The twenty fourth in a series of blog posts from Michelle Binder

North American Western Dressage receives all kinds of questions at the website and on our FaceBook page. Last week Jen Johnson shared the following in a post and it generated a huge amount of material for consideration.

She posted:
“I received an email last night from a **** judge who had the following concerns about Western Dressage.....
“The problem is that the western horse is going to have to be much quicker in gait, quicker behind in order to EVER lighten the forehand. Western riders do not want to do this. And western riders cannot sit the green "western dressage" horse's trot and would have to "post."
Why do you want a western horse to engage? Why don't you just get a dressage saddle and do Quarter Horse dressage and breed the Quarter Horse to be an athlete? That would make more sense to me. “

To date, there are 133 posts in the thread that follows. Some are thoughtful, some are educated, some question the validity of western work, some the validity of modern dressage, some recognize the value and the differences in all the expressions of training we see. I asked the question “Why don’t you just buy a dressage saddle and ride dressage?” to the higher-ups at all the different organizations to see what they were willing to share in response to the concerns expressed by the judge above. The only response came back from Debbie Beth-Halachmy and it is beautiful. 

She says:  “Because I love my western horse. I am a western rider. It is part of who I am. I don’t want to change but I do want to be a better rider. Dressage can help but it will not change who I am or what my horse is. If I wanted a Grand  Prix horse I would make the switch. But I don’t, I just want to help my horse be better within the hooves he was born in.” 

Yes.  Beautiful thinking and sharing from her heart.  Thank you Debbie.

Like Debbie, I love my western horses. I love my dressage horses too. And my Arabians… and our rescue horses. We ride western horses western because we love the discipline. I love dressage but when I am in the western dressage tests, I love them too. Western dressage truly brings out the best in our horses. A visit to the FB pages of all the groups that promote WD will point out how much there is to sort out about the discipline. I’d like to respond to some of the concerns expressed above myself.  As a western rider, I do not want to “quicken” my horse beyond the tempo at which it can maintain relaxation, connection and balance. I do want my western horse to have enough forward energy and willingness to cover ground. Why do I want my western horse to “engage?” Engagement develops balance and that, combined with relaxation of the topline maintains the wonderful “rideability” we enjoy when sitting on the back of a well-trained western dressage horse. Posting?  Yes, of course western dressage riders may have to post, especially to help our horses develop freedom and swing in the gaits. The point in doing western dressage for me and my students and our horses is to become better riders so our horses can be our partners for a long time. My best school horse is a 27 year old Arabian who is more sound at 27 than when he came to the program with a junior rider at 15. Good dressage maintains, sustains and restores soundness and ensures that our horses backs stay soft and supple into their age. Dressage makes us better riders and makes the horses we have better. Western Dressage allows us to make that happen in our stock saddles and with respect for our western horses’ gaits and abilities. Because we love them.