Jesse and I travelled to Guthrie, Oklahoma, a couple weeks ago for the WDAA World Championship Show. As the self-designated non-equestrian, here are my observations of good horsemanship and sportsmanship as 43 diverse breeds competed head to head. We had a great time.
The event is held each year at the Lazy E Arena which is just outside of Guthrie. We had not been there previously, and I was unprepared for the size and beauty of the facility.
The Lazy E Arena Property
The entry, stables, pastures and the grounds leading up to the arenas were attractively landscaped and immaculately maintained. When you arrive at the facility, you first see it as you come over a hill. It created a similar impression to the entry to the Kentucky Horse Park, and was certainly a worthy location for the World Championship Show.
THE OUTDOOR ARENAS
The WDAA office is located in a large, covered, but open structure that also contained two 20 x 40 meter arenas, a warm-up area and spectator seating. The introductory and basic level competitions were held in these two outdoor arenas.
In Wisconsin, we always say that it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity, that gets you. Even thought it was a balmy 105 degrees both days, and even hotter the day before we got there, it was quite comfortable watching the outdoor competitions because of the shade and the breeze.
We had press passes for the Show and, on arriving at the site, we had an opportunity to meet the WDAA Executive Director, Dini Swanson, and the Press Room director, Holly Clanahan. Even though they were extremely busy with the show, both generously took time to answer our questions and to offer basic directions for getting around the site while we were there. Holly also agreed to be interviewed about the WDAA after the show, and Jesse will cover that in detail in her report.
We watched the introductory and basic competitions in that facility for an hour or more. Having driven two and a half hours to get to the Arena that morning, we were hungry, and headed into the indoor arenas for a bite to eat. Fearing it would be warm, we were delighted to learn that this huge building was air conditioned.
THE INDOOR ARENAS
The Indoor Arena Building contained two 20 x 60 meter dressage arenas and a large warm-up area. It had comfortable stadium seating on three sides. Underneath the stadium seating there was a concession area restrooms and space for retail sales.
All of the level 1 through level 5 tests were held in these two arenas. Judging stands were located at the center of the southeast end each of the arenas. Interestingly, at least to me, the two arenas were side by side, which gives some idea of how large the arena floor was
THE ROAD TRIP TO GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA
As always, Jesse will be telling you about the western dressage tests and the equestrian aspects of the Show. If I tried to write that, it would be like listening to someone with only two years of high school French trying to explain, in French, the nuances of how to make classical French baguettes. That leaves me to talk to that portion of your family that isn’t actively engaged in classical or western dressage.
I like road trips. I enjoy travelling to different parts of the country, seeing different countrysides, tasting different foods, meeting different people living their culture instead of catering to me as a tourist. When I travel overseas, I like to rent a car and do road trips for the same reasons. On this trip, we drove from Madison, Wisconsin through to Des Moines and south across the southern half of Iowa, across the northwest corner of Missouri to Kansas City and then across the state of Kansas and down to Oklahoma City.
After reaching Des Moines, I got to ride through parts of the country I had never seen, on roads I had never travelled. Traveling at the same pace as most of the cars around me, it is about 11.5 hours to reach Guthrie, Oklahoma and the Lazy E Arena. I waited too long to book lodging for the trip, and there were no reasonable places to stay in Guthrie.
The staff of the WDAA all stay at a Hilton Garden Inn in Edmond, a short drive from the Lazy E. I’m sure it’s a nice place, but, when I tried to book a room there, they only had a room that I assumed was reserved for the King of England because they wanted $900 + for a night’s lodging. The only reasonable rooms were further south in Oklahoma City, but that was further than I wanted to drive in a single day.
Instead, I booked a nice room with a pool (Jesse insisted) in Wichita, Kansas. I subsequently learned that Wichita is my wife’s favorite place name. This was about 2-2.5 hours from Guthrie, and I thought we could easily make the trip the following morning without being too tired to spend a day covering the Show. I decided that it was close enough to Kansas City to try some Kansas City barbecue, which I have heard good things about, but had never tasted.
BARBECUE, OF COURSE.
We found a really nice barbecue restaurant called, Bite Me, and I ordered a barbecue sandwich and (of course) a sazerac. The waitress came back a few minutes later and informed me that they did not have the ingredients to make my sazeracit, so I ordered a rye old fashioned instead ( which is similar but not as good.) She came back again and told me they didn’t have the ingredients for that either. I said that was surprising and ordered a beer. She then explained that there had been an accident at the municipal water plant, and the City had ordered all of Wichita to boil water. The problem, she explained, was that the missing ingredient they didn’t have was ice. The sandwich, was very enjoyable.
Driving across Iowa is like being in a rowboat with two foot waves. You spend hour after hour going up and down. The state is a giant washboard. You fly down one side of a hill and immediately have to climb back another hill and then (rinse and repeat.)
