This is WHY you would do well in WD. They do not seek big movers. They want harmony thru correct riding.
They are making saddles that aren’t as heavy like the DP. Saddles are pricier if custom so you’d have to find one used.
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Yes I understand why she said it. But I think it’s b******* to be told that all my work was 100% correct but I couldn’t afford the right horse so couldn’t play in that arena.
I do not want to go to Western Dressage. A long long long long long time ago I grew up learning to ride Western. I switched for a reason. I’m happy where I’m at.
Showing isn’t why I do this anyway. But I don’t think it’s a great attitude for the sport at the lower levels.
To be clear, I don’t blame the judge. She was just telling the truth. But I also don’t think they should question why people aren’t showing up for traditional dressage like they used to.
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No, they’re not. But to put it up as some sort of beacon of horsemanship is weird, when what they’re doing to the horse’s mouths is quite cruel, and is allowed per their directives.
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Directives say light contact. I’ve already defined what that is. It’s a whisper.
I never said beacon of horsemanship. I said they are much more horse friendly. Unless of course you’d like to include video of an Intro rider bouncing at the trot.
I totally get where you’re coming from. Especially because my last PRE was an average mover and just different in comparison to all of the WBs we competed against.
I still went to competitions from time to time to test our training in different environments. I just competed against myself, even if we did receive a good placement.
Some of the comments I took with a huge grain of salt, such as, “Baroque horses don’t belong in dressage competitions.” 
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Luna, I think thats a strange reason to feel discouraged. Its always work and times of struggle and difficulty for more or less anyone on more or less any horse to go correctly up through the levels.
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Where are you guys competing in dressage at with such snobby people?
I have an extremely downhill hony mare who is not a great mover, I’m not the most elegant rider (to put it mildly), but I’ve never felt discouraged at recognized shows. Granted, I don’t go with the intentions of winning but of having fun and seeing how our training stacks up against the “fancy” horses, but it made every ribbon we got really worth it. And I never felt like we were being snubbed or like we didn’t belong. I hate that there are others that feel like that. We must just have lucked our with the shows we chose (area 3, but I’ve shown in Tennessee and at the KY horse park).
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I think multiple things can be true at the same time. I don’t have a problem with the contact on a curb I’ve seen in the (admittedly brief and limited) videos of western dressage I watched. There is nothing magical about under the chin that makes it more sensitive than a mouth, and many curb straps are leather straps anyways. I’ve seen some pretty brutal pressure on snaffles. Context.
At the same time, I can see why someone can be disheartened to be told to jog off and do WD. If you want to ride true upper level movements, I don’t think WD orients towards the pinnacle of implosion and collection needed.
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This comment just blows my freaking mind. To me it’s like hearing “Quarter Horses don’t belong in cutting competitions” or “Thoroughbreds don’t belong as racehorses” (whether one agrees with racing or not, they are the quintessential racehorse).
Where did we go wrong with competitive dressage? I’d say the roots are there. Right there.
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Eh, it’s the leverage and mouthpiece differences that make it brutal. It doesn’t have to look severe to be severe, when you’ve got a 6" shank with 2" of purchase, with a 3" port.
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When TB’s were not longer the mount of most people and WB’s were heavily marketed.
TB’s got the reputation as being “too hot”…when they are really just sensitive, vs the quintessential “dumblood” of the 1980’s that was more tolerant of poor riding. Along with that phlegmatic temperament then came training methods that required “louder” aids.
Over time, TB was introduced as refining blood to WB registries. Look at the Hanoverian stood book and you will see ~4 generations back a huge infusion of TB blood.
The “closed studbooks” are still hot blood breeds…era Trakehner, Arab, TB, and Iberian breeds.
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I’m not saying it’s not possible, I just don’t see it in the (again limited videos) I’ve watched. And pair that with usually lack of nose bands, I just didn’t see any gaping mouths or really tense cheeks. I’m sure it happens. I’m not sure it happens more than we see with current double bridling in dressage 
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You don’t think it would be discouraging to be told to just switch disciplines all together?
She wasn’t saying that we couldn’t do it correctly just that he wasn’t a big enough mover. And yes I do know she wasn’t trying to discourage me but I did find a discouraging because I don’t want to switch disciplines.
Or maybe I just really am not that into showing anyways and it didn’t take much to discourage me. Lol!! Maybe. I was super proud of my horse though as he really did a great job and I was pretty pleased to get such good scores for our first few outings 
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Yep!
It was a fairly well known dressage judge in Germany that said that. Said judge has been around for awhile.
Honestly, I think my friend was more angry than I was!..and she competes/owns Warmbloods.
I just know that sometimes certain stupid/ignorant comments just aren’t worth my energy.
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I don’t know if snobbiness was the right word for it. I think the judge was trying to be kind of encouraging to us in a way, it’s just that I found it all kind of discouraging.
Overall I found that the local dressage community is pretty accepting. Or that’s who I choose to be around anyway. I have ridden mustangs, ponies, QH’s, OTTB’s and WB’s in lots of clinics with judges, BNT’s and I have to say I have not really been treated differently because I show up and work hard.
But there’s something about being told that I would succeed wildly as long as I switched what type of saddle and bridle I was using!
I’m all for how welcome in Western Dressage is. I think traditional dressage should be that way as well, more readily.
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I don’t get the two handed riding with a shanked bit…mostly curbs…either. I was always taught (40 years ago?) that a curb was the next step in a trained horse and was strictly for one handed riding. I have been fiddling around with my mare with a shanked curb. How in the hell does anybody get correct bend by asking with the rein. I can’t do it. All I accomplish is curling her neck. The bend definitely happens with the seat and legs. It has been fun to play with. Both horse and rider are old 
. We are just playing around but no way can I ride that type of bit with two hands. I like riding with the one hand. It helps my seat and is really a test of her previous training of straight and forward.
In WD, can you ride with just one hand? My mare actually likes the curb much better than snaffles. I have tried many (many, many) and her mouth conformation just does not seem to mesh with a snaffle.
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I had a judge tell me my horse was better suited for hunters and she was right…I am glad she saved me the struggle because I really wanted to compete in dressage and my then trainer sold me the horse so she wasn’t going to tell me LOL
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Yeah I mean I get the horses can be suited for other things. I don’t have big competition goals though and if all the basics are correct, who cares? I just want to enjoy my horse and better both of us along the way.
It would be different if I had huge aspirations I guess. Or if I was complaining that we weren’t winning. Honestly I would be happy if we got scores in the 60’s.
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It goes back to the difference between “I want to go to the upper levels in dressage. What type of horse is most suitable?”
vs.
“I want to ride this horse/breed. Can we do dressage?”
One would think that advocates of dressage would want to evangelize and get more riders practicing dressage on whatever they ride, as it is alleged to be the true way to athleticize and develop the animal.
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I think you need to frame this judges comments with an idea of what is their definition of success?
In this case, its pretty obvious that this judge thinks it is about competition and winning things, and that she assumes that what everyone else is about is winning things and that they will tailor their activities to that end. So the advice she was giving you was based on the fact that she thought that you must be all about winning things too.
Nor entirely surprising on her part as her life revolves around competition.
For most of us AA riders, our lives don’t. Its fun once in a while and gives some structure to our training, but for the other 9 or 10 months of the year its not that important. The horse, our relationship with it, training, clinics, trail rides, etc. are what its about and what give us satisfaction and define success.
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