September 26 through 30, we attended the Wester Dressage Association of America's World Show held in Guthrie Oklahoma.
It has taken me this long to recover and recap.
We brought 5 horse/rider pairs for 5 days of horse showing. This was the first big show for 4/5 of the horses attending and for 3/5 of our riders and all things considered we met our goals!
Valerie Poulter and Sunny San Boone, AKA Dutch, showed in all for Adult Amature Intro Level tests, with scores in the mid sixties. Val is this years winner of the Lynn Palm Grant for continued education and has put in the long hard (and hot) hours this summer to be ready for her fist World show. After handling the stress of a big show like this we're going to look forward to big things next year!
Courtney MacDonald and Sans Golden Son, aka Queso were a fan favorite at Levels 3 and 4. Queso is new to level 4, but all of his scores improved through the week with scores in the mid to high sixties and he was in the top ten of all of his classes. Queso and Courtney dressed to impress and had a gaggle of fans at every ride to film his test and cheer for him. Queao has pulled Courtney out of horse show retirement his year and I'm sure we will keep seeing great things from them.
DeeDee Hutcherson and Too Cute for Cowboys, aka Mandee, showed Adult Amateur Introductory and Basic levels. Mandee was unphased by the environment and the pair did us proud! DeeDee rode at her first world show in honor of Terry, whose presence we will forever miss at horse shows.
Jessica McCleary and Merlins Illumination showed in Open Introductory Level. Merlin was a little overwhelmed in the big horse show environment but survived his tests! Every show let's us learn and grow and Merlin was much improved by day 5!
And finally, Alison MacDonald and Mariachi competed in Open Introductory Level tests and placed in the top ten in four of her six classes. Mariachi handled the warm up like a grown up horse and only harassed a few stallions. As this was her first big overnight show, we are so proud of Mariachi in all of her accomplishments. Mariachi was also awarded highpoint Azteca for the whole show. Not bad for our little homebred mare.
As with any show - and especially a 5 day show- there were highs and lows and a realization that not everyone is playing the same game. I was personally dismayed at the number of tight curb bits on lower level horses. Yes, it is perfectly legal (for now), but I cannot help but feel that a curb bit does nothing to promote a 'happy healthy athlete' especially in lower level horses. But until the rules change for the good of the horse, everyone will have to train and show by their own conscience.
The WDAA is still a relatively young organization. I imagine that the qualifying requirements to attend the world show will change and get stricter. Hopefully qualifying at the level showed will become easier to trace and help keep people honestly showing at their level.
After watching hours of tests, I did not see any horses and riders who "did not belong" at the world show. I'm sure there were horses or riders who struggled, but what I saw was overwhelmingly people who loved their horses are were trying hard to do their best. This is a good organization with horses best interests at heart. We will continue to learn and grow and be cackle in the future!
So, until next year....
Happy trails and go ride your horse!
Commentaires