I can offer a unique perspective about competing in Western and English Dressage as I am a USEF “R” Western Dressage Judge, USDF Diamond 💎Award Recipient, and actively compete in Arabian Horse Association (aka: AHA) Sport Horse Shows,
United States Dressage Federation (aka: USDF),
United States Equestrian Federation (aka: USEF) Recognized Dressage, and Western Dressage Association of America (aka: WDAA) Recognized Western Dressage competitions.
This May, I competed with my Half-Arabian mare, Glamour Girl DBA++++//, in the AHA Region XI Sport Horse Championships. This 4-day show is held at the historic Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois. The fairgrounds encompasses 366 acres of land, and was added as an historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Notable venues include a 13,000 capacity grandstand.
The buildings used by the show are brick masterpieces on the outside and very modern inside. There are two large indoor warmup arenas right across the road from the coliseum, and a large indoor arena. Competing there gives a feeling of historic importance with all of the modern amenities possible.
The Arabian Sport Horse Championships offer classes in many disciplines, Dressage through FEI levels, Western Dressage Introy-through-Level-5, In-Hand classes for Hunter & Dressage-type divided by purebred and half bred horses. There are also a large variety of “rail classes” for both Western and English horses.Classes are offered for Adult Amateurs, Juniors and Open riders. Regional Championship shows are held Nationwide throughout the summer for riders to qualify for the AHA Sport Horse National Championship at WEC in Wilmington, Ohio.
This year, AHA has waived qualifying for Nationals for all divisions, so that more people can compete.
Many state-wide Arabian Associations also offer recognized competitions that have classes open to all breeds of horses. This is a real bonus for all of us who compete in Western Dressage, as our WDAA recognized shows are few and far between in the Upper Midwest. Plus, those of us who also compete in USDF Dressage can show in both disciplines in the same weekend.
The Wisconsin Arabian Horse Association (WAHA) and the Illinois Arabian Horse Association (NIAHAC)
always strive to bring in nationally known, knowledgeable, and fair judges. Most hold several judges cards, Western and English Dressage, Sport-Horse-In-Hand, and have experience in rail classes too.
This year the Championship classes were judged by Debbie Reihl Rodriguez and Dolly Hannon, with the warmup day judged by Charlotte Trentelman, and Danielle Toscano. All are very experienced, fair, and provide educational comments on the score sheets. It’s always a pleasure to ride for them and learn from their comments.
This year was my third time competing at the Region XI Championship with my mare, Glamour Girl DBA ++++//. All three years we have won the “Championship Honors” in all of our classes. (The pluses and slashes after her name signify that we have earned all the lifetime achievement awards offered by the Arabian Horse Association for Half-Arabians. She is also a “WDAA Supreme Champion” in their Lifetime Awards Program, and undefeated in USDF All-Breed Awards from Training Level to the FEI Levels.
I purchased her as an unstarted four-year-old and we’ve had a lot of fun moving up the levels in Dressage and Western Dressage. The AHA gives us the opportunity to compete in both divisions at the same show.
The competition is fierce, yet everyone cheers for/and congratulates their fellow competitors. I find the same camaraderie at the WDAA recognized shows.
Good riding, sportsmanship, and the obvious love for our horses is what it’s all about!
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