Dear Friends,

We would like to welcome you to Cowboy Dressage World. It has been a lifelong dream to see a horse competition that is truly governed by the best interest of the horse and the rider and where kindness, partnership and the “lifestyle code of Old West ethics” are a daily goal and rewarded. Every day with horses is a journey.

Be proud. Live it. Love it and ride it.

2016 Finals, Gathering and Top Hand

We hope that you will join us Sept 7-11, 2016 for our Gathering, Finals and Top Hand Competition at Rancho Murieta Equestrian  Center in Rancho Murieta, Ca. You will be welcomed and supported by staff and fellow Cowboy Dressage enthusiast. We will have select vendors, entertainment, amazing awards, edge of your seat competition and a guaranteed amount of laughter and good times.

See you there,

Eitan and Debbie Beth-Halachmy, Lyn Ringrose Moe, and Garn Walker

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Photo by Blue Fountain Photography

Some General Information on our 2016 Gathering, Finals and Top Hand

HShoeTClick Here for Premium and Entry forms.

 


HShoeTClick Here for Cowboy Dressage World Mission and Vision Statement


HShoeTFor more information on tests, rules, diagrams and call sheets go to www.cowboydressage.com/competition.html


HShoeTMembership With a Handshake

 


Message from Debbie and Eitan

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Cowboy Dressage® has long been a labor of love for Eitan and I. It started with Eitan’s work and performances with home bred Holiday Compadre in the early 1990’s. It is because of this great horse, his talent and his heart that Cowboy Dressage® first came to public recognition and applause. Due to demand Eitan and Compadre soon became educators as well as performers. From Eitan’s years of contact with the general horse public the idea of Cowboy Dressage® as a competition came to being.  At first only a dream it is now a reality. In Eitan’s efforts to continue on with his own personal dream and to continue on the legacy that he and Holiday Compadre founded he has brought forth his personal dressage home for the western horse.  It is Eitan’s vision that this be a western discipline that is enhanced by dressage, not ruled by it. The tests are very western. Like the early west the rules are simple and the freedom abundant. It is based on release, not contact.  Soft Feel, founded by great horseman of the past is Cowboy Dressage®’s core. It is the goal of Cowboy Dressage® to promote and teach that in a competition atmosphere, bringing it to light to a public that is in great need of it.

The competition part is new and will need time to grow and develop. It is created for those of you who longed for a place to hang your hat and live and ride the western traditions. It is our hope that each of you will embrace this new division. It is offers a place for the “partnership” to be rewarded more than the “maneuver” and the wellbeing of the horse and rider are held in the highest regard.  If you ride the trials, the range, the rodeo or the dressage court you have a place to explore and grow with Cowboy Dressage®.

Cowboy Dressage World is founded on the premise  that education and enlightenment is the core to better  horse  and human relationships. Each Cowboy Dressage Word show has a free mini clinic the day before the show starts. Happy and Kind Horsemanship is educated horsemanship.

Our Cowboy Dressage Facebook Page is full of free horsemanship education  with 200,000 to a million + views per week.


 

 


 


 


 

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yellowRibbon

It is important for our CDW Partners that Cowboy Dressage World be a part of the vast community that makes up this horse industry. It is our wish to serve them in some small way. With that in mind we have done three things. The new Cowboy Dressage court has a pink Breast Cancer Ribbon on the C.  As you enter the court you ride towards it. When you stop and salute the judge you are also saluting the C and all those women who have survived and not survived Breast Cancer. The second thing we have done is the S will have a yellow ribbon for soldiers and veterans. We encourage all shows that host Cowboy Dressage Classes to add a high point award to the highest scoring veteran male or female. If you wish to do that for Breast Cancer Survivors please do that as well.

 


 Could Cowboy Dressage be a new “Tradition” in the making…

“Traditions”

All traditions begin with an idea, often an unconventional idea.

The “idea” is practiced by a few.

It is then practiced by a few more.

This idea becomes popular and widely used.

It stands the test of time.

This original unconventional idea is now a “tradition” held in high esteem and preserved as close to the original idea as possible.

Without free thinkers and innovators there would be fewer future traditions.

