Just so’s you know… we went to the WDAA World Championship show last month in Oklahoma and had a GREAT time! My little mare got nice prizes including a world and reserve world title, and even though she’s a not-lots-of breed, we were treated very fairly by the judges.
The best part, for me, was just how nice everyone was. The show ran really well (they used www.showsecretary.com and they were terrific!) and the facility was nice: Lazy E in Guthrie, OK. Two very big arenas, one a coliseum type, and good footing. They even had little round pens on their pasture grass for grazing!
Weather was really nice. Judging was fine: the scores ranged from quite high to quite low range depending on the judge, but each judge’s scores and comments seemed quite consistent per each judge. (In other words, you might get a good prize under one judge in a level with a 65% on one day, and a similar prize in the same level under another judge with a 75% the next day… but the better rides each day were judged in a consistent scale for each judge.)
People had FUN! There was lots of cheering for each other, appreciation for nice rides regardless of the horse or rider, and lots of good extra activities. LOVED having our scores posted online generally by the time we were untacked after a test… that was amazing.
Not sure where else on the planet you could have a class (and lower levels were BIG- 20-30 horses or more in almost all of them)) with a few Paints, Quarter horses, Arabs and Arab crosses, Morgans, maybe a Gypsy and a Fjord, a mule and a POA, all competing with each other on a level playing field and each getting marks appropriate for the quality of gaits and performance tendered in a test.
My trainer friend and I had a conversation on the way home: how long, we wondered, will this relatively new sport stay ‘pure’ without extreme gaits and styles starting to be rewarded, and some breeds or types of horses no longer being competitive? Hopefully the charm and fun of WDAA will last a long time still.
We also wondered if a qualifying system will be in place soon, because the 4 day show (3 days of tests and first day of suitability type classes) seemed maxed out with tests being ridden in all 4 arenas from 7:30 until about 5 every day. It was a very full, but very delightful, show.
Many thanks to the WDAA, judges, and show committee for putting on a very nice event. We plan to return (almost 2,000 miles!) and our enthusiasm for western dressage around home has been heightened as well.
