It still feels to me that my Cowboy Dressage 2017 season
just started a few weeks ago. As I’m
looking back on a year of accomplishments and growth and fond memories of my
Cowboy Dressage family it is hard to reconcile our Final Gathering has already
come and gone. If you are like me and
still reeling from the long weekend or were unable to attend, allow me to share
with you what you missed!
Though there is no doubt the temperatures can be quite
challenging in early September, there is also no denying that the gorgeous
setting of the Rancho Murrieta Equestrian Center outside of Sacramento,
California is an amazing setting for our Final Gathering at any time. The immaculately maintained facility is large
while still seeming to be cozy and close enough to attempt to stay engaged with
all the activities that are occurring across the grounds. The Cowboy Dressage World Partners and
volunteers worked hard to bring us a variety of educational opportunities as
well as fun competitions to keep the action hopping all through the extended
weekend. This is part of the reason why
our Final Gathering of the year continues to be an event that draws
participants from all corners of the country as well as far reaching regions of
the globe.
The Gathering kicked off on Tuesday September 5th
with the first day of Power Clinics and educational opportunities offered to a
lucky group of participants that could take advantage of the excellent
instruction presented by our Cowboy Dressage World Partners, Eitan
Beth-Halachmy, Lyn Ringrose-Moe and Garn Walker. Riders could attend sessions with each of the
talented horseman to concentrate on varied topics including transitions,
lateral maneuvers and lope departures.
Each of the Cowboy Dressage Partners bring their own unique skill set
and different point of view while all teaching the same basic principles of
soft feel, partnership and harmony and building self carriage in our budding
Cowboy Dressage Handshake members.
Wednesday September 6th the Gathering really got
rolling with our first day of tests ridden in 3 arenas which were manned
completely by our own home grown and instructed Cowboy Dressage Recommended
judges. It is a testament to the hard
work of World Partner Lyn Ringrose-Moe who has worked tirelessly to create shape
and guide our judges program ensuring that our handshake members continue to be
rewarded for the elements of Cowboy Dressage that we hold most important. While the tests were being judged throughout
the day there were also multiple educational opportunities to attract our
members. Australian Natural Horseman,
Ken Faulkner paired with our own veteran of Natural Horsemanship and Cowboy
Dressage supporter, Dr. Bob Miller, DVM to put on a demonstration of colt
starting and roundpen skills. Marcia
Moore-Harrison and Davalee Minden of Potlatch, Idaho provided a stimulating and
beautiful demonstration of the possibilities of building partnership through
liberty work with an eye on someday including liberty groundwork classes at our
Cowboy Dressage Gatherings. And, while all of this was going on in
separate corners of our facility, the Power Clinic sessions continued with the
Cowboy Dressage World Partners in the big arena. As if this wasn’t enough to keep any of our
handshake members busy, the vendors that bring so many wonderful products to
our Gathering were busy setting up for a complete shopping experience along the
main thoroughfares!
Thursday and Friday September 7th and 8th
were busy days of riding tests for most of our members as each horse and rider
pair did their best to show how far they had come in their own personal
journeys throughout the year. As always
each arena was like a mini family reunion with cooperation and support in
evidence for members that may or may not be in direct competition throughout
the show. Cries of “Good Luck!” and
“Nice Ride!” are common among the participants while offers of callers, buddy
horses and just good old encouragement continue to be offered to friends new
and old. One of my favorite pairs to
watch throughout the gathering was two of our youth riders. Both of these young girls have been competing
for several years but only get to see each other at the Final Gathering each
year as one is from Washington while the other is from California. They laughed and joked hanging out before
each of their tests and were genuinely happy when one of them beat the
other. When one girl would have a tough
ride the other was there to offer encouragement and uplifting words and when
one would have a good ride the other would cheer louder than the rest. We don’t have to do a thing to encourage
sportsmanship among our young riders in Cowboy Dressage. In a community built entirely on kindness
it’s just what we do.
Thursday and Friday evenings after the tests were completed
it was time to focus again on education.
Both evenings featured presentations by our Cowboy Dressage
Professionals on topics of their choice that were designed to help each of our
members in unique ways. Topics varied
from Yoga for Horseback riders to a Saddle fit and a very informative talk on
the different actions of our common pieces of headgear for our horses. Each of the professionals put a lot of time
and thought into their presentations and it is gratifying to see that just as
our Recommended Judges program has grown and thrived, our Cowboy Dressage
Professionals program is also bringing together the very best and brightest
likeminded horsemen and women that the world has to offer.
New to the Competition this year was the Cowboy Dressage
Musical Drill Freestyle Competition. We
had two large drill teams competing for the top honors and it is so much fun to
watch a group of riders exhibiting soft feel work through maneuvers in unison. I believe this will be a division that
continues to grow as more and more riders discover the joy of riding together
in formation.
And we can’t forget the always entertaining Left Hip Body
Clip competition sponsored by Wahl clippers.
Several members participated this year and the artistic abilities of our
Cowboy Dressage family are inspiring.
One of our competitive drill teams each had the same clip on their left
hip which were not only beautiful but a great way to identify the drill
members.
Of course, the culmination of our year from a competitive
standpoint is the Top Hand Competition.
While entries were down this year from previous years the same cannot be
said for the level of horsemanship. The
elite Top Hand Competition is in its third year this year and we have seen each
year a tremendous amount of growth in the skills exhibited by those riders
brave enough to through their hat in the ring.
The test scores on the preliminary rides this year were 5-10 percentage
points above previous years. The
competition could not have been closer and the riders were separated by mere
fractions of a point as they came to the top 5.
For the spectators (and I believe the riders as well) the
real excitement in this competition stems from the switch ride as each rider
draws for one of their competitor’s horses to ride a mystery test. As in previous years it is encouraging to see
that, while this is a very serious competition with big prizes on the line,
each rider is thinking first and foremost of their mount and the success of
their fellow rider. After the switch you
can see each rider explaining what their horse is like and helping them to
avoid trouble spots during the test.
This year we were excited to watch two of our returning Top
Hand riders and mounts back in the top 5.
Jennifer Purcell and Kellie Shields both rode in the top 5 last year
with their mounts, Griff and Fireman.
New to the line up this year was our first youth rider, Joy Wilcox as
well as Tami Beach and Nina Burkett.
When all was said and done each rider did a very commendable job with
obvious respect for their competitor’s mounts.
Rising to the Top of the Fields was Kellie Shields followed by an
astounding finish by Joy Wilcox. A big
shout out goes to Jennifer Purcell’s, horse Griff who has twice now been the
horse to draw in the switch successfully taking each of the riders that have
drawn him to the top spot.
Sunday the show wrapped up with the last day of tests
followed by the awards ceremony. Not
even the high temps could damper the enthusiasm as the Cowboy Dressage
community gathered to hand out 2 tables worth of awards to the hard-working
members of our community. Most of the
awards are well spread out throughout the group but you occasionally see some
of our hardworking members needing a sac to carry out all of their
winnings. The Cowboy Dressage World
Partners and gracious sponsors continue to do a wonderful job of ensuring there
are plenty of awards to go around.
So, with the closing of our Final Gathering we officially
bid adieu to the 2017 Cowboy Dressage season.
But don’t think the hard work is all over until next year! Our Partners, professionals and volunteers
are already hard at work organizing and planning for next year. The Final Gathering will be later next year
with new October dates which should help us avoid the high temperatures! More
education, events and exciting developments are in store for your 2018
Gathering! Until then, happy trails!
