Rebekka Dill is retiring.

The Norwegian Fjord and matron of the National Ability Center‘s equine herd will officially hand over her bridles during a retirement party from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, which happens to be her 33rd birthday.

“We’ll have a little party here in the barn with cupcakes and cake,” said Jan Drake, NAC’s equestrian facility and development manager. “Her pasture mates will be in the arena with her, and we’re encouraging people who have ridden her over the years to stop by and share their memories.” 

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Dill will retire after 17 years of NAC service that includes more than 6,500 sessions offered by the adaptive recreational nonprofit’s programs that are designed for individuals of all abilities, including those with physical, development and intellectual disabilities.

“We got her up here, and after a week of walking off the trailer, she was doing lessons.” Jan Drake, National Ability Center equestrian facility and development manager

The equine programs include horseback riding, equine-assisted learning, equine-assisted psychotherapy and summer camps, to name a few, said Meghan O’Toole, NAC equine manager.

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“Some horses can handle all of the things, but some can handle only certain things,” she said. “Dill was able to do them all.”

Drake brought Rebekka Dill to the National Ability Center in 2007 after purchasing her from a ranch in Cedar City.

“We were looking for a different horse when we saw Rebekka,” she said. “We asked if she was for sale, and they said, ‘Nah, she’s not for sale,’ and I said, ‘Well, everything’s for sale.'”

Dill arrived in Cedar City with a resume that included appearing in John McTiernan and 

Michael Crichton’s 1999 historic adventure, “13th Warrior,” starring Antonio Banderas, Drake said.

“That’s her on the back of the DVD sleeve,” she said.

Being on a movie set helped shape Dill’s disposition. 

“Standing around waiting for her scenes and working with different actors gave her versatility,” Drake said. “We got her up here, and after a week of walking off the trailer, she was doing lessons.”

That quick turnaround from purchase to lessons is rare, O’Toole said. 

“Most of our horses have to go through a trial process,” she said. “We have 14 trials that I run them through, and I can run them through as many times as I need to.”

Those trails expose the horses to the requirements of the different programs, O’Toole said.

“We show them the adaptive equipment,” she said. “We introduce them to simulations of different types of behaviors and balance issues that they might experience with some of our participants. And in order to pass these trials, the horses need to show us that they are tolerant to all of these things.”

Once the horses complete the trials, O’Toole does a “soft introduction.”

“This is where we’ll have a participant or two try them out,” she said. “If they are successful with that, they get fully integrated into the programming.”

Dill is integrated in all of the National Ability Center equine programs, said Sara Justusson, interim equestrian program manager.

“Rebekka was able to do the widest varieties of lessons that we offered,” she said. “She was a ‘Steady-Eddie’ for our ramp mount for people who can’t put their foot in the stirrups, step up and put their leg over the back to sit down. And she also was the primary mount for our oldest rider, who was 92 when Dill retired from Horseback Riding. Dill took great care of her, but Dill takes great care of everyone, honestly.”

Dill is currently in the equine-assisted learning and equine-assisted psychotherapy sphere, O’Toole said.

“In those camps, we have 10 to 12 participants with a variety of disabilities who basically brush Dill, paint her and lead her around,” she said. “She’ll just stand there and do everything. We have lots of pictures of her painted, and at one point they painted her entire hind quarters as the Earth. Another time they painted her up as a zebra. She is great for all of those things because she has the kindest soul.”

Some of the highlights of Dill’s NAC career included a fall horse show, Drake said.

“During this event, one of our participants would sing the ‘Star-Spangled Banner,’ and we thought why not put one of our instructors on Rebekka and have her bring in a flag,” she said. “We had never tried that before, and she adapted to that beautifully.”

Other highlights include specific experiences with NAC participants, Drake said.

“We had a guest who was 88 years old and hadn’t been on a horse for a very long time,” she said. “She wanted to get back on a horse before she got to the point where they couldn’t, and her kids had given this experience to her as a gift. So, who did we pull? Rebekka Dill, and she came in and did the lesson beautifully.”

A few years ago, another NAC participant who was paraplegic wanted to get back onto a horse, Drake said.

“We had the whole staff help him onto Rebekka Dill, and she took him on a full lap around the barn,” she said.

Justusson remembered Dill’s interaction with a first-time rider.

“He was 6, and he walked into the barn shrieking with excitement, anxiety and fear,” she said. “Dill actually took a nap while we worked with this boy to get him ready to interact with her, and even while we did some pets with her, the boy was babbling and verbalizing his thoughts and feelings.”

The boy stopped talking as soon as Justusson picked him up and put him on Dill’s back.

“We walked around and did some trotting,” she said. “I remember he had the biggest smile because he enjoyed it so much. And every lesson after that, he would just zoom right over to Dill.”

Drake will always be grateful to the Frances W. Burton Foundation, who supplied the grant that was used to purchase Dill.

“They gave us $25,000 to buy the horse and support her,” she said. “The only caveat was we had to put Dill into her name, because Frances’ favorite flower was a daffodil. That’s how she became Rebekka Dill.”

The Burton Foundation has sponsored Dill since she’s been with the NAC, and it will continue to sponsor her throughout her retirement, according to Drake

“Rebekka Dill will live out her life on the ranch,” she said. “She’s a rockstar.”