THE EARLY YEARS
Rebecca grew up in south central BC (Salmon Arm) during a time that could be described as the hay days of BC eventing. Courses, camps and clinics were at her back door with the likes of Newell’s Riding Stables, The Interior Mini Event Series, Robin Hahn (Long House) Nick Holmes Smith (Chase Creek), and an active Pony Club & Young Riders program providing steady progression towards high performance eventing. Armed with a decade of working student and grooming experience, her Pony Club A, Level I Coaching certification, three trips to the North American Young Riders Championships, a winter working in New Zealand, several years of managing local barns and 2 horses in her possession, Rebecca and Hawley Bennett seized the moment to get themselves "South"
USA BOUND – Feb 2001
After a few months working for Canadian event rider Stuart Black, Rebecca & Sinead Halpin (fellow working student at Stuart’s Barn) joined the freelance equestrian labor pool of Middleburg,VA. The primary motivation (besides shoes for Big Wave Dave & gas in the truck) being proximity to David & Karen O’Connor’s training program, which of course continues today. Her repertoire expanded to include galloping at tracks, conditioning polo ponies, starting many “youngsters’ for eventing & hunting, sales, coaching, teaching, event organizing and her first trips around 3* & 4* competitions. While Team O’Connor has always been Rebecca's mainstay, supporting coaches have included Silva Martin, Gunnar Ostergaard, Cpt Mark Phillips, Phillip Dutton, Bobby Costello and Jim Wofford.
DUNLAVIN EVENTING 2003 thru 2006
Rebecca & Sinead Halpin operated Nancy Neubiser's training & import business Dunlavin Eventing. Based out of Middleburg they imported & marketed Irish and Argentine Event Horses, traveling to Buenos Aires twice annually to scout and select horses. Danica Moore’s Dunlavin Token (long listed with the Canadian Event Team) was one of their finds.
DERBYCROSS
DerbyCross began as an Eventing Hybrid coordinated by Dunlavin's Rebecca & Sinead . Teaming up with Dana Voorhees of Equine Entertainment Partners (EEP) and Juan Salinas-Bentley, Director at Great Meadow, DerbyCross first launched on July 29 2006. Guiding principles were: 
- International Quality: DC was to showcase world ranked equestrian athletes. Team members had all ridden for their country.
- Versatility: The course was always David O’Connor designed and combined cross country and show jumping fences.
- Team Dynamics: 4 member teams
- The X Factor: Teams were required to recruit a rider from a specified, outside discipline. The POLO factor was the hallmark of the original venue - Great Meadow
- Spectator Friendly: Teams were to adopt a signature sound track to ride to and a primary goal was to “get the crowd going”
DerbyCross was adopted by PRO (Professional Riders Association) in 2011 as a means of exposing a wider audience to eventing.
