November/December 2017 Central Plains DressageNews 3

Lidia Taylor has been teaching for 20+ years, working with horses of all breeds and riders of all backgrounds. Her journey in Working Equitation started in 2016. Since then, she has been continuously advancing her education in this sport by au-diting and riding in clinics and attending a judge’s seminar. She is currently working on her “L” judge’s license for Working Equitation , as well as Technical Delegate certification. Photo: Holly Luke

Tamara Mayo and her Friesian, Mantreh, during the Freestyle Festival November 11 at Valley View.

A Working Equitation Primer for the Dressage RiderDoes Working Equitation look exciting but a bit intimidating? Fear

not! This primer will set you on the right course.

By Lidia Taylor

Perhaps you have noticed over the past year that a new dressage-based sport is taking hold in Oklahoma—Working Equitation. Maybe after reading an article in a newsletter you did a little internet research and found some amazing videos of international competitions with riders

on gorgeous Iberian horses riding one handed in the traditional tack, making an intricate obstacle course look effortless. And, just maybe, this is something that seems exciting and you would really like to try it, but it all looks too complicated and a bit intimidating. Fear not! Working Equitation is accessible to riders of all levels and backgrounds, and, since you already train traditional or Western dressage, you’ve been practicing for Working Equitation without even knowing it!

Let’s take a look at the basics of Working Equitation and how it relates to and differs from dressage.

Continued on p. 4

Fun, No Pressure at the Freestyle FestivalMarta and Basil make their Freestyle debut at Valley View

By Marta Koenig

I have always wanted to do a musical freestyle, but every time I thought about it I was overwhelmed about where and how to start. This spring Basil and I went to a freestyle clinic. It was very fun and the clinician gave us music that was bouncy and suited Basil. She also gave us a basic first level cho-

reography. We got home and I was still a bit overwhelmed about how to put it all together. Fortunately, my son-

in-law, Zach Winters, is a professional musician with lots of editing software. I gave him the music and he did the cutting and pasting magic. Basil and I started trying to ride it and we edited the routine a few more times. Zach was very patient. Then it was down to the part where I had to know the music well enough to slow down or speed up to be at the right place when the music changed. That was harder than I thought.

To have a fun, no pressure place like the Freestyle Festival at Valley View to make our debut perfor-mance was perfect. It was a lovely day of family and friends, encouragement and applause—with a pot luck lunch at the end! It was an experience that put a crazy smile on my face and a song in my heart!

Thanks to everyone who put their time and effort into giving Basil and me a place to realize a long-held goal.

4 Central Plains DressageNews November/December 2017

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If your flat work is solid, chances are obstacles will not be a problem. Photo: L. Taylor

WHAT IS WORKING EQUITATION?

Working Equitation is a sport based on mounted cattle work traditions of several southern

European countries. Working Equitation celebrates the working cow horse tradition of every nation, from Australian stock riders to American cowboys and Spanish Vaqueros.

The first Working Equitation interna-tional competition was held in 1996, and

since then the sport has steadily gained popularity around the world.

There are four trials that make up Working Equitation competi-tion: Dressage, Ease

of Handling, Speed, and Cattle Trial. The last one is usually only found at regional competitions.

You have a leg up on many other riders, as you train your horse according to dres-sage principles already! Working Equi-tation dressage is a bit closer to Western dressage since it requires working gaits, not the maximum expression of all gaits as traditional dressage does.

In 2016, the Confederation for Working Equitation introduced a unified rule book and 7 levels of competition plus Children’s Level, accommodating riders of all levels. There is only one dressage test per Level. (See sidebar for a description of levels.)

Similarities between traditional and Working Equitation dressage:

• You may show in your dressage tack and attire.

• Tests of all levels are ridden in the small dressage court.

• You may have a test reader through Level 3.

• Tests movements are similar to the traditional test: transitions, circles, diagonals, lateral work, all what you would normally perform at a com-petition.

• Scoring is the same:10-point system with half points awarded for each movement, plus collective marks (though the scores are often a bit lower than in traditional dressage as special attention is paid to the quality of contact/connection, quality of bend/straightness and engagement).

Differences between traditional and Working Equitation dressage:

• You may use snaffles, curbs, bitless bridles, sidepulls, bosals at any level.

• You may ride one or two handed re-gardless of bit type (i.e., you may ride on a curb two handed, or on a snaffle or a bosal one handed). The highest 2 levels must be ridden one handed.

• The horse is expected to stay on the bit and show a certain degree of en-gagement right from the Intro level.

• No horses under 4 years old may compete at any level, horses must be at least 5-years-old to compete in In-termediate divisions and 6-years-old to compete at the Masters level.

EASE OF HANDLING

Obstacles is where most new riders get a little bit intimidated, both with the prospect of performing

them and trying to figure out how to come up with practice obstacles.

