No Worries and Devin Ryan (Flashpoint photography) Gulfport, MS - The Gulf Coast Winter Classic 's National Week saw a field of 21 jumpers gallop onto the breathtaking grand prix arena for the $10,000 Open Jumper Welcome class, but this week it would be No Worries, owned by Barbara Rowland and ridden by Long Valley, New Jersey native Devin Ryan, who would end up in the winner's circle. Of the twenty one entries, the class saw ten of the horse and rider teams go clean in the first round....

This week I want to update you about some exciting new programs coming in 2013 for Western Dressage enthusiasts. As this discipline continues to develop, more tests are available, more shows are available, and more award programs vie for participation. The show and clinic calendars are filling up for the year and so much is happening. In January our local WSH Zone added year end awards for Western Dressage following the inclusion of Western Dressage as a subdivision of Dressage on the...

Devon Kane, David Marcus, Mark Bellissimo, Allyn Mann, Matt Varney, and Michael Stone. (SusanJStickle.com) Wellington, FL -The 2013 Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) hosted its opening press conference Wednesday with a crowd of media in attendance to kick off this year's exciting line-up of top level competition. The AGDF circuit starts Thursday with CDI-W competition at the Wellington Dressage presented by The Dutta Corp. and includes another CDI-W, CDI-3*, CDI-5* and a...

The Western Dressage world is abuzz with dressage talk. The hot topic of the moment seems to be progressive training, especially as it has to do with pyramids and scales. Pyramids are extremely stable structures that rely on strong, broad foundations and which rise to a point, a pinnacle if you will that represents a point of focus. Without the foundation, the pyramid loses strength. The intrinsic nature of the structure itself necessitates culmination in a point. The pyramid is the perfect...

Lexington, KY - The 2013 Markel/USEF National Young and Developing Horse Dressage Championships presented by HorseShow.com will host up-and-coming dressage horses over five divisions of National Championship competition. Four-, five- and six-year-olds will vie for national titles in their respective Young Horse Championships. While developing horses have the option to compete in Prix St. Georges or Grand Prix Championships. Markel has supported the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program since...

Misdee Wrigley Miller and Grande (Brooke Jacobs with Jacobs Photography_ Lexington, KY - The audience cheered as the first American Saddlebreds, since 1999 competed at the 129th Edition of the Alltech National Horse Show at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. The breed, known as "the horse that America made," had been a fixture at the National Horse Show since the late 1800's but after the 1999 the Saddlebred performance classes had disappeared from the show. It is only natural that...

Washington, D.C. - Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) is excited to announce that the $100,000 President's Cup Grand Prix, CSI 3*-W will be aired on NBC Sports Network on Sunday, October 28, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. EST. The coverage will show competition from one of the most competitive grand prix events in North America and will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network, home of coverage as wide ranging as the Olympics, Major League Soccer and IndyCar racing to name a few. The...

The seventeenth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Last weekend we attended the second Western Dressage classes held here in the Inland Northwest. We rode the NAWD tests through Level 4. The tests are wonderful and the dressage spectators were very interested in how the WD tests are both similar and different from the USEF tests ridden in the USDF shows. The judge was super and even though the day was very long for her, very positive about the work saying "I enjoyed judging...

Small but mighty: pony "Donar's Diablo" won the CDS Training Level Open Horse of the Year title, with rider Kelly Phillips and owner Kim Crandall. (Jennifer M. Keeler) Burbank,CA - Final championship ribbons were presented Sunday in Burbank, CA for the 45th Anniversary California Dressage Society Championship Show Presented By HorseShow.com, held in conjunction with the CDS Young Horse Futurity (including the Cal-Bred Futurity), the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 7 Dressage...

The fourteenth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder The last several weeks I’ve talked about how to get started in western dressage. If you are curious, you’ve checked out the website, taken advantage of the free basic membership by becoming a member, read the rules, reviewed the tests, read the articles, participated in the Forum discussions, found WD groups on Facebook, visited YouTube and chatted with your friends about it. Maybe you’ve contacted your local...