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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Back in the saddle with dressage

The Columbian
Published:

Did you know that the Vancouver Rodeo is about to take place — July 1 though July 4 — at the Clark County Saddle Club? Held annually, the rodeo has been entertaining participants and spectators alike for 45 years. When I first moved to Vancouver some 20 years ago, it didn’t take long for me to recognize that Clark County is home to many horse-loving communities. Despite never having had much experience around horses — except for a very short horse ride when I was but a wee one and completely bewildered by the event — I am quite taken with equines. I haven’t yet made it to the rodeo for a “horse fix,” but my husband and I usually make it to the Clark County Fair, which offers, if you didn’t already know this, plenty of opportunity to be in the company of farm animals, including many wonderful horses. For a “townie” who’s intrigued by the farm life but who hesitates to truly embrace all that comes with a farming/livestock lifestyle, rodeos and country fairs are painless ways to feel like a country girl.

Another way to experience rodeo circuits, horse training, and all things equine, is to go to the library, check out some books and/or DVDs and do a little armchair riding. Taking my own advice, I browsed the collection at Vancouver Community Library and came away with “Cowboy Dressage” by Jessica Black.

I am as familiar with dressage as I am with quantum physics — which is to say, not one bit. I even had to look up “dressage” in the dictionary: “the execution by a trained horse of precision movements in response to barely perceptible signals from its rider” (Merriam-Webster).

A little more research revealed that the art of dressage has been around since the ancient Greeks, and it became an official Olympic sport during the 1912 Summer Olympics. As a librarian, I always like a little background, so there’s your mini-lesson about dressage.

Now, on to cowboy dressage, which, yes, is its own special animal (so to speak). I think I can best explain the basic premise of cowboy dressage with these two statements: it “combine[s] Western riding traditions with classical dressage concepts”; and its guiding principle is kindness. Instead of wearing the classical dressage attire — tailcoat, tie, white breeches, gloves, and helmet — the rider looks more like a well-dressed cowboy: Western hat, long-sleeved shirt, trousers, necktie or kerchief, and a vest or jacket if desired. This statement found on the official cowboy dressage website, www.cowboydressage.com, perhaps best describes its overall philosophy: “When dressage suits your needs, but a Stetson fits your lifestyle.”

The book is an engaging combination of history, equine behavior, cowboy dressage expert Eitan Beth-Halachmy’s background and philosophy regarding horse training, and practical advice on how to become a cowboy dressage rider. The fact that kindness is the guiding principle during all phases of cowboy dressage — from training to competition — endeared me to this particular form of equestrian dressage. It’s an extremely disciplined sport, but through the efforts of Beth-Halachmy and his wife, the discipline is learned by the horse through a regimen of soft approaches and rewards — concepts not necessarily used by all trainers and riders.

Horses are such fascinating animals — intelligent, willful, loving — and if you have any interest in learning how training through kindness can create unbreakable bonds between horse and rider, take a moment to look for Jessica Black’s “Cowboy Dressage.” Straight from the horse’s mouth, you need to hoof it on over to the library: I guarantee you won’t be backing the wrong horse.

Jan Johnston is the collection development coordinator for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District. Email her at readingforfun@fvrl.org.

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