Well fall is under way and I am trying to clear a little writer’s block. The last shows of the year are winding down. We are headed for the last ones in our area the last two weekends of the month. Fall is time to evaluate progress and prepare for next season. Some of us set goals for training, some for clinics, some for next year’s show season. We look at our feeding programs, exercise programs, breeding programs and whatever else we are running. I always find myself thinking ahead in the fall to what lies on the horizon. If we need to make course adjustments, now is the time we start to plan. I want to encourage everyone who is on the Western Dressage bandwagon to continue to look ahead and to do what you can to promote the development of the discipline. 

NAWD has announced the opening of the September virtual show and information about how to enter is on the website at www.northamericanwesterndressage.com and the info flyer is up at https://www.facebook.com/groups/NorthAmericanWesternDressage/  Entries are just 10.00 for NAWD members. I really hope that the virtual show idea catches on and that qualified professionals are willing to judge and give feedback to riders who have the courage to ride and video for the purpose of improving their horsemanship. Our first NAWD Virtual Show fun day will be Thursday September 19 and we will use the rides to warm up for the WSH show the next weekend. My mantra for both will be “Just have fun” and I hope my students do too. Sometimes we focus too hard on accomplishing our goals and not enough on having fun with our horses. I think the virtual show option will make it easy to do both.  The IPHDA August  virtual show results are up at http://www.iphda.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=386848&module_id=143290 and the summer series closes with  this month’s show. Check out the results and the entries on the website.

Last week I rode with Claus. The fall clinic gives us a tune up on what we have been doing and gives us material to work on through the fall and winter that will progress our work into the spring. He was here from Germany and worked with both my horses in the stock saddles. As we worked he coached my dressage work and asked me questions about western work. What a different way to interact with my favorite mentor as we  discussed the similarities and differences between dressage and western training. Relaxation, rhythm, regularity, balance and suppleness all counted toward making points for WD with him. Admittedly though, it was the stallion’s moment of bad behavior that led to the question “What kind of saddle is that?” I almost laughed out loud! Shoulder-in, haunches-in, renvers, turns-on-the-forehand and haunches, begin half pass work, it was when the horse got his heels over his head (and I stayed on!) that made my coach start to wonder if there isn’t something to this western dressage idea. “It’s a Circle Y” I said as he was carefully examining workmanship, tooling, silver appointments, balance, and the fit. “How do these stirrups work to adjust?” LOL… “And you can tighten the girth with just this strap?”  “Yes…” 

By the end of the four days he had watched the pinto too and he had to note that “You can for sure do all the movements quite nicely in that saddle.” 

Thank you all for taking the time to read this blog and for your interest in Western Dressage. 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].

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."