Barbara Burke drove 16 hours and spent hundreds of dollars to practice event riding in the rain last week. She was ecstatic to be there.
“Bad weather is nothing as long as we can get out there and learn from these guys,” Burke, a 53-year-old veterinarian from Gold Beach, Ore., said. “It’s an amazing opportunity to have them even be this close.”
Burke was one of 25 campers participating in “An Olympic Experience Event Camp” last week at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell. Olympic Equestrian Eventing Team medalists David and Karen O’Connor and Amy Tryon led the six-day camp.
For the past five years, the O’Connors have held instructional camps in states throughout the East Coast. The Kalispell camp, however, marked the first time they had ventured west.
“Amy helped us with a camp last year and said we needed to get this format out here,” David O’Connor said. “(Rebecca Farm) was an obvious choice as one of the premier facilities in the west.”
Burke wasn’t the only long-distance traveler. Campers, ranging in age from 8 to 60, came from as far away as California drawn by the impressive resumes of the camp’s coaches.
Karen O’Connor was once ranked the No. 1 female rider in the world and has held the U.S. female equestrian athlete of the year title 10 times. She won the team silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the team bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was a member of the 2008 Olympic team in Beijing.
Her husband David O’Connor brought home the first equestrian eventing gold medal for the U.S. in more than 25 years, clinching the individual championships at the Sydney games with the best score in Olympic history. Alongside Karen, he was also part of the bronze medal team in Sydney and the silver award in Atlanta. He coaches the Canadian Olympic team now and is the president of the U.S. Equestrian Federation.
Tryon, formerly a professional firefighter, helped the U.S. team claim the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and was a member of the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Eventing Team in Beijing.
Campers Brynn Hamel, 18, and Mackenzie Wolfe, 16, both of Washington, said it’s rare to have a chance to learn from such accomplished riders. The opportunity to ride at Rebecca Farm, a nationally acclaimed location, was also a draw.
“It’s the best facility in the area – you don’t just get to come here and ride,” Wolfe said.
Campers spent the week learning horsemanship, stable management skills, show grooming techniques, dressage and the fundamentals of show jumping and cross country events. In addition to the 25 participants, other interested people were allowed to participate in all non-riding activities during the camp for a reduced price.
From explaining the complicated details of a perfect jump to simple gems like “there’s no whining in eventing,” David O’Connor said the coaches had one common goal: developing safe, successful riders.
“It starts with horse communication,” he said, adding that the group tries to break things down as simple as possible.
For Burke, the camp was an opportunity to break in a younger horse just gaining his confidence. And a chance to feed her addiction to eventing.
“This is way more fun than going in circles – it’s the adrenaline junkie thing,” Burke said.