Millbrook Horse Trials

A 40-year tradition will be re-enacted from Thursday, July 24th, through Sunday, July 27th, when the venerable Millbrook Horse Trials return to Riga Meadow at Coole Park, 1031 Bangall-Amenia Road.

The Millbrook Horse Trials is the largest remaining horse trials in Area I and the only one that runs all six levels of eventing, including Advanced. It is a prestigious competition that has carved out its place in a strangely egalitarian world.

“We attract horses and riders from all along the East Coast and some from Canada,” said Louise Meryman, one of the founders of the trials. “We get horses that are prepping for England and European championships—the trainers come and bring their students—but we could have Olympic-level team riders warming up with pony clubbers.”

Each day of the four-day event, which is expected to draw between 330 and 350 horses and riders this year, will have its own flavor. Thursday and Friday are the quieter days when visitors can watch upper-level dressage, shop from the many vendors who will set up booths and enjoy food at the concession tent and food trucks.

The pace picks up on Saturday and Sunday, when a country fair atmosphere takes hold, featuring heated competition among upper-level riders in the cross-country event Saturday and the trials’ show-jumping climax on Sunday.

Saturday is also family day with a petting zoo featuring some exotic animals and fun activities for children. The food trucks and vendors will be back and there will also be pizza and ice cream available all weekend.

Visitors can watch Saturday’s cross-country event from the comfort of the Waterview tent or tailgate with friends and family from a spot overlooking the course. Sunday guests can enjoy a lunch from the comfort of private ringside tents as they observe the upper-level show jumping.

“It’s a wonderful way to spend a weekend,” said Meryman, who, with Olivia Van Melle Kamp, founded the horse trials in 1985. “It’s beautiful countryside and we have all kinds of fun things for kids to do. And admission and parking are free.”

Meryman, who was introduced to eventing in college and quickly became one of the sports’ elite riders (short-listed for the U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team in 1996), said that eventing is a rising equestrian sport. The International Federation for Equestrian Sports has reported a 77 percent global growth rate in eventing over the last decade. In the United States, there are now more than 200 events annually, ranging from beginners to advanced levels, compared to just one advanced horse trial in the early 1990s.

While some animal rights groups object to the sport because of safety issues and horse welfare, within the sport efforts are being made to address these concerns. Among them are breakaway gates that lessen the danger of horses falling or injuring their legs.

“Eventing was historically a military sport that goes back many years,” Meryman said. “It consists of dressage, cross country and show jumping. Dressage is like figure skating and all the competitors ride the same pattern—it’s the only part that has a somewhat subjective piece of it, judging the performance on a scale of 1 to 10.

“Cross country is the endurance part,” she continued. “That is the meat of our sport and the riders have to complete the course in a timeframe. There are penalties for going too fast or too slow. There are penalties for a refusal or a fall.”

The long course over the countryside is physically demanding and mentally challenging for the horse and rider. Along the way they encounter obstacles that can include angled fences, water crossings, ditches, banks, fences over ditches and more. Obstacles are fixed and solid but some, particularly at higher levels, may incorporate pin systems so the gates collapse on contact.

In eventing, show jumping is the final phase, testing the horse and rider's technical jumping skills, including suppleness, obedience, fitness and athleticism. It involves navigating a course of 12 to 20 colored fences within a time limit. Penalties are given for knocking down rails, refusals and exceeding the allowed time.

Meryman said the goal in eventing is to achieve the lowest score possible by racking up the fewest number of penalties.

The Millbrook Horse Trials were born out of tragedy. In the early 1980s, Meryman was running a training and coaching business for clients out of a rented facility in Millbrook. “We had barely gotten going when we had a fire that destroyed the center and we lost all the property and the animals,” she said.

In the wake of the fire, a group of clients approached Meryman about buying land and building a new facility. “What was unexpected out of that was the loyalty of my clients,” she said. “We purchased the old Kinney dairy farm and, in a heartbeat, we built the facility. It was a ton of work, but everyone pitched in—it was amazing. Right away, we were looking for horses for people.”

Van Melle Kamp, a student who had lost her horse in the fire, left her job at Cartier in New York City and took on the financial management of the new business known as the Millbrook Equestrian Center. The group built a 36-stall barn with an attached indoor arena and an outdoor arena and paddocks.

In 1984, Bruce Davidson Sr designed the upper-level cross-country course on the Millbrook property and the inaugural Millbrook Horse Trials (MHT) were held the following year, organized by Van Melle Kamp and Meryman.

“At a certain point, I left,” Meryman said. “I was seriously pursuing my international career, riding for the US team, and then the owners leased the property out to different people. Paul Lindsay (a veteran announcer at horse trials in the U.S. and a former main arena commentator at the Royal Dublin Horse Show) continued to organize it for a while. Then one owner bought out several of the others and sold to Bonnie and David Clapp.”

The Clapps had been riding at the Millbrook Equestrian Center since the 1980s and they renamed the property north of Bangall-Amenia Road Coole Park Farm. There was concern that the property across road might be developed so some horse people bought the land and put restrictions on it, Meryman explained.

They donated it to the Millbrook School, whose campus and zoo are adjacent to the parcel. The land is held in an equestrian easement by Coole Park Farm and each year Coole Park Farm allows Millbrook Horse Trials to use both the northern and southern pieces of property for the event.

“My heart is completely in that property and eventing is still running over the very same land,” Meryman said.

She said the trials are an “all-weather” event. “You can’t do anything about the weather so we just hope for the best,” she said. Happily, the soils at Coole Park Farm are uniquely beneficial for the sport. “The cross-country course can handle a lot of rain,” she said. There is a lot of shale under the soil and it only gets better with rain. If it’s dry, we do more aeration.”

Aeration is a vital part of maintaining horse trial courses and riding arenas, contributing to both horse safety and performance. The primary goal of aeration is to relieve soil compaction, which can be detrimental to horses' leg health, causing stress and potentially leading to injuries.

In 2021, after the Clapps purchased the property north of Bangall-Amenia Road, Nancy Hathaway, a boarder at Millbrook Equestrian Center, approached Meryman about reincarnating the Millbrook Horse Trials which had missed a few years while the Millbrook Equestrian Center was leased out. “Nancy and I brought it back to life in 2001 and it has been run every year since,” said Meryman.

At present, Coole Park Farm allows MHT to use their arenas on the north side of the road for show jumping and three of the four dressage arenas, Meryman explained. “All the cross-country, stabling, parking, Trade Fair, food concessions, stable office and storage facilities are on the south side of Bangall-Amenia Road.”

While she said she is now “old,” and has cut back on training and coaching, the annual preparation for the horse trials absorbs whatever time she has beyond her own business. She relies on family and volunteers to help put on the event. “It’s such a great family team. I am lucky to have it,” she said.