellingham, Washington and her own Encore, an 8-year-old Oldenburg gelding, round out the top three in the CCI* division on a score of 44.7.

Chill vibes and a sense of community are in the air at Rebecca — between the panoramic blue skies and first-class hospitality it’s hard not to have a smile on your face around here!

Margaret Crow gives her cheer section a wave and a wink after her test on Remington III.

Margaret Crow of Poway, California, gives her cheer section a wave and a wink after her CCI* test on Remington III. 

Go Margaret! Photo by Leslie Wylie.

Go Margaret! Photo by Leslie Wylie.

CCI* top 10 after dressage:

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In addition to the CCI* the USEA Classic Series Novice and Training Three-Day divisions completed dressage and the Novice horse trials divisions ran cross country. Check out this highlight video from our friends at Ride On Video:

Friday’s action kicks off at 8 a.m. MT in the dressage ring with the CCI2* and the CIC3*/CCI3* running from 11:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. MT. Cross country continues with both the Novice and Training Three Day divisions from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. MT.

Much more coverage to come — keep it locked here!

Go Eventing.

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