As with all new things, as they develop, there are certain glitches and bugs that inevitably crop up. NAWD reviewed its 2012 tests for 2013 and has corrected errors and last week the WDAA announced that there were errors in calculating the point totals on some of their tests. An important notice to competitors who have ridden USEF Morgan Tests at 2013 shows came out in the WDAA newsletter and emails to members. They “…discovered minor errors in preparing the WDAA Western Dressage Tests for 2013 for online use and print publication.” They have corrected the errors and posted the edited tests online and are working with the USEF, Dressage Illustrated and the Western Style Dressage Association of Canada to correct the tests in print.  Kudos to them for making the corrections and the announcement and kudos to staff at “NAWD Trax” for recalculating scores submitted on WDAA tests to reflect correct marks and accurate score reporting for year-end awards. Competitors, remember to check your own score sheets and to report discrepancies and errors to the show management within 1 hour of the posting of the test scores from your class. The show season is rolling with good momentum all over the country so keep up with your score submissions.

Western Dressage clinic riders go across the diagonal "in-a-line as-a ride"

Last weekend I taught the Klamath Falls Oregon Western Dressage clinic. I was so inspired by the excitement and enthusiasm from the riders and auditors alike, especially from a community as small as Klamath Falls. Western Dressage is appealing to so many people! Riders came from up to three hours away to learn more. Every age group was represented with the youngest rider being a teen and the oldest a very young 92 years. In fact they rode together in the same group. The horses too, such a wide range of ages with the youngest a 6 year old and the oldest a 26 year old Quarter Horse, sound and such a steady, rhythmic soft mover, even at her age. She was a testament to her rider’s commitment to long term care. The riders came from all backgrounds and rode the horses they own and love: a Haflinger, 2 Paints, a Fjord, and Azteca, an Appaloosa, several Quarter Horses, an auction rescue, and several grade horses. They rode in tack that ranged from a Wintec synthetic to a silver laden show saddle. All but one rode in snaffles and the one that didn’t use the snaffle rode beautifully vaquero style with bosal and newly introduced curb, reins in one hand. 

Despite the differences in tack, backgrounds, breed, experience and expectations, everyone worked together to create a wonderful clinic experience for all. Everyone learned the basic figures, everyone learned how to relax their horses in mind and body, learned to release the reins and lengthen the neck so the back could come up, learned to stabilize their horses tempo creating a clear and consistent rhythm, then when and how much to activate the hind legs to achieve better balance and freedom, a little swing and a lot more engagement. It was refreshing to work with a group so committed to learning a new way to ride their western horses and so uplifting to see everyone working toward common goals designed to improve their horse’s way of going. This is the feeling with which I hope Western Dressage is being expressed and developed all over. Done well, it is good for horses, good for riders and ultimately, it will be good for the industry as a whole. I look forward to seeing how much growth and development occur this year as this exciting new discipline opens minds and hearts to dressage as fundamental training for our western horses.

Remember, this blog now has a video component. Look for a video from the Klamath Falls clinic later in the week. As show season begins, I encourage you riders to submit your Western Dressage story and videos of your tests, especially if you received a good mark!  I will post any organizations tests. Some of these western dressage riders are winning the high score awards at local dressage schooling shows.  We want to see what WD is looking like anywhere you are riding it. No critiques, no “helpful suggestions,” no kudos either, just riding. Of course, to see a Cowboy Dressage Challenge Test, the first vid posted, check it out on the blog channel at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5wCjvq53-kHybrTVawJDKg.

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."