Anna Collier and Julie Ann Boyer have each won international divisions at Galway Downs events in the last year, and on October 30-November 1, they’ll be facing off in the CCI** at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event.

Boyer, 50, will be riding her Thoroughbred mare Rumor Hazit, with whom she was victorious in the CIC** at the Galway Downs International Horse Trials last March. Collier, 33, won the CCI** last October at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event on Uppercrust D. But Uppercrust D suffered an injury in the spring and won’t be competing this time. Instead, Collier will be riding a less experienced horse, named Udealer, as she tries to best the 25-horse field for the second consecutive year.

“Udealer is a relatively green horse, but I have high hopes for him,” said Collier. She’s been competing the eight-year-old, Dutch Warmblood/Thoroughbred-cross gelding for less than two years.

Collier and Udealer finished fourth in the CCI* at the 2008 Galway Downs International Three-Day Event and fifth at the Rebecca Farm CCI** in Montana in July, so she believes he’s ready for this competition. “I’ve always had a good feeling about him,” she said.

Boyer has owned Rumor Hazit, a 10-year-old Thoroughbred mare, since she was three. This will be their third start in a CCI**, having finished first and second in those two previous starts. “She’s a real girl, and as long as you do things she likes to do—like gallop and jump—you do great,” said Boyer. “I’ve found a horse of a lifetime. We just gel.”

Collier and Boyer have backgrounds as different as their horses. Collier is a professional horse trainer from Tigard, OR, and Boyer is a police officer in Los Angeles, patrolling Hollywood in a squad car at night.

Collier has to drive 23 hours to compete at Galway Downs. But for Boyer, Galway Downs is one of her closest competitions, barely three hours south of her home Acton, CA.

Collier’s life revolves around training horses and riders to compete in events like Galway Downs. Boyer, with 28 years of service in the LAPD, said she had to “beg and plead to get Halloween off so I could compete, because the holiday can get kind of silly here in Hollywood.”

Still, they’re both looking forward to the challenges that will be central to the cross-country course designed for the third consecutive year by British Olympic medalist Ian Stark.

“The cross-country course at Galway Downs is always challenging, but for the most part horses are rewarded for their efforts on Ian’s courses,” said Collier. “And I know that if I can get Udealer to the fences right, he’ll definitely jump them.”

Boyer is sure she knows why Rumor Hazit likes the Galway Downs course. “The course allows you to gallop, but she also really likes to figure out the questions there. It’s a very open, very galloping course, and she just loves that,” said Boyer.

In addition to the CCI**, the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event features a classic-format CCI* with a 17-horse field and a short-format CCI* with a 29-horse field. The training-level three-day event has 49 entries, by far the most of the 11 training-level three-day events held across the country this year.

For all four of these competitions, dressage will begin on Friday morning, October 30, at the Southern California Equestrian Center, just east of Temecula. Saturday, October 31, is the exciting cross-country day, and the decisive show jumping concludes the event on Sunday, November 1.

General admission for the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event is $5 in advance, $8 at the gate. VIP tickets, which include seating in the ringside tent, lunch and a full selection of beverages, are also available for $55 per day in advance. For advance reservations, go to www.galwaydowns.com.

More than a dozen generous sponsors provide prize money, prizes and other support to the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event. Those sponsors include: American Wood Fibers, Auburn Laboratories Inc., Custom Saddlery, CWD Saddlery, Doug Hannum Equine Therapy, Equine Insurance of California, Moxie Equestrian, Mushroom-Matrix, Riding’s Publications Inc., SmartPak Equine, Sonoma Saddle Shop, and Succeed Digestive Conditioning Program.

For more information on the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event, visit www.galwaydowns.com or call (951) 303-0405. To learn more about eventing, visit the U.S. Eventing Association’s website at www.useventing.com.