First, remember that Working Equitation has dressage at its core; if your flat work is solid, chances are the obstacles will not be a problem. As for practice, all you really need are some cones to mark where barrels or vertical poles would go; if you already have ground poles or cavaletti you can use them for introducing side pass and to mark rein-back corridors; if you have access to jump standards you can fashion a rope gate.

I find that the only obstacle that cannot be imitated by anything a dressage rider already owns is the garrocha (the 8’-11.5’ pole used to work cattle). You would need an open-ended barrel, made of any material; luckily, barrels can be readily found on Craiglist for $20 or less. And any local hardware store should have 1.5” pine dowel that you can cut down to any length you wish.

A word of caution about practicing the obstacles: the obstacle work is incredibly taxing on the horse. For example, most circles and half circles you will perform in order to execute Working Equitation ob-stacles will ideally be 3-4 meters in diame-ter. That’s half the size of the smallest volte you are asked to perform in dressage tests, therefore it requires much strength and suppleness from the horse, which should give more focus to your dressage work!

In addition, an Ease of Handling course will have you perform a huge number of transitions in a very short period of time: that’s a very practical application of the advice you hear all the time to ride 100 transitions every time you school. The Ease of Handling course will certainly motivate you to do so, as there is no way to get a good score without good transitions.

To give you the sense of just how many transitions you’ll ride: in the short ver-sion of parallel slalom with 5 poles (in a competition you can have 7 or more) if you were to perform the obstacle at the Novice B level (canter with the change of lead through trot) you will end up with 8 changes between gaits and 4 changes of bend, all in less than a minute.

Recognized obstaclesLet’s take a closer look at the obstacles;

there are 19 of them that are recognized internationally and have standard recom-mended measurements.

Even though all obstacles are complex and test many skills, to more easily relate them to your dressage work, I loosely grouped them by the main skill tested.

Transition-based Obstacles:• Bridge• Earthenware Jug• Switching Glass from Pole to Pole• Bell Corridor• Water DitchTo earn a high score on these obstacles,

you have to execute prompt and balanced down transitions either to walk or halt; if you halted, you would have to have a square and immobile halt even while you are moving around, and you have to exit with a prompt and balance up transition.

I am sure you already have been practic-ing all this, starting with your halt at X!

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Photo: Pixabay

Bend-based Obstacles• Livestock Pen (20’ diameter)• Slalom (change of bend every 20’)• Parallel Slalom (10’ half turns and

changes of bend)• Drums • Figure Eight (10’ voltes in ideal exe-

cution at the highest level)Correct bend is of utmost importance

starting with the Intro Level. Voltes execut-ed correctly, without loss of balance and loss of hindquarters, correct geometry, effortless change of bend and suppleness demonstrated equally on both reins will be rewarded by high scores in Ease of Handling, just as it would on your regular dressage test.

Lateral Obstacles:• Rounding of obstacles (slalom rein

back)• Gate (both forward and backward)• Backing in L• Sidestepping over the pole

This group might be a bit of adjustment as not all dressage riders practice sidepass and full pass. But if you already working on leg yields and the horse understands lateral movement, increasing the angle should not be too difficult.

The same with the rein back. While straight rein backs are normally practiced, I find that very few riders back on curved lines. Rein back on a volte is a traditional

classical exercise and Ease of Handling will give you proper motivation to include it into your schooling.

The gate is really a combination of turns on the fore- and hind-end, a few steps of rein back and square halts. As you see, yet again, you already have a leg up on most of this work.

Maintaining gait/line of travel obstacles• Straw bale Jump• Bank• Remove the pole from the Barrel• Skewer the Ring• Replace the Pole in the Barrel

Three of these obstacles involve the pole (garrocha) and will require you to get com-fortable handling it. I find that it does not take long to make the horse comfortable with the pole. If anything, dressage horses take to it more easily than many others if they are lunged regularly and used to a long stick moving all around them.

A short session on the ground will reas-sure your horse that the garrocha is just another tool and nothing to be concerned about. A jump might sound intimidating, but it is limited in size to a bale of straw, which is not far off a canter cavaletto, and the same goes for the bank. Eventers might have an upper hand on this group!

The true test of your dressage training actually comes in Ease of Handling. At any level, the course designer may (and very

often DOES) choose to place one or more obstacles between picking up the garro-cha, skewering the ring, and replacing the garrocha. Yes, it means exactly what you think it does: Now you must perform all obstacles riding one handed, and not only that, but carrying a pole in your free hand (which means you are not able to adjust your reins).

As dressage riders, we pride ourselves in riding with invisible aides and primarily off our seat and leg. Unfortunately, not enough riders actually test this claim by incorporating one-handed work in their rides. You cannot fake correct work with a pole in your hand; if you accept the chal-lenge and give it a try, it may expose a few holes in your training you did not know you had.

