CROSS DISCIPLINE BENEFITS
The western dressage buzz is growing. Classes have been held in Devon, while members of WES Area 13 enjoyed a test riding session and clinic with Irish team rider and Hickstead dressage guru Dane Rawlins at Wye Oak this winter. Bob Mayhew, who is on the judging panel for a number of western breed organisations in addition to WES and AQHA, invited Dane, an old friend, to work with the riders after enquiries about western dressage. ‘Dane and I were in agreement that
western riders need to develop more engagement from their horses and improve the accuracy of their transitions, which is also the principle behind dressage riding,’ Bob says. ‘What WES and AQHA judges are looking for is a horse that works through from behind into a soft outline as this improves the quality of its movements. With a pleasure horse for example, riders want to get the neck down, but if the horse is not soft through the jaw, the neck will come up again when they pick up on the
reins. Engagement does not mean more speed, but will allow the horse to truly extend the jog, rather than just jog faster. ‘The training can be applied across all western disciplines,’ he adds, ‘In reining if the movement is not performed accurately and with the correct footfalls as specified in the rule book, the marks will reflect this.’ Dressage training can even help the non- stock breeds to be more competitive in pleasure, he suggests. ‘The horses with higher knee action find it easier to engage, and this actually makes it easier for them to work at the right pace and score well when their movement is under scrutiny.’
MARGO HEPNER-HART AT SOLIHULL
Margo Hepner-Hart owns and produces horses including Friesians, Saddllebreds and Half Arabs near Portland, Oregon, USA, and holds a number of judging cards. She also trained with German dressage maestro Gerd Politz near Stuttgart. After meeting Eitan Beth-Halachmy (pictured left) at a demo, she became interested in western dressage and is now a board member of the Oregon Western Dressage Association. Margo gave the first western dressage clinic
at Solihull Riding Club on 15 April and explains, ‘Western dressage has the same principles as the classical sport – the only difference is the tack and the lighter contact, particularly in the early stages of training. The horse learns to move forward into a connection, and to bend through his body rather than flex through the neck. While the initial tests are quite straightforward, tests for all levels are in preparation, but it is not about being able to do the ‘tricks,’ or more advanced movements, horses have to be able to do the basics first.’ Solihull Riding Club hopes to organise a
further clinic for September. For more information visit
www.westerndressageassociation.org and
www.westerndressage.org.uk for dates of future competitions at Solihull.
CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY
www.westernhorseuk.com
45
WWW.DAVIDDAVISHORSEMANSHIP.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68