Dressage: (French) to train. May I point out not only the horse needs training? Also, the rider (and/or trainer) need training too. Luckily with the western dressage wheel we have a better idea of what training can do for us AND especially our horses. Being someone that enjoys competition I was curious to learn more of what the judge’s training would have to do with my scores. What could I do to get a better score and understand better what our judges are trained to look for and encourage? So, I signed up for the USEF/WDAA Judge’s Education Seminar in Denver and spent this last weekend, 3 days, getting a drink of water from a fire hydrant.

Over the three days we went from how to judge gaited horses to rail classes, Intro through Level 5 to exceptional riders to freestyle and even online judging. The brilliant 4 leaders that taught the classes were Cindy Butler (President of the WDAA), Joanne Coy, Jodi Ely, and Gail Matheus (brilliant video clips and computer work Gail). They brought amazing lessons to the weekend. Smartly Joanne Coy made sure that an “R” judge was sitting at every table. There were about 14 of us auditors and the rest were applicants or judges.

Something that was brought up early and we were consistently reminded of, and I had never really thought through:  What is the essence of the movement? For instance, a 20-meter circle at a working jog is the essence. Then what are the modifiers? Was there good balance and bend? Did the horse show a good quality of jog? I had never broken the maneuvers into a simpler understanding, and it makes a HUGE difference to riding and judging the movement.

A new favorite phrase from one of the “R” judges:  The horse is a little earth bound. That works for me in terms of a visual to practice for my horse.

The best thing I learned over the three days was how much our judges wanted us to do well when we rode into the court. This was from all the judges, not just the panel that was leading the classes. They were always pulling for the horse and rider (in the videos) to do well. It was so wonderful to not hear them waiting for the team in the court to make a mistake but continuing to want to see the good maneuvers.

I have gone back over my notes, pages of notes, because of the wonderful 100+ page notebook that was handed out, and there is still much more time I need to absorb all the positive input from the three days.

I highly recommend anyone who wants to do better by their horse in Western Dressage classes to consider attending the 3-day class. The flow of information didn’t stay just in the classroom but continued during lunch too. That, on top of meeting some wonderful people and getting to also spend time with international judge’s applicants, made the whole experience superb. Thank you to all who put in so much time to help us be better riders and trainers.

Nance Mc Manus