When you approach a new idea that is not traditional ask yourself, “could  this be a new tradition in the making.” Time will tell…..

Top Hand

RichardHorstPhoto

Photo by Richard Horst

In the tradition of the Cowboy and the ranches of the west there is no higher compliment than being christened the top hand. All Cowboys worth their salt strive to be worthy of such a title. It is not a title given lightly nor one that is awarded to a man that hasn’t put in their time. It is a title of honor and respect. While the Cowboy needed to be a man of many skills, including some of the dirtier ground crew work, the highest skill of the Cowboy and the one most respected was the horseman. In all the skills the Top Hand had mastered, it was his skill as horseman that most earned him the title.

In Cowboy Dressage we honor the tradition of the Cowboy and the lifestyle of the West while building partnership and harmony with our horses. We believe that in order to create the ultimate horse we have to be the ultimate partner for that horse. By working to improve communication with the horse through soft feel we aim to create the perfect working partner that is soft and willing and capable and able to take on any job on the ranch or in the arena.

Creating that partnership and relationship with a horse requires a rider that is dedicated to the goal of soft feel. While it takes time to develop true partnership in a horse, a rider that embodies soft feel can cultivate partnership in any horse that he mounts. A true horseman can quickly adapt to communicate with each horse that he comes into contact with. You might say the rider that has embraced the principles of soft feel and partnership in Cowboy Dressage is worthy of being called a Top Hand.

As we in Cowboy Dressage honor the Cowboy we also honor the horseman and no skill in the horseman is as highly valued in Cowboy Dressage as the skill of soft feel and partnership. Do you think you have what it takes to be a Top Hand? Cowboy Dressage World is poised to give you the opportunity to find out.

While the end goal of Cowboy Dressage is not the competition we feel that it is right and fitting to honor the Top Hands out there that have dedicated the time and energy to become worthy of the title. Though we no longer have the ability to prove our worth while riding for the brand each season, we can get together to showcase and honor the work we have done with our horses and recognize the men and women that have made themselves worthy of being deemed Top Hand.

 


Do you have what it takes to be a Cowboy Dressage Top Hand?

If so be ready to ride at our 2016 Gathering and Finals Show Sept 7-11, 2016 at Murieta Equestrian Center, Rancho Murieta, CA.

This is a new division just for our Gathering and Finals Show. We are looking for the best of the best, a Top Hand.

Look for details to follow this summer.  We can tell you this much:

  • Premium and entries are now up at cowboydressageworld.com
  • It will be a $225 non refundable entry fee
  • Preliminary tests will be on Thurs Sept 8th, 2016
  • Top 5 high scoring open and top 5 amateur riders will come back on Sat PM Sept 10th to compete for their High Point in their division.
  • Both the preliminary and the championship tests will be judged by 3 judges.
  • The qualifying test for open and amateur divisions is Challenge walk, jog ,lope #2. See test, diagram and call sheet at cowboydressage.com/competition.html
  • Riders can ride more than one horse
  • The top 5 open riders will ride a new mystery test and will then return to ride the same test on a different horse from within top 5 . (riders will be required to switch horses. This will be determined by a draw)
  • The top 5 amateur are not required to switch horses but do have to ride the mystery test for overall top 5 placings.
  • All order of  go times will be determined by a draw
  • High Point will receive a Cowboy Dressage Saddle and Buckle. Top 2-5 will receive a buckle and Top 10 will get ribbons and horseman’s knife in both the Open and Amateur Divisions.
  • Top Hand is open to amateurs and open riders. No juniors.
  • The awards are in addition to the awards usually given at this show.
  • Final details are at cowboydressageworld.com now
  • A few select horses will be available for people who can’t bring their own horses. A program is in the works just for them.( international riders and US riders)

Contact Lyn Ring Rose Moe at lyn@lrmequestrian.com 209.747.098

  • These  competitions will be on the Challenge Court
  • Only maneuvers in the current tests will be used.
  • All riders will receive a Cowboy Dressage World Top Hand Shirt.
  • This is subject to change so keep in the loop.

 

2013 Finals   508 entries

2014 Finals   808 entries

2015 Finals  980 entries

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The Courts

Standard Court

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challenge