Hilarious! A friend of mine had a horse that tried the stop drop and roll during a Western Pleasure class one show when it was raining out. Call came for lope and he totally misinterpreted the announcer. Judge turned around to see her giving him a couple of boots to keep him from trying to roll over on her saddle and really wreak himself. Needless to say they didn’t place in that class.
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I’ve hosted schooling shows and have shown in these classes a couple of time as well.
I think it is great for people that may not be as comfortable showing undersaddle or maybe just doing a walk/trot intro test and wanted some more to do. We have a veteran’s division and my husband has even shown the tests a few times 
The judging shouldn’t quite be like showmanship with the mindset that the horse shouldn’t be as mechanical as some sms patterns can be. Ideally it still has dressage principles of a cooperative horse, smooth moving, good gaits, etc.
I’ve also done the long lining type tests as well so I guess I’m just weird. I liked having the goals and written feedback like in a typical dressage or wd test.
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*I have not read all the responses.
I showed in these classes with my last young horse and had a great experience and so did my horse. I showed him as a yearling in the 6 Feet tests, and as a 2 year old, we added the ground driving tests. The tests didn’t ask for more than what I trained for at those ages so it wasn’t a big deal to us.
I teach my horses showmanship as well. I just don’t like showing them in showmanship as yearlings and 2 year olds.
I’m happy to hear that people are including the NAWD tests at their shows. I used to be fairly involved in that association, and I received an email recently that they were shutting it down. They were the first that I knew of to offer virtual shows.
Thank you. Anyone who thinks showmanship is about bling and “where you stand” has no idea what is being judged in the class. In top-level showmanship, the horse looks like it’s showing the handler almost. Any cues from the handler are so subtle and the horse is SO trained and everything is SO fluid. Anyone who has tried to compete at the breed-show level (AQHA, APHA, etc.) in a showmanship class knows just how competitive it is and how difficult it is to train and show a horse that can be competitive.
This reminds me of people claiming that Working Equitation is more difficult and requires more training than the trail classes at Western breed shows. I defy anyone to even pilot a seasoned/trained trail horse through some of those technical courses. Poles everywhere and the horses are going over them like they aren’t there at all. Same cadence. Same frame. And again…virtually no visible cues from the rider who is sitting pretty while the horse does it all on a draped rein. That takes a LOT of training and practice.
I have no love for Western pleasure, but credit where credit is due: showmanship, Horsemanship, trail, and Western riding classes are not easy at all.
That said. This sounds like a cool idea for a class. Our local circuit has a dressage suitability division with under saddle and an in-hand class. It’s pretty much the triangle like hunter in hand though, I believe.
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Okay first off showmanship is not what this is at all. That showmanship is on the handler. (Yes the horse has to be prepared but It’s still based on how well the handler is doing. With this the horse is being judged for bend on a circle, in the leg yield and eventually the side pass. While yes showmanship is a valid class it is different from this class. Just like showmanship class is different from and in hand obstacle class. (No don’t suggest that for a getting a young horse out some of those local obstacle course designers are nuts).
What I see with this is emphasis on training as it applies to eventually carrying a rider with hopefully helpful comments from the judge both at the end of the test and on the score sheet. I do think the tests need tweaking to be more applicable to regular dressage.
But understand saying it is not a showmanship class is just letting people know it is not based on the same criteria. Just like breeding divisions at dressage show aren’t based on how obedient a horse is but rather conformation movement and potential. While a break in to the canter is death on a trot part of a ridden test those strides before the break on the triangle are often show the trot at is best and raise the score.
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My husband did with our then 2 year old an in hand class at a schooling show… it was like you present your mares in Germany for registration. There was a triangle and you presented the horse standing in front of the judges then you had to walk in a triangle and to trot…. They judge the appearance, the gaits and the behavior… and of course the quality of your running and how you have your horse on your aids in trot helps with the score….
my husband still talks about this class. They got rather high scores. Not sure whether it helped with show experience but I guess the practice for it and experiencing a show is always good and for a young horse it’s nice to be besides a human to go through the whole thing…
Not sure why you need a 6 feet on the ground dressage additionally… the hand class works well…
That’s the video how to do it…
This is this 6 feet on the ground
And it’s certainly easier on the handler…
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Were you responding in general or to me? I don’t see where I said these classes are like sms.
Hmmm. On the 6feet on the ground pattern.
I’m not a fan of the practice of switching directions on a long or longe line like that.
I would think for a dressage show manager, scheduling this in the competition ring, paying a judge, etc wouldn’t be cost effective.
