Western Dressage!
Why try Western Dressage??
What first caught my eye about Western Dressage is that I can practice Western Dressage ANYWHERE with ANY horse! I do not need cows, I don’t need a perfectly manicured arena to slide in, this is a discipline that I can recommend to ANYONE who has a horse!
A couple additional points that caught my attention and drew me in; first, you start out at an introductory level. The Intro tests are easy but also challenging at the same time, anyone can ride them, but to do them well takes practice and finesse, I LOVE THAT!! Second, you can enter virtual shows to complete these tests, you can stay at home to show!! If you have any hesitations about hauling or finding a show, you no longer need to worry about that aspect of showing, you can do it all online!! This is a great way to get started in showing your horse! Third, once I have completed a test at a show, either in person or virtually, I will get my test back with my scores, and my judges comments, on how to improve!! Western Dressage gives you the opportunity to train your horse through the different levels while also receiving feedback from the judges on how to improve! I can’t imagine a better way to learn and grow with your horse!
For the past six months, Western Dressage has given me a super fun and challenging place to focus my goals for me and my horse. I can't wait to see where this journey leads us!
Ride Well show - Ride a Test March 1, 2024
Thanks to a great friend, (thanks Sussie!!) I was invited to attend a local Dressage Schooling show. What a FANTASTIC learning opportunity this was!! First let me say that it helps to have horse friends that push you out of your comfort zone a little! Originally, I had set my show goal for June but since Sussie signed us up for this one I nervously agreed to go. What a great choice that was, this show turned out to be the highlight of my spring! The location was an easy drive, great set up, with an eager to help show manager and judge! I literally could not have asked for a better experience for my first official Western Dressage test. I didn't know what to expect, as I didn't even know what a "Ride a Test" was, but everyone helped and made me comfortable. I was able to ride my test of choice in front of the judge, receive comments directly from the judge, and ask any questions that I may have. After talking with the judge I was able to ride the test again for another "practice" score. This was the BEST way to get started and I will be eager to sign up for any Ride a Test schooling shows that I can find in the future!
OUR FIRST REAL SHOW!! March 2, 2024
The following day, after the Ride a Test, I was able to put what I had learned to the test and go through the motions for a real show! Everything started out very well, my horse was more comfortable since she had been here the day before, and I felt better since I knew what to expect. Unfortunately, the weather decided to not cooperate for us, we ended up with 40+ mph wind gusts and a whole LOT of dust and disruption! With the added unplanned element of the wind and dust, everything in my body was telling me to quit, just load her up in the trailer and go home, but honestly, since the day before had been such a success I decided that if I could just make it in to the ring and ride the test correctly I would be happy with the show results. The wind and dust just added another challenge that we could try to overcome! Well, it turns out that we did more than just that, we totally CONQUERED the wind that day! She stayed with me like a champ and that day I learned that we have a better partnership and trust in each other than I could have ever dreamed of having. The added weather element was the real test that day, we both had a choice of either quitting or enduring and we both chose to overcome it, my respect and gratitude for my girl was overflowing after that show! Do I want to sign up for another show in the wind, definitely not, but I now know that if we are challenged with something unexpected in the future we will thrive!
Our first virtual show!! WDAAZ Heart My Horse March 10, 2024
The WDAAZ Heart My Horse virtual show was several months in the making and a GREAT learning experience! We had originally signed up for the fall show back in Sept/Oct but Foo Foo ended up lame for a month. The WDAAZ club was gracious enough to push out our entry to the following show in March. They are amazing!
This show was FULL of important lessons learned! Our first important lesson was to double check the Entry sheet that we must show at the beginning of the video for the test. Unfortunately, due to the format of good ol' gmail threads, I accidentally printed out the entry sheet from the original show from last October instead of the new one. Yikes! And of course I didn't notice this until I was uploading the video to send it in, so we had to reshoot the video the next day. Thank goodness I have a very VERY patient camera man (Thanks Lex!). Once we reshot the video, got it loaded and sent, the real fun began, the waiting for my test results!! Its like waiting for Christmas morning, I was SO EXCITED to see what the judge had to say. Thank goodness the wait wasn't long at all, my test results for the Intro Test 1 were 77.955%, a great score!! The judge made great comments and recommendations for my maneuvers and also left the note at the end of the test stating "Lovely combination, a pleasure to judge. Some points lost for halt being too long." This comment was awesome to receive after all of our hard work. The halt comment is actually pretty ironic because it was the one maneuver that we didn't practice much going into this test and it was the only thing that I didn't visualize thoroughly as I prepared. The test states "halt for four seconds" and because I didn't visualize the halt for FOUR SECONDS in my head, it turned out to be way too long, lesson learned! This lesson is also a great reason why its so important to show, and show often, "learn what you don't know early" as Stacy Westfall would say!
WDAA International Online Challenge! June 14, 2024
Starting the 2024 year I had set the goal of submitting a video for the WDAA International Online Challenge. This show, I believe, is the biggest online show and a pretty big deal for WDAA members, so I have been pretty excited for this one to come up on my calendar!
At this point we have become very familiar with the routine for the online shows, this is helping me become more comfortable with all that is involved with the behind the scenes work for a show. With each online show I grow more confident in the timeline involved with prepping my horse and myself prior to heading into the show ring, this is a great win mentally for me. But, with the added pressure of this particular online show, I did notice myself falling into the trap of rushing or trying to force miracles to happen. With my prior judge comments running in my head, I wanted to rush the development of several of the maneuvers in my test. Oh yeah! This is what pressure does to you! And exactly why I am challenging myself to these shows. After doing some journaling, and emailing to my coach, I was once again reminded that I needed to slow down and enjoy the journey that I am taking. I need to stay flexible for my horse and ride where we are that day. That sentence can be your motto for life, but emotions will still grab a hold of you when you add competition and pressure. This show helped remind me to keep pressing on with my girl, and to just be proud that we are stepping up to compete!