Special Events

Rebecca Howard Eventing Clinic

On the weekend of Dec 9, 10^th and 11^th Spirit Ridge was honored by being able to host the Rebecca Howard Clinic, this was organized by Julia Norman, and the second visit we have seen of Rebecca at Spirit Ridge.
Rebecca is a local (Salmon Arm) elite athlete, multi-Olympic rider, World Equestrian Games (WEG) competitor and in 2022 was Chef d’Equipe for the Canadian Eventing team at the FEI World Championship – and this is just a tiny summary of her competitive career.
On Friday before the private dressage lessons, Rebecca spoke with a group of Rutland Secondary Students who have been taking a program at Spirit Ridge. For most of them this is as close as they have come to a world-class competitor.  Saturday has a more show-jumping aspect, and Sunday challenges riders and horses with some challenging questions.  All levels showed up for this opportunity, from starter to intermediate talent.
The beauty of this clinician is you don’t have to be an eventer to walk away with some incredible knowledge.  Her style and knowledge assist any type of rider, especially those that like to jump over rails.  As well as she is able to recognize both the admirable traits of each animal as well as where their weakness can be and provide valuable insight as to how to continue to work on those to improve.  There was a good sampling of breeds and experience of horses at the clinic, from 12’0 Welsh Pony, draft X, thoroughbreds, and warmbloods.
Rebecca’s ability to recall what riders were working on from a year ago and recognize the horses and ponies made the riders feel that she is really dialed into the students. To be able to see where our homework from a year ago has paid off is so rewarding.
Saturday evening was an intimate dinner with Rebecca at Curious Café, due to the holiday Christmas Party season – private rooms in the town were impossible to find. But regardless, everyone enjoyed this personal visit.  All participants have had a reset of their competitive drive and are excited to use our learned tactics out in the field – literally.
We look forward to hosting Rebecca next year for another winter / early spring clinic.   

A huge thank you to Julia Norman for organizing this event, to the family and friends that made sure we had enough hot food to feed an army, the SR family members who assisted with setting and moving jumps while harrowing, to all those that braved the cold and white conditions to come out to the clinic and finally to Rebecca for supporting the dreams and aspirations of the future generation of equestrians.