Pronouced “rup-keys”
Well hey there Eventing Nation!
I am in a good mood! I don’t know if it’s because I got to spend the weekend with the lovely Jill Gill, it’s summertime, I’m finally tan, it’s Coren’s and my Facebook anniversary (but since she didn’t call, it’s probably going to end in divorce soon), I get to start riding my horse again, or the buzz and excitement of the first Roebke’s Run Horse Trial!! I’m going with all of the above, but mostly RRHT.
Everything on the Schweiss Farm is completely gorgeous, and that’s an understatement.
I’ll start with a brief (that’s a lie) recap of my trip.
I drove the 2.5 hours from the farm where I ride to central MN for the horse trials. The whole way there it was sunny, but in the distance all I could see were storms. It’s been storming heavily, so much so that Mike Schweiss and company had to on two separate occasions clean up 20 trees and 40 trees, respectively, after tornadoes and 80 mph straight line winds knocked them over, not to mention all the other preparations to host an event.
I get there and everything is soaked, soaked, soaked from the rain. The parking lot is soup, the grass is mud. The officials decided to change Saturdays events from dressage and xc to just dressage. Sunday would be show jumping followed by cross country.
It was god-awful muggy on Saturday, but the clouds made a perfect overcast until the dressage was over. Then the sun came out and dried out the footing on xc. While doing research for a different EN article (thank you to Fred and Kathy Hund for indulging me), Julie Schweiss bought us all margaritas and we chatted about the horse show. Julie is one of the nicest people I have ever met, and a great asset to eventing.
It is also important to point out that Mark, Lena, and Jenny Warner, along with Betsy Jones (from Otter Creek Farm) were out in full force all weekend. Mark was helping Mike Schweiss, Lena and Betsy were helping with anything and everything, and Jenny was helping on the xc and also riding in a BN division. It is so nice to see the Warners coming out to help a brand new event and lend their experience. It makes the eventing community here even stronger.
The competitor’s party was at 6pm Saturday. It felt a bit weird celebrating only having done dressage as everyone had the next day’s jumping phases on their mind. The competitor’s party was in their air-conditioned indoor arena with some of the best horse show food I’ve had. There were door prizes and good music and great people.
Sunday brought on the sunshine! With highs in the mid 90s and not a cloud in the sky, it was hot. Thank goodness for a great Midwestern breeze, the Horse Mister (latest in horse cooling technology), 11 wash racks (with great pressure!), and ice water provided by the Schweiss family.
The word back in the barns was that the courses were tough. Everything looked beefy. The optimum time for preliminary was 6:21. We haven’t had a course like this in Midwest that I can recall. You can count on Roebke’s Run being a giant course according to Brook Schweiss. She wanted a true test of the levels and that’s what she provided.
They ended up taking #9 off of the training course due to the footing. Consequently, when the preliminary riders went out, the training #9 was still flagged and prelim’s #9 had been flagged not to jump. So that was a nice surprise for the first few prelim riders. The startbox got word of the mistake and let the subsequent riders know.
Jill Gill won the preliminary on her lovely mare, Glorious Joy. Jill was the first in the dressage arena, and first on the xc course. That’s got to be a cool thing to say that you were the first rider to start the event and first to ride the xc course. Also, a shout out to Isabel Holden for finishing in second on her dressage score at her first prelim.
Ashley Keller, a lover of all things EN, had a great weekend ending 3rd in the training division. Brad Hall won the training division after stating that the course was too tough.
Sherri Westphal won a novice division on her big gray gelding. Megan Mcfarlund also won a novice division. The rider in front of her on xc would not stop to allow Megan to pass. Megan was calling to the rider to stop, and after they both finished, the rider said, “I heard you, but I didn’t feel like stopping.” This rider in question is a professional. There was also an incident like this at Fox River Valley where the rider was given dangerous riding penalties. Learn your rules and be respectful. It is far too dangerous to have horses chasing each other around the cross country course. If you’re having trouble, pull over, and allow the person behind you to pass. I know all about having trouble on xc. At Poplar one January, I accrued 40.40 time penalties and allowed the rider following me to pass. I was already having a bad go, but wasn’t about to interfere with someone else’s round. I’m off the soapbox now.
Janelle Johnson and Laura Holen each won their BN divisions. The ribbons were gorgeous, and there were prizes taken home as well.
Sue Goepfert was riding The Vicar, Mary Yeager’s (yes, Annie’s Mom) horse in the BN. She forgot a trot circle in her dressage test, but it was still good enough for second place. I ride Vicar Tuesdays and Thursdays to help Sue get him back in shape, and Sue and I call him a variety of nicknames like “Total Body Gym” and “Bowflex”. It’s not easy getting all that Irish together.
There was so much going on, and everyone was having a great time, I know I didn’t fit in all in here. It was truly fun to be part of their inaugural event. Thank you to the Schweiss family and all the volunteers, we enjoyed ourselves!
