It's official. NAWD has applied for recognized affiliate status with the USEF. Supporters have until June 11th to let the USEF know that North American Western Dressage is the right choice of organizations to build the future of Western Dressage.
NAWD President Jen Johnson states:
“Western Dressage is coming. Over the past 3 years we have watched it grow at warp speed from the hint of an idea to not just one but three major organizations with very different ideals. Throughout, NAWD has remained true to our mission: “to provide resources for our members to learn how Classical Dressage Principles can help the Western Horse become a better partner and improve performance for all disciplines.”
“Western Dressage is coming. But in what form? Will it be dressage in a western saddle? Western pleasure horses doing patterns? We hope that it is neither, but a unique combination of the best from both Western and Classical horsemanship. Both the WDAA and NAWD have applied for Recognized Affiliate status and the USEF has stated that only one will be chosen. Both organizations are now appealing to their supporters to petition the USEF by sending an email to [email protected].
We have outlined some of the differences on our website at http://www.northamericanwesterndressage.com/index.php/component/content/category/46-usef-affiliate-application. Please consider writing to the USEF and expressing your thoughts.”
Now is the time for the USEF to hear from everyone on this discipline. Honestly I think it is too early in the development of the discipline to make this caliber of decision which has the potential of impacting the horse world so profoundly. On the other hand, since the buffet is about to close, don’t wait to see what will happen, help make whatever happens a reality. It is my belief that if the word dressage is going to be used, then dressage should be done, at least in some reasonably recognizable form. As I have stated repeatedly over the last 10 months, the word ‘dressage’ has com, 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.
Remember, this blog now has a video component. As show season begins, I encourage you riders to submit your Western Dressage story and videos of your horses. I will post any organizations tests. Some of these western dressage riders are winning the high score awards at local dressage schooling shows. Horse people want to see what WD is looking like anywhere you are riding it. No critiques, no “helpful suggestions,” no kudos either, just riding. Western Dressage is a growing sport. 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. I got brave and posted our barn video in hopes that some more of you will be willing to put forth your idea of what Western Dressage might be about. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5wCjvq53-kHybrTVawJDKg.
The white horse in this video is a 27 year old Arabian. The bay horse is a 24 year old Arabian. The pinto is 16 and a HEART rescue horse. They are all schoolhorses at RRA. The junior rider in this video is 14 year old young rider and the adult rider is a patient in the early recovery stages of a traumatic brain injury, me. Are these horses perfect? No. Is our riding perfect? No. Are the figures perfect? No. Do you get a sense of what western dressage might look like at the lower levels? Yes. 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 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 spectacular gaits, heavy contact or 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."