Working Equitation Schooling Show

Last December for our Whoa Podcast about Horses & Horsemanship I interviewed Tarrin Warren.  Tarrin and I had met at a campdrafting clinic in Colorado in 2013.  I learned she was participating in the sport of Working Equitation.  I knew little about W.E. but I'm always looking for new topics for the show.  Tarrin was great on the show and encouraged Ranae and I to attend a schooling show happening a few hours from our home.  I called the vice-chair, Julie Alonzo, of the national organization WEIAUSA and asked if we could participate in the competition and record it for the podcast.  She agreed and gave us a few instructions so we would be prepared.

W.E. combines three "tests" - a dressage test, an ease of handling test, and a speed test.  It was explained to us many times that the dressage test wasn't the big fancy dressage - at least not at the level we would be competing.  We download the test and set up a ring anywhere we could and practiced the pattern.  Of course, it was the blind leading the blind, leading the blind, as Ranae, the horses, and I tried to figure out the nuances of dressage.  We managed to get the path down, the gaits were iffy and the circles were, well, kinda ugly.

For the show we would have to come down the night before, stable our horses at a horse hotel, stay with a friend and be on the show grounds to start at 9 am.  It was also the time change weekend.

The group was having a week long clinic with world class Portuguese trainer Nuno Matos.  Six trainers had been there for five full days receiving training.  When I told Julie we might be down late Saturday afternoon she encouraged us to bring our horses by for instruction.  This was motivation to have us get there around noon.

Ranae got some training with the obstacles and I got a wonderful lesson in dressage.  Everyone was very open and willing to help us.  Ranae competed in the Introductory Level and I competed in the Novice.  I was able to video some of our runs and you can watch them here or on YouTube.

The judges remarks on my scorecard have given me a long list of things to work on.  Most disappointing was the notation of a "lack of bend" and "learn proper bend".  As long as I've been following the Downunder Horsemanship Method one would think Jessie would be as flexible as a slinky.  So, while this was a bit depressing, we competed, we discovered what we needed to improve, and we've started working on it.

 

Working on Working Equitation

Ranae are doing a Working Equitation schooling show in March.  We'll be reporting on it in an upcoming Whoa Podcast.  We worked on some of the dressage test out back today.  The instructions are fairly confusing.  We broke things down into small chunks so we could work on a few of the maneuvers we'll need.  One was trotting in a straight line from one spot to another. Then there were the 20 meter circles.  Oh yeah, those are going to be fun.  I had the curb bit in Jessie and it really brought out the shiny spots in her lack of training.

The other thing we worked on was taking off at a trot.  Not a few steps and a trot.  A trot.  Boy, just trying this stuff helps you realize how lackadaisical you can become.

It was a cool day.  The fog had hung in most of the morning and it really didn't look like we would be able to ride.  For a different Whoa Podcast, we are meeting up with the NorCal Downunder Brumbies, a Downunder Horsemanship group.  I'll be doing a demo on the mounting block exercise at the Bar SZ Ranch over Memorial Day Weekend.

I needed to brush up on some (make that all) of my skills.  Our neighbor keeps three horses back behind our property.  One is an older Arab, Gunner, one is her riding horse, Charlie, and the last one is a real sensitive mare she hardly rides named Frosty.  I asked her if I could work Frosty and she said it was okay.

We started at the beginning with desensitization, flexing, lunging, yielding, and the sending exercise.  It was quite fun being back out there again doing the basic exercises.  After working Frosty, Jessie and I ran through the same exercises.  It's really interesting to see how the two different horses handle everything.

Back to the Working Equitation warm up.  After we had worked on the dressage for awhile I asked Ranae if she wanted to try jumping some barrels.  Part of the Working Equitation Novice level will include jumping something "no higher than a bale of hay".  We had a few 55 gal blue barrels and decided to give it a try.

First, we put the lead lines on Dusty and I sent him from the ground over the barrels.  Good job.  We went both directions.  I don't think we had had him jump anything in a year.  Then, with the lead still attached, Ranae got on and I directed Dusty to jump again.  A couple of times over and Ranae was in the comfort zone and we put on the bridle.  She and Dusty went over great.

Then we repeated the process with Jessie.  It was fun being able to jump the barrels having to only worry about hanging on.  Well, I did give her some leg to get her moving.  It gives you a lot of confidence before trying with the bridle in.  Now I think we will be able to go a fair job on most any jump.  We still have a lot of things to work on, but we have got a good start to the New Year!