Working Equitation

W.E. Third Phase "Speed" On Labor day weekend 2013 Carbon and I had the opportunity to drive up to Lexington Virginia from North Carolina to attend the Eastern Region Andalusian Horse Club's (ERAHC) annual Classic horse breed show. You may ask why would I take a Quarter Horse to an Andalusian breed show? The answer is simple, to compete in Working Equitation. Right now, WE is relatively a new sport here in the USA and most participants are Iberian horse breed shows. Yes, Carbon and I enjoyed riding with all those fancy Iberian horses. We are very thankful that ERAHC and USFWE made these classes open opportunity classes, meaning any type of breed was welcome to come and play WE. As you can see in the video below, this is the third phase (SPEED) of Working Equitation. If you missed the first phase (Dressage), here is the link to see the video. Here is the link to the second phase (EOH) if you missed that one too.. What attracted me to this new sport, is that this is the practical application of Western Dressage. This is the whole reason we do this. I find that a lot of Dressage folks forget why Classical training was first used. WE was founded on Classical principles which requires riding one handed to use the free hand to work cows or fight wars. Western Dressage was based on the same principles of teaching a western ranch horse to be guided by one hand while performing ranch duties. WE is the European equivalent of an American working ranch horse. If you are now doing Western Dressage, this is the next step in your evolution. If you are not familiar with WE speed test, it is a simple concept. Unlike the other previous phases, you are not scored on correct or proper movement. It is 100% on the clock. The fastest time with the fewest penalties is the winner of this phase. You may notice in this video that speed is not Carbon's strongest phase, but still pulled the fastest time. This was only Carbon's second WE show and he had some issues with picking up the correct lead after the jump. On a side note, we had the opportunity in meeting the president of the World Association of Working Equitation (WAWE) from Portugal "Joao Ralao Durarte". What a great learning opportunity that was. As in most of my videos, this is an educational video. We hope this will inspire you to improve your horsemanship and come and play WE with us.. If you are unfamiliar with Working Equitation, Here is a link to a little more information about WE. We would like to give a special thanks to Carol Havelka... Videographer and let's not forget: Bruce Harbin... Photographer Jeane Bond... show committee Wayne Hipsley... Judge Joao Ralao Duarte... co-judge from Portugal USFWE.... Rules/tests USAWEA...Membership ERAHC... Show Org.

W.E. Second Phase "Ease Of Handling" (EOH) On Labor day weekend 2013 Carbon and I had the opportunity to drive up to Lexington Virginia from North Carolina to attend the Eastern Region Andalusian Horse Club's (ERAHC) annual Classic horse breed show. You may ask why would I take a Quarter Horse to an Andalusian breed show? The answer is simple, to compete in Working Equitation. Right now, WE is relatively a new sport here in the USA and most participants are Iberian horse breed shows. Yes, Carbon and I enjoyed riding with all those fancy Iberian horses. We are very thankful that this was an open opportunity class, meaning any type of breed was welcome to come and play WE. As you can see in the video below, this is the second phase (EOH) of Working Equitation. If you missed the first phase (Dressage), here is the link to see the video. What attracted me to this new sport, is that this is the practical application of Western Dressage. This is the whole reason we do this. I find that a lot of Dressage folks forget why Classical training was first used. WE was founded on Classical principles which requires riding one handed to use the free hand to work cows or fight wars. Western Dressage was based on the same principles of teaching a western ranch horse to be guided by one hand while performing ranch duties. WE is the European equivalent of an American working ranch horse. If you are now doing Western Dressage, this is the next step in your evolution. On a side note, we had the opportunity meet the president of the World Association of Working Equitation (WAWE) from Portugal "Joao Ralao Durarte". What a great learning opportunity and treat that was.. Keep your eye out for obstacle #3 "livestock pen" Carbon was not sure about that little toy horse sitting in there. You will see him give the toy horse the eye. Note: None of the horses had ever seen these obstacles until they entered the arena. Remember that this is the second of three phases in Working Equitation; so keep an eye out for the last one (Speed). This test was level 4 under USFWE rules and test. If you are unfamiliar with Working Equitation, Here is a link to a little more information about WE. We would like to give a special thanks to Carol Havelka... Videographer and let's not forget: Bruce Harbin... Photographer Jeane Bond... show committee Wayne Hipsley... Judge Joao Ralao Duarte... co-judge from Portugal USFWE.... Rules/tests USAWEA...Membership ERAHC... Show Org.

The Need for "Speed" The Journey to a USA National Working Equitation Championship. Nothing like a little adversity to build character I always say. "We all know the toughest journeys have the sweetest rewards."~Patty Carlson. The need for "SPEED"! I have to admit that when I first learned about Working Equitation, I was not crazy about the speed phase. When I look at all the YouTube videos of WE, I see a lot of horses that appear that they are on the muscle. Don't misquote me; those horses are very talented and great athletes, but I think some of them can use some suppling. Up to this point of Carbon's training, it has been all about going slow and correct with our own style. Now, I am asking him to go fast, but trying not to lose that softness and style I have worked so hard to maintain. I have a few a personal goals. I said to Carbon: "If we ever do this WE thing, I want you to be noticeably soft and supple." I don't want us to look like a European doing WE. I want to bring to the table the American working cowhorse style. Well after two regional shows on the East Coast and 6 months of hard work, we have made lots of improvements. If you look at Carbon's progress, I think you will agree that he is getting better with time, but we still have a ways to go. Our next goal is to go overseas and compete internationally. It would be nice to be the first American to compete overseas. I expect that a trip to Europe will be a big learning opportunity. We went into this phase not really knowing how we stood in the standings. After placing 2nd in the dressage phase and stumbling over two obstacles in the EOH phase, I thought our chances were very slim of pulling off a championship. Carbon's best phase is the dressage and his weakness is the speed, but he gave me his best and that is all I could ask for. This little adopted Canadian PMU horse, has lots of try and heart, what a rockstar he is. Enjoy the video. I think this is one of his best runs to date. On a side note, pay attention to the gate obstacle. Boy! Carbon has struggled with this obstacle all year. He has made big improvements on this obstacle, he rocked it this time. I personally need to work on the lance more. I have yet to get the ring in competition, luckily you do not lose points for not getting the ring. Special Thanks to: Sierra Nevada Lusitanos... Sponsorship Andalusianworld.com... Videographer Moonfyre... Photographer Amy Star... Show Chair Susan Watkins ... Scribe Joao Ralao Duarte... Portuguese judge USFWE.... Rules/tests USAWEA...Membership Ellen Ziemer Rougemont Sport Horse.. Sponsorship

The Journey to a USA National Working Equitation Championship Nothing like a little adversity to build character I always say. "We all know the toughest journeys have the sweetest rewards."~Patty Carlson. Well said Patty because the journey was a tuff one, let me explain: As I rode Carbon into Watt arena in Fort Worth Texas for the EOH phase, the gate keeper kindly said, "Good luck Randy." I turned to look at her with a crooked smile and replied, "It was not luck that got me here." To play at this level it takes: planning, preparation, talent, tenacity, heart, try, desire, a support team, money, time, blood, sweat, tears, drive, patience, etc, etc… It would cheapen the win if it was all due to chance. Little did she know that I have been training Carbon for the last five years and worked the last six months practicing specifically to win this championship, but that is just part of the journey. Three days earlier, I was stuck in a little town in South Carolina looking for a mechanic to repair my truck. The short story is that it took $1,000 and 48 hours to figure out that the catalytic converter was clogged and the water pump needed to be replaced. As you can see by the picture, Carbon supervised the mechanic to make sure the truck met all safety requirements. Now that I spent my mad money, the question was, do I have enough money to make the 3,000 mile and 10 day journey to get to TX and back home? Well we said our good byes to the mechanic and drove straight through to Forth Worth. With eight exhibitors in level 4, we had our work cut out for us. All the exhibitors were excellent riders and had great horses. We were pretty much on pins and needles the whole time. At this point I trusted in Carbon's training and rode what I brought to the show. I knew he was better than he was a few months ago, but I was not sure if the other fancy horses would kick our butts. We placed 2nd in the dressage phase and I thought we received a 3rd place in speed. After knocking down two polls in the EOH phase, I thought for sure the best we could do is reserve or 3rd place. Carbon and I had no idea we had won until they announced it at the awards. Well the rest is history and if it was not for Sierra Nevada Lusitanos prize money, we would not have made it home. So you could say that Carbon earned his ticket home. I want to give a special thanks to all of Carbon's fans that watched us on live streaming provided by AndalusianWorld.com. Don't miss the video of our EOH below. We made some mistakes, but Carbon was in good form.. Special Thanks to: Sierra Nevada Lusitanos... Sponsorship Andalusianworld.com... Videographer Moonfyre... Photographer Amy Star... Show Chair Susan Watkins ... Scribe Joao Ralao Duarte... Portuguese judge USFWE.... Rules/tests USAWEA...Membership Ellen Ziemer Rougemont Sport Horse.. Sponsorship

W.E. First Phase (Dressage) On Labor day weekend 2013 Carbon and I had the opportunity to drive up to Lexington Virginia from North Carolina to attend the Eastern Region Andalusian Horse Club's (ERAHC) annual Classic horse breed show. You may ask why would I take a Quarter Horse to an Andalusian breed show? The answer is simple, to compete in Working Equitation. Right now, WE is relatively a new sport here in the USA and most participants are Spanish horse breed shows. Yes, Carbon and I enjoyed riding with all those fancy Iberian horses. We are very thankful that this was an open opportunity class, meaning any type of breed was welcome to come and play WE. As you can see in the video below, the first phase is very similar to Western Dressage. WE's first phase is judge much like dressage in the aspect that you are scored 1-10 based on the quality of movement. Because of this similarity, we were very attracted to this new sport.. Remember that this is the first of phases of three in Working Equitation; so keep an eye out for the others. In my next video will show the other two phases (EOH and Speed). This was level 4 under USFWE rules and test. If you are unfamiliar with Working Equitation, Here is a link to a little more information about WE. We hope you enjoy this video as an inspiration to WD and an educational opportunity for WE. Unlike some of the other Western Dressage videos that we have posted, this test is a little more advanced with a 15m working canter, walk canter depart, turn on haunches, and a whole bunch of flying changes. If you look closely you will see some mistakes, but we included Carbon's scores and the judges remarks to help you understand what is expected at this level. On a side note, we had the opportunity meet the president of the world association of working equitation from Portugal "Joao Ralao Durarte". What a great learning opportunity and treat that was.. We would like to give a special thanks to Carol Havelka... Videographer and let's not forget: Bruce Harbin... Photographer Jeane Bond... show committee Wayne Hipsley... Judge Joao Ralao Duarte... co-judge from Portugal USFWE.... Rules/tests USAWEA...Membership ERAHC... Show Org.