Jay Hambly’s role as course designer for The Event at Rebecca Farm is new this year, but the horseman has been part of The Event since day-one. When the late Rebecca Broussard commissioned Captain Mark Phillips to design the property’s first cross-country tracks, Jay brought them to life as a builder along with Bert Wood.
The Western Town water complex and the Train cars that kicked off last year’s courses are among the famous fixtures Jay helped build.
His building experiences range from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to the 2021 Games in Tokyo. Along the way, Jay developed his design expertise while working with some of eventing’s most accomplished and influential designers.
He has a rider’s perspective on course design, too. An Advanced level competitor, Jay and his wife Pippa operate the 80-acre Glenarden Farms boarding and training facility in Fergus, Ontario.
Big Shoes to Fill
Jay knows he has big shoes to fill in taking over the reins from Ian Stark. Ian set the routes from 2012 until last year, when Jay served as his assistant.
“Ian is a genius,” Jay states. “Just as you wouldn’t try to copy his riding, you wouldn’t try to copy his designing. He has a natural ability for knowing what horses are capable of.”
Last summer at The Event and during a week-long visit in November, Jay sized up his main priorities in continuing the legacy of his illustrious predecessors.
“With so many courses, we looked at the tracks and tried to have them make more sense together – with some continuity throughout all the levels.” Assessing the inventory of the course materials, and where they fit into the future, was also on the November visit’s docket.
What’s Missing?
The bigger task was identifying what was missing from The Event – in terms of a challenge that best prepares upper-level pairs for international championship success.
Jay won’t say exactly what it is. He suggests that those familiar with Rebecca Farm and Olympic level course questions can figure it out. Or wait and see when they get here in July. “With a guy like Ian, the pressure is on to come up with something new and different. The hard part is doing it with equal quality to what he’s done.”
In working alongside Ian last year, Jay focused on course possibilities that exist when the event is underway. “When you’re here when nothing is happening, you have this sense of openness that does not exist when the show is happening.”
Jay is also charged with carrying on Rebecca Broussard’s commitment to giving competitors at all levels a great experience. He considers design for the lower levels to be equally, perhaps more, important than design for the highest levels.
Influencing the Sport
“What you design for the development levels has more influence on the sport,” Jay says. “That’s where you make it so the amateurs, the ponies, the parents, etc., develop and keep the sport growing.”
As is the norm when an international event changes course designers, the United States Equestrian Federation will send a representative out to Rebecca Farm to check the tracks. In this case, it will be yet another course design legend – Derek Di Grazia.
Surprises are unlikely during this upcoming visit. Jay has worked with Derek almost as much as he’s worked with Ian. Most recently, he assisted Derek at the Defender Kentucky CCI5*.
“Good design is good design,” Jay observes. “And, when you are only working with guys like that, there’s no major secrets. It’s a matter of sophistication of the lines and subtle adjustments. It’s learning to make things more tactful in the small window of play we have. It’s about knowing if moving things one inch is too much and generally getting your eye right.”
“My definition of a poor fence is one that draws a horse into a mistake,” Jay continues. “My priority is to get the horse to understand what they are looking at. The riders are secondary.”
Coming Home
Although there have been gaps in his visits since the early years of his involvement with Rebecca Farm, a palpable sense of coming home greeted him on his return. “Rebecca Farm is very different from what it was at its inception to now, but whenever I go back, I always feel like I am home again.”
“Our relationship with Rebecca Broussard was amazing,” Jay reflects of a reality that continues with Jerome and Sarah Broussard and with all who carry on the founder’s vision for The Event.
“They try to treat everybody the same, no matter what level you’re doing and I like that,” Jay explains. “As a venue, Rebecca Farm is constantly getting better and improving in amazing ways. They have a very good team there!”
