Tuesday June 11, 3013 will be the last day USEF will hear comments via email regarding the choice of organizations that will represent Western Dressage as the official recognized affiliate organization. This is a critical time in the development of the discipline and your input is very important whether you are a western rider, a dressage enthusiast, judge, breeder, trainer, or participant in any aspect of the equine industry. NAWD President Jen Johnson shares the following food for thought:

“With the deadline fast approaching for emails to be sent to [email protected] with your recommendation for a Western Dressage recognized affiliate, I would like to take the opportunity to educate all of you about the business structure of North American Western Dressage. I know, this is not nearly as exciting as whether we should use a curb with one hand or two, but it is very important that the organization that is chosen has a foundation that will stand the test of time and will be able to maintain consistency with the exponential growth that Western Dressage is experiencing.   

“NAWD is comprised of 6 regions, each of which are run by committees. This structure ensures cohesiveness and consistency throughout the organization. It also eliminates the possibility of affiliate desertion and the resulting member frustration.

• No dual membership is required... a member of NAWD is a member of the National Organization AND the region in which they reside. 
• Regions are NOT separate entities, which eliminates the need for regions to pay for costly insurance policies, websites, affiliation fees, organizational fees, legal expenses, and other fees that are associated with running an organization.
• When premium and professional memberships number at least 300 for a region, the membership shall have the option to elect a Regional Director to sit on the board.

“Because regional committees have very little in administrative and business costs, NAWD is able to focus its revenue on programs for our members and all Western Dressage and Cowboy Dressage™ enthusiasts. Since our inception in 2010, sixty percent of our revenue has gone directly to programs in the form of clinics, schooling shows, and virtual learning opportunities.”

Please take a moment to jot an email to USEF and to let them know your thoughts, concerns and recommendations about Western Dressage and send to [email protected] As I have stated repeatedly over the last 10 months, the word ‘dressage’ has come, over time, to mean something and to contain within it properties of both noun and verb. To reduce the word to its literal translation is a disservice to 400 years of horsemanship. My email to USEF will reflect this and recommend that if a choice is indeed made sooner rather than later, that the organization that most closely, in practice, adheres to the principles of dressage training be selected to represent the discipline. At Relational Riding Academy we've been putting dressage basics on our western horses for a long time. Good Dressage training helps all horses move better and stay balanced, develops and maintains "rideability" in the gaits, sustains soundness and protects longevity. Some video has now been posted at  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5wCjvq53-kHybrTVawJDKg  to help people see more examples of what western dressage might look like.  Western Dressage offers the opportunity for people to learn and to excel in dressage with the horse they have while choosing to ride and train in stock type saddles. Some of the training goals should be relaxation, balance, softness, suppleness, activity and adjustability. RRA hopes Western Dressage also allows the possibility that horses will be judged for the quality of dressage training they have received as well as with respect for western style movement and not for excessive slowness, over-collection and false frames nor spectacular gaits, heavy contact and excessive forward motion.

I welcome your input regarding anything you have read in this blog, your rescue horse’s story as well as your western dressage story at [email protected].

For more information about Western Dressage, to read articles, explore the 2013 Rulebooks, see the tests, or start your memberships visit NAWD at http://www.northamericanwesterndressage.com, and join them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/NorthAmericanWesternDressage.  Find Cowboy Dressage online at www.cowboydressage.com, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/eitanbethhalachmy.  Locate International Performance Horse Development Association at http://www.iphda.com/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/IPHDA1.  Finally, WDAA’s website is http://www.westerndressageassociation.org/.

Michelle Binder-Zolezzi is the founder of the Relational Riding Academy. Relational Riding is a program that utilizes dressage as fundamental training for all horses performing in all disciplines. She has been an ARIA certified Instructor since 1989. She is currently working on her second book “Relational Riding: A Horsemanship Tutorial,” and has completed work on two professional video productions, “Any Horse, Any Rider: Relational Riding: A Universal Foundation” and "Understand Riding From the Ground Up."