For information about the American Endurance Ride Conference, visit AERC.org. To find out about the 2019 AERC National Championship rides, visit 2019NC.com. The 2019 championship rides will be held in Ridgecrest, California, on October 31 (50-mile ride) and November 2 (100-mile ride). Qualifications are in place for the championship rides, but open rides will be held at the same time, including limited distance rides, so all are welcome!
38 / Sport and Trail Magazine
For more information on the 2019 AERC National Championship Ride, including entry forms and location guide, go to 2019NC.com or see our Facebook page at facebook.com/AERC2019NC. For more information about the American Endurance Ride Conference, visit https://aerc.org.
A Sea Change is Happening
By Jen Johnson
Nearly 10 years ago, I ran into a gentleman at the Minnesota Horse Expo by the name of Randy Byers. Behind him was a lovely photo of a quarter horse performing shoulder-in down the long side of a dressage arena. At the time, quarter horses were participating in dressage, but it was a little shocking to see a large poster of one. Most posters exemplifying dressage would show a warmblood, usually performing a ridiculously huge extended trot with his nose 4 inches from his chest and the highest point of his neck the 3rd or 4th vertebrae.
The fact that Carbon was a quarter horse on a poster showing dressage was shocking enough, but my next observation stopped me in my tracks… he was wearing a western saddle and Randy was riding in jeans and a button-down western shirt rather than breeches and a top hat. Wow! I was instantly filled with excitement, for I was a backyard amateur horse owner who had recently started taking dressage lessons but didn’t want to give up my saddle. “Dressage Queens” had a well-known reputation for turning up their noses at people like me. And so, with help from my sister Greta and others, Midwest Western Dressage was formed; a group that morphed into North American Western Dressage a couple of years down the road.
Since then, Western Dressage has been accepted by the United States Equestrian Federation as a recognized discipline. But so much more has changed – so many things that are far more important. Remember the “Dressage Queens”? I ran into an astounding amount of them when I started this journey and many of them reacted with shock and dismay to my suggestion that we could all play together. I heard comments such as “This is just dumbed-down dressage for people that can’t do the real thing” and “Western Saddles don’t have the right feel for dressage”. These were the minority. Many more embraced the concept and fought alongside us to allow Western Dressage at traditional dressage shows.
I also connected with several dressage professionals that understand that dressage is more than a sport, it is a foundation for all disciplines and a way to keep your horse healthy and sound. I discovered that there are many hard-core dressage enthusiasts who are actually very dissatisfied with the way that the sport has evolved, that the biomechanics involved with the huge extended trot, the plane of the face behind the vertical and the neck broken at the third or fourth vertebrae cause physical and mental damage. I learned that there was a growing number of people fighting to ban rollkur and overly tight nosebands. These were the people that flocked to Western Dressage. Because they saw it as a chance for change. And changing we ARE! Perhaps not at the FEI Level, perhaps not even at the USEF, but back in 2010, there were very few people talking about riding with a long neck and face in front of the vertical. A sea change IS happening, here is a short list of what I am seeing as evidence.
1. New articles are posted nearly every day about how to ride your horse with a long neck in front of the vertical
2. Horses in western tack performing dressage are no longer considered strange or inferior
3. Dressage, while once reserved for the elite, is accessible to anyone (especially through budget-friendly virtual and online horse shows)
4. Backyard riders are learning that dressage gives them goals and a great sense of achievement. They are no longer saying “I’m just a trail rider”.
5. Equestrians are beginning to understand that dressage can be performed by any breed.
6. In 2016, NAWD declared a war on BTV (behind the vertical riding) by requiring a mandatory score of 4 or lower when a horse is ridden with his nose behind the vertical plan.
Since then, we have heard of several other organizations doing the same. Indeed, we have a long way to go. However, as the late great Steve Jobs said.
To learn more about Western Dressage, virtual shows and how you can get involved, visit North American Western Dressage
www.northamericanwesterndressage.com
The fact that Carbon was a quarter horse on a poster showing dressage was shocking enough, but my next observation stopped me in my tracks… he was wearing a western saddle and Randy was riding in jeans and a button-down western shirt rather than breeches and a top hat. Wow! I was instantly filled with excitement, for I was a backyard amateur horse owner who had recently started taking dressage lessons but didn’t want to give up my saddle. “Dressage Queens” had a well-known reputation for turning up their noses at people like me. And so, with help from my sister Greta and others, Midwest Western Dressage was formed; a group that morphed into North American Western Dressage a couple of years down the road.
Since then, Western Dressage has been accepted by the United States Equestrian Federation as a recognized discipline.
But so much more has changed – so many things that are far more important. Remember the “Dressage Queens”? I ran into an astounding amount of them when I started this journey and many of them reacted with shock and dismay to my suggestion that we could all play together. I heard comments such as “This is just dumbed-down dressage for people that can’t do the real thing” and “Western Saddles don’t have the right feel for dressage”. These were the minority. Many more embraced the concept and fought alongside us to allow Western Dressage at traditional dressage shows.
I also connected with several dressage professionals that understand that dressage is more than a sport, it is a foundation for all disciplines and a way to keep your horse healthy and sound. I discovered that there are many hard-core dressage enthusiasts who are actually very dissatisfied with the way that the sport has evolved, that the biomechanics involved with the huge extended trot, the plane of the face behind the vertical and the neck broken at the third or fourth vertebrae cause physical and mental damage. I learned that there was a growing number of people fighting to ban rollkur and overly tight nosebands. These were the people that flocked to Western Dressage. Because they saw it as a chance for change. And changing we ARE! Perhaps not at the FEI Level, perhaps not even at the USEF, but back in 2010, there were very few people talking about riding with a long neck and face in front of the vertical. A sea change IS happening, here is a short list of what I am seeing as evidence.
1. New articles are posted nearly every day about how to ride your horse with a long neck in front of the vertical
2. Horses in western tack performing dressage are no longer considered strange or inferior
3. Dressage, while once reserved for the elite, is accessible to anyone (especially through budget-friendly virtual and online horse shows)
4. Backyard riders are learning that dressage gives them goals and a great sense of achievement. They are no longer saying “I’m just a trail rider”.
5. Equestrians are beginning to understand that dressage can be performed by any breed.
6. In 2016, NAWD declared a war on BTV (behind the vertical riding) by requiring a mandatory score of 4 or lower when a horse is ridden with his nose behind the vertical plan.
Since then, we have heard of several other organizations doing the same. Indeed, we have a long way to go. However, as the late great Steve Jobs said.
To learn more about Western Dressage, virtual shows and how you can get involved, visit North American Western Dressage
www.northamericanwesterndressage.com