Note to Self: 1. Prepare classical instructor that you will be appearing before him in western tack and riding an Appaloosa stallion, NOT your third level Westfalen import and 2. Don’t ride in a clinic without a photographer

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…. I got a book from the library called The Schooling of the Western Horse by John Richard Young.  It was published in 1945 (practically the dark ages) and outlined progressive training for western horses. Critically important to my young mind, he included two things: 1) a picture of Podhajsky in piaffe on a Lipizzan stallion which he described as the height of collection and 2) a picture of Chief Malheur, an Appaloosa stallion in his chapter on choosing a breed for riding. I put two and two together and determined that I COULD INDEED do dressage on my Appaloosa. So I did. Errrr, I tried. I was 17. Fast forward to the late 80’s (you know the song…). I saw two more things that made western dressage a reality in my mind. The first was Lynn Palm and Rugged Lark. The horse had a reining spin AND a canter pirouette, half passes at trot and canter, went bridleless, wore a stock saddle and had AQHA papers. How cool was that? The second was a bridleless dressage demonstration ride Andzrej Salacki of Poland performed before the Queen of England and which was televised on national TV. Even more cool.  Still cool when I finally went to Poland to study dressage with him in 2010.

Fast forward to today. I still ride an Appaloosa. My current  instructor comes to the US just twice a year. He is in Spokane for four days and this weekend he coached me for the first time riding western. Believe me when I tell you I was just a bit nervous and, needless to say, had not prepared him for what we would be doing. Familiar with my video “any Horse, any Rider” which he watched and endorsed several years ago, Claus knew I rode western and dressage horses so was a very good sport about coaching me and my spotted stallion. I was curious to hear his comments and interested to see what he would do with us. A spry septagenerian,  lifelong horseman, and very wise man, the first thing he said with a strong German accent was “This is the nice thing about dressage…It is good for all kinds of horses.”  Whew!  We are off to a good start. 

I was hungry for a check up from this classically trained dressage instructor who is also a retired FEI judge to make sure that my training on this horse in this Circle Y equitation saddle is following the proper path and giving me the results I think are possible. We started with the long walk, bending, circles and stretching. “So nicely stretching the neck forward” he said.  Warming up the trot, relaxed, rhythmic, forward…. active yet soft in the bridle.  “It is nice active stretching here.” Check! Warming up the lope, free and forward. Then a walk break to discuss the next phase of training I want to begin… a little lateral work. Turn on the forehand, medial stepping with each hind leg in its turn then simple leg yielding. “Yes, see how he becomes more supple.” Things seem to be going well so far! Moving on with shoulder fore, my horses withers begin to come up and the haunches come a bit more under so we add a few steps of shoulder in here and there, “Not too many steps so he tries for you to do it.” I’m happy my months of work have set my horse up to be able to do these new exercises easily and to good effect. Now of course we have a lope with better balance, engagement, even some cadence! I hear him say “Beautiful canter! Such nice balance and so nicely reaching into the bridle.” Good! No restriction in the neck, open throatlatch and hind legs right where I want them, he is straight in his body and oh so rideable!  A nice forward down transition to trot, I feel how free he is and in front of my leg, light in my hand, so “sittable”, so steady rhythm, active tempo but soft and responsive to my bending aids in the serpentine I ride.  “Looking good Michelle. He is so consistent on the bit and so light.” Thank you Claus! This IS western dressage and I am happy.

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."