The Non-Disparaging Western/Cowboy Dressage Thread

[mvp]

If you wanna talk smack about Cowboy Dressage or Western Dressage, take it to the Dressage Forum.

This thread is about the potential in those disciplines and how to improve 'em.

My view on the question of gaits-that-won’t-fly in DressageWorld but do get seen in some quarters of WesternWorld or W/C Dressage:

It will get better. Also, I think that the Westerners will be able to see the point of asking for pure gaits (if they don’t already).

And a question:

How do you reining types teach the spin? I know you want a planted inside hind foot. Dressagers doing a pirouette don’t. But there is a progression to teaching both “finished” moves. Being from EnglishWorld, I don’t know how you reiners do it. Watching a Western Dressage video, the test asked for a 1/2 turn on the forehand, followed seamlessly by a full turn on the haunches. It looked messy to me. Is that a legitimate stage in the progress of a reining horse?

[sorrelfilly721]

I’m not a reining pro, but I did a little bit of it back when. I used to start with small forward walk circles (or trot), briefly stop the forward motion and with the “outside” leg at the girth, ask the horse to take a step or two around. The idea was to teach the horse to step in front of the other foreleg, not behind. I would just work that over and over and as they got better at crossing over correctly, I would use more leg to ask for a little more speed. This way I got a nice correct spin with the speed instead of the horse hopping around it’s hind legs. Don’t know if that’s how everybody does it, but that’s how I did (and do).

[NoSuchPerson]

I wish people would stop posting stuff about western dressage over in the dressage thread. All it ever does is cause a fuss.

Although I just added to the fuss by posting in the cowboy dressage debate currently going on over there, so I guess I’m guilty, too.

[IndysMom]

cowboy dressage

Heck, now I’m going to have to go over to the dressage forum and see what’s going on!