I hope that each of you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!  I told my horses that I loved them and they asked me, “Where’s dinner?”  I am back on a diet; when I add candy to more food than I need and less time in the saddle because of the weather and travel, the results are not pretty.
 
Show season is coming up and WDAA is getting lots of requests for Show Recognition.  As each show is approved, it goes up on our Events Calendar, highlighted and with an active link to the prize list if it is sent to us.  WDAA sets standards for Show Recognition that are intended to provide a level playing field for the participants in our Points and Awards program.  Please check our website http://www.wdaaworldshow.org/show-recognition-information/ for details on the standards for Show Recognition.  If you have a question or a problem, we have some wonderful staff and I am always available as well.
 
We are working hard with our show management team, horseshowconsulting.com, to finalize plans for our World Championship Show.  We are so proud of our judges, our officials and delighted with the new facility at the Lazy E in Guthrie, OK.  In addition to offering the opportunity for world class competition, we hope to make the 2016 WDAA World Championship the most fun competition that you have ever been a part of.  We will come to show our horses, to spend time with old friends, to make new friends and to celebrate being part of Western Dressage!
 
Our show is a USEF show in 2016 for the first time.  I have asked the wonderful staff at USEF to work with me to help introduce you all to USEF.  Everyone there is so excited about Western Dressage and the new CEO, Bill Moroney, is committed to help with introductions.  Some of you come from breeds who are affiliated with USEF so this is old news but many of us are new to the USEF world.  We share a dedication to the welfare of the horse and commitment to a fair and level playing field for all competitors.  What a wonderful partner on our Journey!

Go hug your horse and make our day better!
Ellen

More World Show Details

Here are just a few of the offerings at the 2016 Western Dressage World Championship Show
 

September 29 - October 2, 2016
Lazy E Arena Guthrie, OK

• WDAA Lifetime Achievement Award Program Triple Point Show 
•  Gala competitor's Party and Silent Auction
• $250 Freestyle Stake
• $250 Costume Freestyle Stake
• Expanded Awards including World Champion Ribbons
• Three days of Dressage Tests
• One day of Rail Classes

For more show info please visit... http://horseshowconsulting.com

All of these great events will be held in the beautiful park like setting of the Lazy E Arena and it’s surroundings. WDAA needs your help to make this the best event in the business, please consider sponsoring a class or an event.
 

Sponsorship Opportunities

Future WDAA World Show Dates:

September 28 – October 1, 2017
October 4 – 7, 2018

Judges' Seminar Update

The 2016 WDAA USEF judges seminar was held February 1st and 2nd in Tulsa OK in conjunction with the International Equine Judging Seminar. A total of 32 Judge applicants and 4 auditors attended from all over the United States and Canada plus one  applicant from New Zealand!

The two days were packed with great interaction and educational talks and videos. Clinicians Debbie-Riehl Rodriguez, Joyce Swanson and Cliff Swanson along with USEF Representative Samantha Kline made sure that the seminar was packed with great interaction and educational talks and videos, keeping the emphasis on the importance of Western in Western Dressage.

The judges came away with an extraordinarily high opinion of WDAA, its mission, our horses and exhibitors. Many of the applicants are close to receiving their cards and will be ready to judge your shows!

If you’d like to search for a Licensed Western Dressage Judge... Simply go to this webpage on the USEF website: https://www.usef.org/_IFrames/LicensedOfficials/locSearch.aspx and License Type box, scroll to the bottom of the list and choose "Western Dressage"

 

Meet USEF - An introduction to USEF, our partners in Honoring the Horse

The Sportsman’s Charter

This brief but eloquent statement about the underlying philosophy of USEF is important to understand where USEF put its emphasis.   The language dates from early in the 20^th century which was certainly a different time but still resonates today for those of us committed to the mission and vision of Western Dressage.  I have been a member of AHSA, now USEF, since 1972.  This statement has appeared at the beginning of each rule book that I have collected over the years and is still there.  Somethings like dedication to our horses, determination to enjoy competition for itself rather than any financial rewards, being a good sport, offering a helping hand to a fellow competitor are always critical to horse sport.  I like to think that WDAA and Western Dressage reach back in time to values that may be disappearing in much of our sport’s world.  Maybe it is the special souls of our horses that refocus us on what is best in equine sport and urge us to strive for a perfect ride based on a perfect partnership above all.   More about USEF next month.

That sport is something done for the fun of doing it and that it ceases to be sport when it becomes a business only, something done for what there is in it;

That amateurism is something of the heart and spirit – not a matter of exact technical qualifications;

That good manners of sport are fundamentally important;

That the code must be strictly upheld;

That the whole structure of sport is not only preserved from the absurdity of undue importance, but is justified by a kind of romance which animates it, and by the positive virtues of courage, patience, good temper, and unselfishness which are demanded by the code;

That the exploitation of sport for profit alone kills the spirit and retains only the husk and semblance of the thing;

That the qualities of frankness, courage, and sincerity which mark the good sportsman in private life shall mark the discussions of his interests at a competition.