The Dog Days of Summer Western Dressage Show
As we continue to train our horses and get more involved in the western dressage discipline we sure are grateful for all the people that make the shows possible. There are so many people behind the scenes that do all the paperwork, registrations, arena prep, scheduling, booking venues, finding judges, and they all have one thing in common. They do it with a big smile on their faces and expect no recognition in return. To all these people behind the scenes we want to say… Thank YOU!
Last Saturday we got to take full advantage of a show that demonstrated the hard work of these people behind the scenes. We loaded up three horses of Sells Lake Ranch and headed down towards Minneapolis to the Dog Days of Summer Western Dressage Show. It is such a well organized venue where horses and riders feel minimal pressure. At the show of the three horses we brought, they all made qualified rides if we wished to continue towards Western Dressage Nationals in Guthrie, Oklahoma on September 26th through the 30th.
The show was filled with happy people and happy horses each riding out of the showing pens feeling accomplished with their rides. For those not familiar with western dressage, it is a judged event based on the performance of the horse, and the connection of the horse and rider. It is a good way to get out, dress up, and enjoy quality riding. One of our horses rode in the walk trot classes, one in the basic level, and one rode in levels basic through level two. We are especially proud of Kim and Lady who have only been riding together for the last three weeks. We had a front row seat while Kims previous show experience from twenty years ago began to surface! Way to ride you two!
Riding in a judged event is an opportunity to take your score sheet no matter where you’ve scored and go back home to the training pen to work on progressing. At the ranch our focus is always progress and not perfection. This mindset helps keep the horse enjoying its jobs and show experiences. Spending adequate time training and progressing is a constant. We continue meeting people in the horse industry who would love the experience of showcasing the skills of themselves and their horses.
Are you interested on working throughout the winter, preparing you and your horse to show? Sells Lake Ranch is currently accepting limited training applications to those committed to coming out of this winter ready for the shows. We will be offering limited long term training packages which includes lessons with your horse, on site coaching, as well as hauling your horses to the shows. We are excited to be building the Sells Lake Ranch show team and look forward to being part of your western dressage journey! For more information contact levi@sellslake.com or call 320-496-4136 today.