The part of Missouri we crossed was rural, often wooded, and reminded me of parts of Wisconsin. Kansas, however, once you get past Kansas City, (most of which is in Missouri), is flat.
A joke I heard when I was younger,observed that the highest point in Kansas is five feet away from the lowest point. Anyway, we got really good gas mileage crossing through Kansas. Hard to get interesting photos of mile after mile of flat. Having said that, however, I must acknowledge that I found Wichita to be an attractive city. It would be exceptional if it had ice.
Oklahoma was very scenic. Lots of hills and trees and oil wells. I would like to see more of it. We spent our second night in Oklahoma City. I had reserved a room with two beds. When we arrived, they told me that the only room left had a king bed and a sofa sleeper. I explained that I was travelling with my daughter and really needed two beds. I then learned why the hotel in Edmond had been charging $900+ for a room. Oklahoma University (in Norman, Oklahoma) is just south of Oklahoma City. It had a home football game the next day and there was a big rugby tournament in town that weekend as well. We took the room because they said they were unaware of any vacancies in the City.
At breakfast the next morning, I felt totally intimidated because three women’s rugby teams had booked into the hotel. The all-you-could-eat breakfast was incapable of feeding the crowd, so I didn’t get much to eat. These were really powerful-looking women. All of the food was gone, and the staff looked tired. Rugby, and breakfast that morning, are not for the timid.
As we got in the car to return to Guthrie, the car made a loud noise as I started to drive out of the parking lot. I learned after crawling under the car, that the wind dam (a large sheet of rigid plastic bolted to the underside of the car to cut down on wind drag) had blown loose on the trip down and was now dragging along the pavement. You cannot find a garage that copes with such emergencies on a Sunday morning. I found an Autozone parts store and asked if they had any zip ties I could use to temporarily fasten the wind dam to the bottom of the plastic bumper. The clerk said he probably had some but learned they didn’t have any loose ones. Without me asking, he offered and tore open a new package and gave me 4 of them, for free. I mention this because good deeds deserve acknowledgment. People in Oklahoma are good people.
DRESSAGE IN THE INDOOR ARENAS
Well, back to the Lazy E and the WDAA World Championship Show competitions. The first thing that jumps out at you, is that it looked like Noah dropped off one or more of every kind of horse he had at the Lazy E Arena. They ranged in size from little Icelandic horses at 12.3 hands up to 17.2 hand draft horses. 43 different breeds were entered in the show.
The next thing you notice is that there is very little in the way of a dress code. The overwhelming majority of the riders rode in western style clothes, but their outfits varied from working jeans to Rose Bowl Parade ready attire. Cowboy hats were most popular. Some,but not all, of the more advanced riders wore helmets.
Like wine, the riders were all ages from quite young to more advanced vintages. Also like wines, some riders were light and others were more full-bodied. Like wines, some of the best are full-bodied and from older vintages. I turn 80 in a few weeks, and was happy to see people my age competing and competing well.
I am learning a lot about Western Dressage because we feature at least one article about it every month. I can see why it is the fastest growing equestrian sport. The participants are truly nice people. They are nice to each other, even though they are competing with each other. The audience sincerely applauds every performance. Riders entering the arena congratulate other riders leaving the arena.
Unlike classical dressage, you are not objectively or subjectively judged based upon the breed or price tag of the horse you are riding. Any breed can compete with any other breed. Performance is based upon the characteristics of the breed of the horse, or mule, you are riding. Ponies compete head to head with larger warmbloods. Judging is based upon the characteristics of the breed being ridden and how the animal performs within those characteristics.
I saw horses that were obviously expensive competing with other breeds that do not command such prices.What mattered was the harmony between the rider and the mount as they performed the movements of the particular test. Judges award points based upon the presence or absence of this harmony. Animals that are being forced by their riders into unnatural configurations are penalized. Willing partnerships are rewarded. The sport seeks to foster animal welfare. We noted, as we watched the competition, even at level five, that riders would pat their horses on the neck, saying good boy, or good girl to reward the horse in the middle of the test. Judges have told us that this behavior is acceptable and considered as part of the harmony score.
Like classical dressage, Western Dressage has youth caterories, but it also has categories for handicapped riders. Young and old riders can compete in open classes.
Western Dressage evolved out of a belief that all horses benefit from dressage training.While there are similarities between the movement of classical and western dressage, there are movements unique to western dressage. Classical dressage evolved, as I understand it, from a desire to train military horses for cavalry. Military trainers did not place as great a value on being able to back up for significant distances, but that skill is useful for herding stock.
As I drove home from Oklahoma, I had a sense, like the feeling you get after watching the movie, A Christmas Story, that life is good and all is good in the world. I think that feeling is one of the things that riders get as they develop a relationship with a horse. I smiled a lot as I drove back home, even though it rained almost all of the way home. I’m glad we are covering Western Dressage.
