July 31 through August 4 Murieta Equestrian Center in Rancho Murieta California will be the site for the 2013 “Gold N Grand Cowboy Dressage Show.” The show sports 42 classes with competitive divisions for open, amateur and youth riders who will be riding walk/jog and walk/jog/lope and Cowboy Challenge tests. As of this writing, there were 165 rides scheduled in three days! Such a fabulous turnout for Cowboy Dressage in Northern California. Show official Michele Dodge will oversee 3...

As you know I occasionally receive a story from a Western Dressage rider and this week I would like to share with you the story behind a beautiful magazine cover photo that appeared recently in Paint Horse Journal and which featured coverage of Western Dressage. The photo was of Katrina Sanders and her Paint horse Pirate. Here is what Katrina shares with western dressage enthusiasts this week: “Thank you so much for offering to feature my photo in your blog! I am honored and so grateful...

Kristi Nunnink & R-Star after winning the Event at Rebecca Farm CIC3* (USEA) Kalispel, MT - R-Star has done it again. For the second consecutive year, this grey Holsteiner mare by Riverman, has won the CIC3* at The Event at Rebecca Farm rising from fifth after cross-country to first with an accurately ridden round over the Marc Donovan designed show jumping course. Katie Ruppel and Houdini took down just one rail to move up to second ahead of Katie Groesbeck and Oz The Tin Man who moved...

Show season keeps moving forward and the scores keep coming in. At the last WSH show, the high score rider, Linda Coates-Markle, received a whopping 76% on NAWD Level 3 Test 1 (that is the western equivalent of USDF First Level) riding her Quarter Horse mare. Once again, this last weekend, shows featuring Western Dressage classes were held all over the country and WD riders on both sides of the nation received the highest Phyllis Ray and Starr in the warm-up (Darcia Drapeau) scores recorded at...

Thanks to everyone who took the time to send emails to USEF and for sharing your thoughts and feelings about the direction Western Dressage should take. It is so important to hear and listen to different ideas from all directions as the discipline develops. At this point all there is to do is continue to ride and train and show, and most important, to have fun with our horses. With another show coming up this weekend for us, I have put a lot of thought into the questions the last show brought...

A couple weeks ago a friend and I attended a WSH Dressage Show halfway across the state to ride the NAWD tests. The weather was gorgeous, the drive uneventful, the horses well behaved. The show was at a beautiful facility, with a qualified judge I trust to evaluate our western dressage horses. My stallion was perfectly behaved even in the warm-up area with the little ponies and their tiny children. Sounds like a perfect horse show weekend huh? It was, but for one thing. I was confused! For the...

Tuesday June 11, 3013 will be the last day USEF will hear comments via email regarding the choice of organizations that will represent Western Dressage as the official recognized affiliate organization. This is a critical time in the development of the discipline and your input is very important whether you are a western rider, a dressage enthusiast, judge, breeder, trainer, or participant in any aspect of the equine industry. NAWD President Jen Johnson shares the following food for thought:...

Western horses jog. English horses trot. Dressage horses trot. Everyone knows that. What does that mean for the western dressage horse? The western jog was a gait that could be ridden for long distances over the range or on the trail that horses could sustain without exhaustion and which could be sat comfortably. The trot is a gait that covers more ground at a reasonable tempo. To deal with the dynamics of the gait and to unload the horses back, some riders learned to post. Western riders bred...

It's official. NAWD has applied for recognized affiliate status with the USEF. Supporters have until June 11th to let the USEF know that North American Western Dressage is the right choice of organizations to build the future of Western Dressage. NAWD President Jen Johnson states: “Western Dressage is coming. Over the past 3 years we have watched it grow at warp speed from the hint of an idea to not just one but three major organizations with very different ideals. Throughout, NAWD...

Note to Self: 1. Prepare classical instructor that you will be appearing before him in western tack and riding an Appaloosa stallion, NOT your third level Westfalen import and 2. Don’t ride in a clinic without a photographer A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…. I got a book from the library called The Schooling of the Western Horse by John Richard Young. It was published in 1945 (practically the dark ages) and outlined progressive training for western horses. Critically...