You know you are eventing in the west when, walking the course, you hear a rattle from a rattlesnake taking cover in the shade of a cross-country jump. That is exactly what happened to Ann MacDonald, winner of the training level three-day at the Moonrock Event in Worland, Wyo., June 2-4.

“I was wheeling the course around a big straw bale, and I heard the rattle. I turned and ran back to my group who were a little behind,” said MacDonald, of Salt Lake City, Utah. “They didn’t believe me at first, but when we went up to look there was a rattlesnake coiled up hissing at us.”

Moonrock marked the first time MacDonald and her 15-year-old, Thorough-bred gelding, Chances Are, tackled a full-phase three-day. MacDonald, who purchased her horse from fellow Moonrock competitor Erin Hoffman 10 years ago, enjoyed every minute of the three-day experience.

“The first jog was really fun and interesting,” said MacDonald. “We were asked to jog twice because Chance was a little slow.

We went faster the second time, and he was accepted. The officials and organizers were so helpful; overall, it was a great format to learn what a three-day is all about. The only pressure you feel is the pressure you put on yourself.”

After the initial inspection, riders suited up for dressage in the beautiful grass arena surrounded by shade trees. MacDonald and Chance earned a 32.0, putting them in fifth place in the field of 18 starters.

The entire cross-country course is situated amid Bureau of Land Management desert terrain, and one by one, competitors on Phase A disappeared into the distance as if swallowed by a mirage. The dirt road actually led to the steeplechase track, and after three laps with two fences each, competitors continued on with Phase C deeper into the desolate yet beautiful desert.

“Chance is an ex-racer, so he really loved the steeplechase,” said MacDonald, who trains with Robyn Sundeen of Lynleigh Farms in Salt Lake City. “I know there is the conflict of whether or not to keep the long format, but my horse has never felt so loose and forward as he did at the start of cross-country. The format was really good for my horse.”

A clean round moved the pair up to second place behind Pam Fisher and Out To Sea, who were sitting in first place on their score of 27.0 after dressage and cross-country.

After the final horse inspection, competitors immediately tacked up for show jumping. MacDonald and Chance completed a lovely, clear round to maintain their place in the standings. Fisher had two rails, dropping her to third behind Heather Messner and Cangaroo who had a 33.5. MacDonald and Chance were declared the official winners, finishing on their dressage score of 32.0.

“They didn’t plan to pin until after all the training divisions so I took Chance back to the stall and took off his tack, and I took off my boots and my jacket,” said MacDonald. “Two people came by to congratulate me on my win, but I didn’t really believe them until Erin came up and said, ‘You won! You have to tack up again and take your victory gallop!’ “

In addition to the blue ribbon, MacDonald walked away with some great prizes, including a Mountain Horse jacket, Nunn Finer brushing boots, a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses and a hand-painted platter by artist Terri Thurman, who along with husband John organizes the event.

Back For More
A veteran of the Moonrock full-format, Wanda Webb and her 8-year-old, Thorough-bred-Paint gelding, Country Swing, topped the field of three in the preliminary two-day.

The pair participated in the training two-day in 2004 and then the preliminary two-day in 2005.

“This year, when we came out of the steeplechase start box, he knew exactly what he was doing,” said Webb, who completed the Galway CCI* (Calif.) last fall. “My experiences here at Moonrock really helped prepare me for [Galway].”

Competition was tight between the three after dressage. Webb stood in second with a 42.2 behind her student Julianne Taylor and Winchester (41.1). Darcy Davis and Renegade followed closely in third place (42.6).

All three incurred time penalties on steeplechase, but bad luck forced Davis to retire on cross-country. Taylor added 64.2 to her dressage score, but Webb added only 29.2 time penalties to launch her to the lead. She maintained her lead through show jumping to finish with the win.

“All three phases felt really solid,” said Webb, who along with sister and fellow eventer Wendy Webb, owns Flying W Farms in Wilson, Wyo.

Up To The Challenge
In the open intermediate division, Kiira Troth, of Bozeman, Mont., and her 13-year-old English Thoroughbred, Oxley’s Impulse, maintained their early lead for the win.

Despite the error points for going off course and the uninvited flying changes in the counter canter, the pair received a remarkable score of 30.7 in dressage, taking the lead in the field of seven.

“Our dressage has been a little shaky,” said Troth, who bought Oxley from Jan Byyny Thompson five years ago and placed sixth in the CCI** at the 2003 North American Young Riders Championships. An injury sidelined the pair last year, leaving Troth competing a training horse.

“I wasn’t feeling too good that morning because it had been a while since I’ve ridden [intermediate],” said Troth who has done two preliminary events this year with Oxley. “After doing training for a while you start to look at the bigger jumps and think, ‘Wow can I do that?’ “

Evidently, she had nothing to worry about because she ran clean around the course, adding only 8 time penalties to her dressage score. With three of the six eliminated or retiring on cross-country, only Troth and Christian Eagles with her two horses remained in the division.

“He just eats up cross-country and finds his own lines,” said Troth. “In one combination I didn’t get a good distance, and he was about to take off long at [the third element]. I tried to change it, but he already had it figured out and made it to [the fourth element] perfectly.”

In show jumping the pair turned in the first clear round they have had since 2004, finishing on a score of 38.7 over Eagles and the Gingerbread Man (57.2).

A newcomer to eventing in the west took top honors in the open preliminary. Originally from Virginia but most recently from North Carolina, Melissa Nice moved herself and her horse Macarno, a 7-year-old, Irish Sport Horse gelding, to Manhattan, Mont., last December.

“I had done a couple of prelims back east but had a crash in November,” said Nice, who has two training levels events under her belt this season. “We needed some good rounds.”

Off to a good start with a 30.4, which placed her second after dressage in the field of 14, Nice looked forward to the cross-country.

“I didn’t push him too hard for the time, but he handled everything so well,” said Nice.

Adding 13.6 time penalties, Nice moved to the front of the pack. With not a rail to spare, Nice and Macarno put in one of only two clean rounds in the division, adding 1 time penalty for the win over John Kelly and Fringe Benefit.