The Game of Western Dressage

Dear Members,

One of my Spring time duties for WDAA is to craft rule change proposals we receive from members.  So, I have been reviewing requests for changes and preparing them for presentation to our internal rules committee. 

I love reading and working on rules because rules teach you how to play a game (or how to win a horse show).  If the game is too simple, it’s not fun for long.  It should be challenging and engaging so I want to keep playing.  Think of all the video games that you like for a month and then get bored of. Chess is a good game because you can develop skill and strategy while using the rules.  Working Cow Horse is a good game because it’s fun and incorporates multiple skills.  Western Dressage is a great game, because as the players get better, the game gets more challenging.  

I think rules should be clear and easy to follow.  There should be enough rules so we know what the game is and how to proceed when something unexpected happens.  However, there shouldn’t be so many rules that they are impossible to follow or that beginners just don’t even bother to learn… Rules shouldn’t be so restrictive that all creativity is limited.  I remember playing Monopoly with my dad.  He was always making side deals with other players, like buying hotels from my sister when she was almost out of money (maybe Monopoly needs an ethics committee…)  

Using Dressage methods to train Western horses is not new, but the game of Western Dressage (showing) is pretty new.  Therefore, we still have to tweek the rules sometimes as the game evolves. 

Luckily, I don’t have to work on rule change proposals by myself.  WDAA is fortunate to have a great Rules Committee made up of a diverse group of individuals committed to honoring the horse and providing clear instructions for competition. 
Members include:

• Ronald Bartholomew
• Tori Blankenship
• Cindy Butler
• Ellen DiBella
• Lillian Evaniew-Phelan
• Joyce Hamlin
• Ann Judge
• Lynn Palm
• Cindy Reid
• Cliff Swanson
• Joyce Swanson

• USEF Horse of the Year points,
• WDAA State affiliate high point programs,
• national breed organization high points,
• local schooling show circuit awards) 

Whatever awards programs you choose or not and whatever games you play, I hope you are still having fun.  I know I am whenever my partner is a horse.  This morning, I looked out my bedroom window and my horse looked back at me and well, you know how that makes a girl feel….
 
Cindy Butler, Your President,
Western Dressage Association of America

Dear Competition Organizer,

We hope that this email finds you doing well, and that the beginning of the competition year is off to a great start for you and your team.  We wanted to take a moment to remind all organizers, managers and licensees of the current general requirements for competition managers. 

In addition to the requirement for competition managers to have completed Safe Sport Training, Background Check and the Competition Manager Education prior to the start of the competition, the individual who performs the duties of a manager at the competition, must be named in the prize list as a manager.  The acting manager must be present on grounds and identified on the prize list.  Additionally, the acting manager must be reported as the manager on the Steward or Technical Delegate’s report.

We’ve included the applicable rules for your reference below.  Please feel free to contact [email protected] if you have any questions. 

GR1202 Manager

1. An individual acting in this capacity is required to be a Senior Active Member of the Federation. Any individual acting as the Competition Manager of a hunter and/or jumper Open (not restricted to a breed) competition must be a Senior Active member in good standing of the United States Hunter Jumper Association, Inc. The competition manager of a Federation- licensed/USDF-recognized competition must be a current USDF Participating or Group member in good standing at the time competition recognition is granted and on the date of the competition. Anyone acting in the capacity of Competition Manager at a Federation licensed competition must complete applicable Federation education requirements or Federation approved Affiliate education requirements prior to the start date of the competition. BOD 1/14/17 Effective 12/1/18 2.

2. Licensed Competitions should exercise extreme care in the selection and appointment of a competition manager for the mutual benefit of committees, exhibitors and spectators. Any member of a Show Committee or Competition Management who performs the duties assigned herein to the competition manager, in lieu of an appointed manager, is in fact the responsible officer within the meaning of these rules and must be so named in the prize list. A thorough knowledge of the rules of the Federation is one of the requisites of a person serving as a competition manager.

Sincerely,

Competition Licensing, Evaluation and Safety