Fometimes, people get intimidated when they watch videos of World Champion Working Equitation competitor Pedro Torres as he and the Lusitano stallion Oxidado perform effortless flying changes and canter pirouettes in the
WE United Celebrates the First U.S. Working Equitation National Championship Show
www.weunited.us
orty-five horses and riders gathered at the luxurious DevonWood Equestrian Centre in Sherwood, Oregon over Labor Day Weekend to compete in the first National Championships for the sport of Working Equitation offered in the United States. To participate in the Championship division, rider/horse pairs had to earn qualifying scores at a licensed Working Equitation competition during the 2017 competition year. To accommodate those who had not yet earned qualifying scores, the event offered A-Rated classes as well as Championships.
In addition to U.S. riders from California, Oregon, Utah, and Washington; Canadian riders from British Columbia and Alberta, and Australian riders from New South Wales, the event included officials from Arizona, California, Kentucky, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Nuno Matos, Head Instructor for the Pedro Torres Academy of Working Equitation, USA, even traveled from Portugal to coach his students who were competing.
“It was the most challenging course I have attempted with my show pony Padre. The obstacles [created by Becky Mathews of River Run] were state-of-the-art and beautiful,” commented competitor Karin Hansen of Eugene, Oregon. “Everybody was cheering for everyone. It didn’t matter what team you were on or what country you were from or what breed your horse was. Everybody truly wanted nothing but winners in the class. It was an incredibly supportive environment for everyone. I’m looking forward to the next one already!”
The event started on Friday, September 1, with the Dressage Trial, continued with Ease of Handling on Saturday, and came to a close with the Speed Trial on Sunday.
In addition to the Individual competition, the event featured a Teams competition, where riders from different levels self-organized to form seven teams of four, each with a unique name chosen by the team. For each trial, the three best placings from each team were retained and used to compute the final team results.
For a more detailed write-up of the event, including complete results for each trial, please visit:
http://www.weunited.us/2017-we-united-national-championships-a-rated-show/
The Ease of Handling test is also scored, with points for each obstacle ranging from 0 to 10, and collective marks also awarded. Some obstacles, such as Jumping Over Bales of Straw, and Sidestepping Over a Log are not performed at the Children’s or Introductory Level. The majority of obstacles, however, can be found at all levels. In Ease of Handling, greater complexity is introduced by requiring more challenging gaits within and between obstacles and increasing the expectations for how lead changes are performed as one moves up the levels.
The Speed trial is only performed by riders in Novice A and above. It’s important to note that there is no requirement that the Speed trial be done at a particular gait. In fact, it is quite common (and even advisable) for lower-level riders to perform their Speed trial at the trot to help maintain the horse’s relaxation around the obstacles.
Event organizers can opt to split classes in a variety of ways, such as offering Divisions for Amateur and Open riders. Although one might assume that Open riders have a significant advantage of Amateurs, the data does not appear to support this contention. On the contrary, analysis of scoring trends across all licensed 2017 working equitation competitions to date provides fairly convincing evidence that this is a sport in which Amateur riders can be quite competitive (see Table).
Intrigued yet? We sure hope so! To find out more about this great sport, please visit our website at: www.WEUnited.us.
24 / Sport and Trail Magazine
Michael T. Photography
Lily Godding, 13-year-old WE United member from New South Wales, Australia on 4-year-old Quarter Horse gelding "Red". The two won the 2017 Reserve National Championship, Introductory Level.
Photo by Michael T. Photography
offered A-Rated classes as well as Championships.
In addition to U.S. riders from California, Oregon, Utah, and Washington; Canadian riders from British Columbia and Alberta, and Australian riders from New South Wales, the event included officials from Arizona, California, Kentucky, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Nuno Matos, Head Instructor for the Pedro Torres Academy of Working Equitation, USA, even traveled from Portugal to coach his students who were competing.
“It was the most challenging course I have attempted with my show pony Padre. The obstacles [created by Becky Mathews of River Run] were state-of-the-art and beautiful,” commented competitor Karin Hansen of Eugene, Oregon. “Everybody was cheering for everyone. It didn’t matter what team you were on or what country you were from or what breed your horse was. Everybody truly wanted nothing but winners in the class. It was an incredibly supportive environment for everyone. I’m looking forward to the next one already!”
The event started on Friday, September 1, with the Dressage Trial, continued with Ease of Handling on Saturday, and came to a close with the Speed Trial on Sunday.
In addition to the Individual competition, the event featured a Teams competition, where riders from different levels self-organized to form seven teams of four, each with a unique name chosen by the team. For each trial, the three best placings from each team were retained and used to compute the final team results.
For a more detailed write-up of the event, including complete results for each trial, please visit:
http://www.weunited.us/2017-we-united-national-championships-a-rated-show/
F
over Labor Day Weekend to compete in the first National Championships for the sport of Working Equitation offered in the United States. To participate in the Championship division, rider/horse pairs had to earn qualifying scores at a licensed Working Equitation competition during the 2017 competition year. To accommodate those who had not yet earned qualifying scores, the event offered A-Rated classes as well as Championships.
In addition to U.S. riders from California, Oregon, Utah, and Washington; Canadian riders from British Columbia and Alberta, and Australian riders from New South Wales, the event included officials from Arizona, California, Kentucky, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Nuno Matos, Head Instructor for the Pedro Torres Academy of Working Equitation, USA, even traveled from Portugal to coach his students who were competing.
“It was the most challenging course I have attempted with my show pony Padre. The obstacles [created by Becky Mathews of River Run] were state-of-the-art and beautiful,” commented competitor Karin Hansen of Eugene, Oregon. “Everybody was cheering for everyone. It didn’t matter what team you were on or what country you were from or what breed your horse was. Everybody truly wanted nothing but winners in the class. It was an incredibly supportive environment for everyone. I’m looking forward to the next one already!”
The event started on Friday, September 1, with the Dressage Trial, continued with Ease of Handling on Saturday, and came to a close with the Speed Trial on Sunday.
In addition to the Individual competition, the event featured a Teams competition, where riders from different levels self-organized to form seven teams of four, each with a unique name chosen by the team. For each trial, the three best placings from each team were retained and used to compute the final team results.
For a more detailed write-up of the event, including complete results for each trial, please visit:
http://www.weunited.us/2017-we-united-national-championships-a-rated-show/
The Ease of Handling test is also scored, with points for each obstacle ranging from 0 to 10, and collective marks also awarded. Some obstacles, such as Jumping Over Bales of Straw, and Sidestepping Over a Log are not performed at the Children’s or Introductory Level. The majority of obstacles, however, can be found at all levels. In Ease of Handling, greater complexity is introduced by requiring more challenging gaits within and between obstacles and increasing the expectations for how lead changes are performed as one moves up the levels.
The Speed trial is only performed by riders in Novice A and above. It’s important to note that there is no requirement that the Speed trial be done at a particular gait. In fact, it is quite common (and even advisable) for lower-level riders to perform their Speed trial at the trot to help maintain the horse’s relaxation around the obstacles.
Event organizers can opt to split classes in a variety of ways, such as offering Divisions for Amateur and Open riders. Although one might assume that Open riders have a significant advantage of Amateurs, the data does not appear to support this contention. On the contrary, analysis of scoring trends across all licensed 2017 working equitation competitions to date provides fairly convincing evidence that this is a sport in which Amateur riders can be quite competitive (see Table).
Intrigued yet? We sure hope so! To find out more about this great sport, please visit our website at: www.WEUnited.us.