Bill and Charlotte Combs put a small ad in the local newspaper looking for anyone interested in English riding to meet at the local library with the idea of forming a club.  The response was amazing! Bill had shown hunters and jumpers on the east coast in younger years, and had a couple of good school horses, the most notable being Hawk, a huge black Appaloosa who had lost an eye in an accident. Bill and Hawk were excellent teachers,  and members met at his place on the weekends with their horses, to learn, learn, learn how to get over those huge jumps in a correct manner.  We had a ball!  

A few members competed in Casper at the Cowboy State Games in the Combined Training event.  We found out that Sheridan also had a great event, the Big Horn Horse Trials, and we were hooked!  When officials of the Cowboy State Games asked us if we would host an Event in Gillette, we said SURE, if they would help us build a cross-country course!  And it happened, with the professional help of Sally O'Connor, Robin Hahn, Paul Popiel and, most recently, Steve Buckman.  When the Cowboy State Games moved back to Casper, we continued to hold our horse trials and were recognized by the AHSA (now USEF) and USCTA (now USEA).  Those names changed with the times and so did ours, becoming The Powder Basin Equestrian Association in recent years. We think Gillette is a great place to ride and we believe in helping and supporting anyone who is interested in the classical form of riding and training horses. Most importantly, we want to HAVE FUN with other people who share the same weird and undeniable fascination with our equine friends.