The Seven Levels of Working Equitation Competition

Children’s Level – for children ages 8 to 13Very close to Intro level. Ease of Handling is ridden at walk and trot, the rider may walk between obstacles. There is no Speed trial.

Level 1 (Intro)Walk/trot, the rider may rise or sit the trot. Horse is ex-pected to be on the bit. Trot/halt, halt/trot transitions are required without walking steps. Five-meter walk half circles. Ease of Handling is walk and trot, the rider must trot between obstacles. There is no Speed trial.

Level 2 (Novice A) Walk/trot/canter, the rider may

rise or sit the trot. Roughly, Training Level equivalent; there are no changes of lead in canter. Ease of Handling is ridden at the canter between obstacles and at walk and trot on obstacles.

Level 3 (Novice B) Walk/trot/canter with chang-es through trot, sitting trot. Fifteen-meter canter circles, 10-meter trot half circles, trot leg yield, walk turn on the haunches. Ease of Handling is ridden at the canter between obstacles, and walk, trot or canter on the obstacles, chang-es of lead through trot.

Level 4 (Intermediate A) Walk/trot/canter with simple

changes. Roughly, Second Lev-el equivalent; collected and me-dium trot and canter, 10-meter trot circles, 15-meter canter circles, canter halt transition.

Level 5 (Intermediate B) Walk/trot/canter with flying changes. Canter/halt transi-tions. Half pass at the walk, walk ½ pirouette. Ease of Handling is canter, with some obstacles ridden at walk, sim-ple changes of lead.

Level 6 (Advanced) Walk/trot/canter with fly-ing changes. Must be ridden one-handed. Eight-meter circles at the walk, walk pir-ouettes, walk half pass. Rein back into canter. Working half

pirouette in canter, 4-loop ser-pentine in canter with changes over the center line, extended, medium and collected canter on circles. Ease of Handling: canter with flying leads of changes with walk on some obstacles.

Level 7 (Masters) This is an International Level, competed around the world, ridden one handed. It is essen-tially a musical freestyle; letters are removed from the court, there is an order of required movements, but the rider may arrange them anywhere in the arena to show their horse off. There is an 8-minute time limit.

6 Central Plains DressageNews November/December 2017

Photo: N. Spring

SPEED

Speed Trial: Do not be intimidated by it! Speed can be as fast or as slow as you wish—it is, literally, an “every-

thing goes” round: any gait, any speed, use of voice is allowed and you don’t have to worry about correct bend, leads, geom-etry etc. Often times, it is faster to take a shorter line with a few strides of trot that a longer canter around.

A conservative ride often places well, as riders who go very fast also take the most risks and often incur penalties for bump-ing obstacles, lose time due to dropping objects, and sometime disqualify if they miss an obstacle in excitement. And a rider that completed all 3 rounds cannot be placed below a rider that did not. Many riders use Speed as a second chance to practice their Ease of Handling, particular-ly if they are just started a new level.

(Speed Trial is not offered in Children’s and Intro Divisions.)

GETTING STARTED

I hope I convinced you that you have all the tools already to give Working Eq-uitation a try. Not only it will put your

dressage skills to test, it may well motivate you to train with more focus as any areas where training is lacking will be exposed.

The Working Equitation community is very diverse and supportive. We all come together in our love for this fun and chal-lenging sport. To get started, keep an eye on the Central Plains calendars. There are some schooling shows already scheduled for 2018 and other educational opportuni-ties might be added.

You might want to join Working Equita-tion Oklahoma (find them on Facebook), the organization responsible for bringing Working Equitation to Oklahoma several years ago. WEOK has a schedule of clinics with top riders and judges, schooling and rated shows. WEOK will accept scores from Central Plains schooling shows for their Year End awards.

As this primer is meant to be a gener-al guide to the sport, please visit http://ConfederationWE.us to find the complete Rulebook, all dressage tests and descrip-tion of obstacles.

As you know, awareness is the first step to improvement. If you happen to find a problem, you will be able to solve it by modifying your training, making sure that your horse is truly light on all your aides and that you are using your seat correctly to help him. I bet your dressage scores will improve as a result!

Questions? Contact Lidia Taylor(405) 655-2988DressageForEverybody.comLidia@Dressageforeverybody.com

ABOUT LIDIA TAYLOR• Currently working on her “L” judge’s

license for Working Equitation, as well as Technical Delegate certifica-tion.

• An American Riding Instructor’s As-sociation certified Level II instructor in Dressage, Driving and Recreation-al Riding and Level III in Western Dressage

• Graduate of the Western Dressage Association of American Train the Trainers course

• Graduate of the Confederation for Working Equitation Judge Seminar and practical training.

• Learned (and continues to do so) the all-important basics of dressage from Mr. Karl Mikolka, the former Chief Rider of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna