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Exercises at PSG Level:

Exercise #1: Flying changes across the diagonal with a 10-meter circle immediately following the change in the direction of that change. Bill had the rider execute three changes, one before the centerline, one after the centerline and one in the corner. The purpose was to teach the horse better balance, better engagement of the hind end, and to not rush forward to the next change.

Exercise #2: Trot transitions with travers and renvers, in medium trot and very collected trot. Again, the purpose of the transitions within the positioning of the movements improved balance, engagement of the hind end, and elasticity.

Exercise #3: Walk pirouettes. The focus was on control of the shoulder so that the forehand comes into the turn and leads the pirouette around. Many times, the focus is on the hind legs stepping and not getting stuck, but what causes that to happen is a lack of focus on positioning the shoulders so that they are free and properly aligned to carry the horse around without interfering with the movement of the hind legs.

Exercise #4: Half steps to improve the half pass. Travel down the long side, working on a series of transitions in and out of trot half steps. When the horse reaches the short side, turn out of the second corner and half pass back to the centerline. The half steps cause the horse to engage its hind end more and take more elastic steps in half pass.

Wallace G was judged as Region 5 Champion 4th level Open and 4th level Freestyle Open. Additionally he was named Region 5 Reserve Champion Prix St Georges Open.

Exercises at 2nd Level:

Exercise #1: Begin in leg yield position down the long side and then slowly change the bend to get haunches-in. In each corner, both before and after each long side, add a 10-meter circle. The idea of this exercise is to focus on keeping the horse in front of all the aids – legs, seat, and whip. The exercise increases the horse’s responsiveness to the aids.

Exercise #2: Canter transitions on a 20-meter circle. Push the haunches out in the walk, and then make a transition to canter. This helps line up the haunches for a straighter canter departure and counteract the tendency of allowing a departure with the haunches coming to the inside.

Exercise #3: To improve the canter to trot transitions in the 2nd level tests, lengthen the canter down the long side, bring the canter back at the letter before the corner and then immediately make a 10-meter circle in the corner. Focus on making the body follow the 10-meter circle and not just the neck. Keep the outside aids engaged to turn the shoulders to the circle. Once the 10-meter circle is completed, transition to trot at C/A. This exercise improves the trot transition without bracing against the hand. The canter circle teaches the horse to sit back and carry itself more so that a transition to trot is easy.

Exercise #4: Walk Pirouette. Begin down the long side in trot, transition to walk for about 10-meters, and then execute a half turn in walk pirouette and continue straight in renvers. The objective is to understand that the fluid movement of the shoulder coming around the pirouette is what is needed to maintain a good rhythm on the hind legs as they step around in the pirouette. Finishing the exercise in renvers emphasizes the engagement of the shoulders.

Exercises at Training Level:

Exercise #1: Canter a 10-meter circle in the corner, then go straight on the long side in shoulder fore. At the end of the long side, ride the corner focusing on the forming the horse into the same arc through the corner as in the 10meter circle.

Exercise #2: Make a baby leg yield from the center line to the rail and then ride more forward on the short side. Focus on maintaining a fluid movement in the leg yield and on a consistent, forward rhythm.

Exercise #3: Ride walk trot transitions on a 20-meter circle and then on a 10-meter circle. Focus on riding the moments after the transition and not just the transition itself.

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Exercises at 3rd Level:

Exercise #1: Begin in haunches-in on the long side, then at B/E execute a 10-meter circle and then half pass to G/D.

The haunches-in and 10-meter circle improve the half pass, making it more fluid and elastic with more engagement of the hind end.

Exercise #2: Canter a 20-meter circle, then canter that same circle in very collected canter. Come across the short diagonal and make a flying change on the long side before the corner. Medium canter on the next long side and then repeat the exercise.

Exercise #3: Shoulder-in on the long side in trot. Transition to walk, still maintaining the shoulder-in. Execute a half walk pirouette and then trot straight on that line, parallel to the long side. Repeat. This exercise improves the pirouette and strengthens the idea of maintaining a fluid and forward trot in the shoulder-in.

Bill also had a lot of great advice that he sprinkled throughout all the sessions: · A horse that is quick to your aids will be quick on its feet. · Give corrections in each exercise, but then when you repeat the exercise, trust that the horse has learned what is expected of it and allow it to happen. · Don’t brace against the horse. Half halts do not require bracing. · A horse must bend and turn. Bend is no good is the horse does not turn! · If you struggle to do a 10-meter circle, it’s an indication that your horse is too much on its forehand. · The whole purpose of the trot warmup is to get the back swinging, so you need a forward, working tempo. Don’t override the trot, but don’t under-ride it either. · Transitions are not down or back; they are simply a change to something else. · Don’t ride a lazy transition! Transitions are not a break. Ride an 8.0 transition, and then take your break.

And one final piece of advice from Bill came in the form of a question. He gave a rider a “pop quiz”, putting her on the spot to ride through her test. The rider had the test read to her and when the test was finished, Bill said it was a good test, but he asked this question of her.

“You rode the test, but did you really ride the horse?”

His point was that as riders, we need to know our tests well enough that we can focus solely on riding the horse to the best of our ability. If we don’t know the test, we spend too much energy on just riding the movements of the test and not really riding the horse.

“A beginning rider wants to work on intermediate horsemanship, an intermediate rider wants to work on advanced horsemanship, but an advanced horseman works on the basics. ” ~ Unknown

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: JENNY JOHNSON, THE DRESSAGE FOUNDATION TEL (402) 434-

The Dressage Foundation Awards Grant to USDF for Judges’ Clinics

November 8, 2022, 2022 – For over 30 years, The Dressage Foundation (TDF) has provided financial support to the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) and its members, thanks to the generous support of donors. Through its Edgar Hotz Judges Fund, TDF is proud to support the USEF/USDF Judges’ Mini Clinics, which provide continuing education for USEF Licensed Dressage Judges. This was the second year in which USDF hosted Licensed Dressage Judge education activities, as training and education for judges was transferred from USEF to USDF in 2021. TDF awarded USDF a $4,800 Edgar Hotz Judges Fund grant for the six clinics that were held across the country in 2022. A total of 104 judges attended clinics in California, Georgia, Kentucky, New York, Texas, and Virginia. Clinicians included Lilo Fore, Kathy Rowse, Jane Weatherwax, Gary Rockwell, Jeanne McDonald, and William Warren. Katherine Robertson, USDF Education Director, said, “I would like to thank TDF for their continued support in the education of not only our judges, but the dressage community.” The Edgar Hotz Judges Fund also continues to provide grants of up to $800 to USDF Group Member Organizations that host Continuing Education in Dressage Judging Programs. Annually, TDF offers nearly $10,000 for the education of judges from its Edgar Hotz Judges Fund. For more information about The Dressage Foundation or to make a donation, visit www.dressagefoundation.org or contact Executive Director Jenny Johnson at (402) 434-8585 or

The Dressage Foundation

The Dressage Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, tax-exempt, donor-driven organization that is dedicated to educating, supporting, and advancing the sport of dressage. The organization solicits contributions, appropriately allocates the donations, and awards grants to dressage riders, judges, instructors, breeders, high-performance teams, nonprofit equestrian

Things are finally starting to feel a bit more normal in the horse world, if not slightly more expensive sadly. Thankfully, horse shows and clinics, have gone well and had good attendance. Congratulations to everyone who competed this year and we’re also super proud of those of you who may not have competed, but met the goals you set for yourself in your riding and other facets of your life.

The USDF Convention is just around the corner and it’s time to set some time aside in your busy schedules and perhaps consider joining us in Lexington, Kentucky. The convention is a great opportunity to network with other dressage enthusiasts, breeders, trainers, riders, and officials. The convention schedule has been posted online at www.usdf.org so that you can start to plan out the meetings and educational sessions you would like to attend. We have gone back to a comprehensive awards banquet, honoring our members’ many achievements and the USEF Forum is always a must do to stay up-to-date on new rule changes and proposed rule changes.

We are hosting a Region 5 meeting prior to the USDF Convention on November 22nd at 7pm. Here is the call information: Topic: USDF Region 5 Pre-Convention Meeting Time: Nov 22, 2022 07:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89155825673?pwd=aStSakIyNFBGai9MbVJncWFzbUQ5Zz09 Meeting ID: 891 5582 5673 Passcode: 463870 All members of Region 5 are welcome to join us. This will be a bit more of a working meeting, touching base with our committee representatives and GMOs, as our meeting during the USDF Convention will have some time set aside for issues to come before the Board of Governors and other USDF business.

A reminder that your Participating Member Delegates to the USDF Convention for 2022 are Joan Clay, Cecilia Cox, and Sally O’Dwyer. Please contact them or myself if you have any concerns regarding items listed on the BOG agenda or anything you would like to have brought forward at the Regional meetings before or during the convention.

We’re hoping for some new and diverse bids for the 2024 championships. I’d love to hear from any interested parties as soon as possible so we can get you a list of the information that is needed for those bids. The bid document should also be published soon on the USDF website. All Regional Championships still must be held by mid-October since the winners of all divisions will continue to feed into the Nationals Championships.

Joan Clay and I will be hosting a USDF Region 5 FEI Jr/YR call for 2023 on November 1st at 7pm MDT. We are going to be getting information on who's interested in declaring, but most importantly, what we can do to start fundraising efforts for Michigan. Below is the call-in information: Topic: 2023 NAYC Meeting Time: Nov 1, 2022 07:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81852095858?pwd=dEFCWGZiYjhZSS9UQTRFV3N6aFFVUT09 Meeting ID: 818 5209 5858 Passcode: 848181

I hope to see many of you on our various upcoming calls and please do consider joining us at the USDF Convention!

Till next month! Heather Petersen

Region 5 Director

ADA Futurity

Call out for Nominations Please see https://azdressage.org/ada-futuritycompetition/ to nominate and show your 4, 5 or 6-year old at the Spring Celebration 2023 at West World in Scottsdale. The first/early deadline is Oct 1st Late fee is $120 up to date of Futurity. Call Susan at 315.558.2938 with any questions

ARIZONA DRESSAGE ASSOCIATION

October Board Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 6:04 p.m.

Officer’s Reports:

1. Directors/Alternate Directors Present: Tania Radda, Cynthia Ganem, Susan Skripac, Nicole

Zoet, Meike Zoet,.Kadriya Mussina-Sallus, Jarred Sallus 2. Directors/Alternate Directors Absent: Heather Lynch, Michell Combs, Allana Almgren, Kathy

Smith. 3. Guests: None

4. Treasurers’ and Finance Report –

Operating Account $ 27,260.24 Debit Account $ 4,331.52 Reserve Account $ 11,660.98 more to reach our goal to cover catastrophic losses Pantano $ 11,732.61 Cash $ 400.00 Total Assets $ 122,063.39

5. Recognized Shows (1st VP) – Fall Fiesta and State Championships are scheduled for November 5th & 6th. Entries are now closed. Western Dressage and Schooling Show at Westworld are scheduled for October 29th at Westworld. Entries are still opened. 6. Schooling Shows (2nd VP) – The annual Members Only Schooling show took place at Westworld.

The club still does not have a venue for more schooling shows in our area. We are checking with

Westworld for a possible show in February.

Standing Committee Reports:

7. Membership Committee – 257 2022 ADA/GMO Members, 33 new members in 2022-28 adults and 5 J/YR, 212 Members Renewed in 2022, 198 Adults, 14 J/YR- 12 returning Members, 11 adults 1 J/YR. 85 2021 ADA/GMO Members have not yet renewed for 2022. 80 adults and 5 J/YR. Sign up for the 2023 is live and working on the ADA website.