The WDAA achieved 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service as a recognized educational organization. It is an affiliate of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). It has established Alliance relationships with a number of breed organizations including the American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA), the International Freisian Show Horse Association (IFSHA), the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA), the Andalusian and Lusitano Show Alliance, and the Pinto Horse...

Show season is rolling all over the country. Let the games begin indeed! Western Dressage tests are being ridden in competitive venues all over, especially in the more temperate areas of the nation. Not the northeast! Riders are already sending test sheets in to the “NAWD Trax” year end award program. IPHDA has already completed 2 cycles of virtual shows with entries due for the March V show on Monday April 1st. USEF Morgan tests have been ridden in the first dressage schooling show...

Victoria Colvin and Waminka (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Starting off Sunday's competition on the derby field,15-year-old Victoria Colvin jumped to victory in the $15,000 Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix presented by the Dutta Corporation in association with Guido Klatte. Thirty-one entries showed in the class with four clear rounds to advance to the jump-off. None of the competitors were able to clear the second round course without fault, and Colvin's four-fault round was the best...

Since 1906, the National Western Stock Show in Denver has been the Super Bowl of livestock shows. On January 24th at this year’s show, Cliff Swanson, along with the Western Dressage Association® of Colorado , presented a two hour clinic in the basics of Western Dressage. Drawing from his skill set clinics, Cliff was able to demonstrate what he normally teaches in five or six half-day clinics. Cliff explained the history of dressage, as he began with a demonstration of aids,...

Kalvin Dobbs and Winde (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Sunday's competition began in the morning with a win for 17-year-old Kalvin Dobbs, of Carmel, IN, aboard Treesdale Farms' Winde in the $15,000 Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix. The class, presented by the Dutta Corporation in association with Guido Klatte, saw 39 entries jumping the course set by Bob Ellis. Nine went clear to advance to the jump-off, and Dobbs and Winde breezed through the short course in 41.928 seconds for the...

Facebook is an unending super highway of material for use in a myriad of applications. I am always amazed by several things. First, how we can consider people we have never seen or maybe even spoken to directly as “friends.” Second, how we are able to use social networking to very positive effects from fund raising for good causes to arranging emergency transportation for rescue horses. Third, how easy it is to learn from so many people who are willing to share really great...

The NCEA spring season began last weekend, but competition really heats up Friday and Saturday with the top seven ranked NCEA teams (NCEA Coaches Poll) back in action. With no team clearly dominant at the end of the fall season, matches this weekend will go a long way toward determining the trajectory of the spring season, and could factor into National Championship seeding as well. No.1 University of South Carolina vs. No.3* University of Georgia The marquee matchup of the weekend will be in...

How do good ideas happen? By great people putting their minds together – and that’s what happened when Frances Carbonnel, Cliff Swanson, and Neide Cooley got together last August to work on the Educational Program for the Western Dressage Association® of Colorado. I had the pleasure of speaking with Frances about how the Train The Trainers clinic came into being. “We decided we needed some videos to help people understand what the gaits are for Western Dressage,”...

Lexington, KY – The USEF Eventing High Performance Committee has approved the following High Performance Spring Training Lists for the 2013 season. These lists have been redesigned for 2013 and this is a targeted approach to identify talented horse/rider combinations for future championship teams. The Global Talent and World Class combinations will be participating in training sessions with Chef d’Equipe David O’Connor in Aiken, South Carolina, Gilroy and Temecula, California...

Bettina Loy and "Carette MG" win the CDS Young Horse Futurity for Five-Year-Olds. (Jennifer M. Keeler) Burbank, CA - Exhibitors at the 45th Anniversary California Dressage Society Championship Show Presented By HorseShow.com continued to enjoy a unique championship experience and atmosphere on Saturday at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, CA. The wildly popular and lucrative CDS Horse of the Year program classes continued, in conjunction with the CDS Young Horse Futurity (including...