Cowboy Dressage. Jessica Black
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differences? Cowboy Dressage puts more emphasis on lifestyle and the diversity of its community. Western Dressage is easier for those already on the USEF (United States Equestrian Federation) show circuit. Western Dressage relies a little more on the traditional dressage aspect; Cowboy Dressage, in accordance with its name, leans more toward the cowboy, or Western-style horse. Cowboy Dressage emphasizes its unique style that caters to the specific way of going of a Western horse, whereas Western Dressage focuses on a horse that can multitask, accommodating the bigger gaits and specific movements of traditional dressage to Western tack.
As the two disciplines have forged their own paths, growing apart in some ways along the line, the differences are becoming apparent mainly in competition rules and venues—you will find Western Dressage divisions at major USEF horse shows; Cowboy Dressage organizes its own events. Accordingly, Western Dressage has its section in the USEF rulebook, which largely applies the rules of traditional dressage to horses shown in Western tack.
In contrast, Cowboy Dressage is in the process of creating and expanding its own rules, adding to them as more and more people ask for more divisions and more tests. Over the past few years, the increasing demands of an expanding community have led to the development of guidelines for shows and judges, using classical dressage techniques and testing methods to build a better Western horse.
The biggest differences between Cowboy Dressage and Western Dressage are seen in the tests. Western Dressage has opted for an arena and tests that are very similar to traditional dressage competition. Cowboy Dressage took the traditional dressage arena and turned it into a classroom for the Western horse, resulting in a unique court with patterns scaled to the movements and goals of Western horses.
For the most part, what one notices about Cowboy and Western Dressage is that, although their rules and competitions are becoming increasingly different as both carve out their own special niche in the horse world, people from either tend to support the other. Importantly, both grew out of the vision of Eitan and Debbie Beth-Halachmy, with the enthusiastic collaboration of many, in order to offer new possibilities for training and showing, always emphasizing, above all, the relationship between horse and rider.
1.6 – Both Cowboy Dressage and Western Dressage owe their existence to the magical partnership of a man and a horse. In this photo, Eitan Beth-Halachmy and Holiday Compadre compete in Western Pleasure at the 1992 World Championship Morgan Horse Show. Although no one knew at the time, the efforts of Eitan and Compadre would sow the seeds of a new discipline.
CHAPTER TWO
PHILOSOPHY
Horse training is an art, not a science, Eitan insists. A horse-person paints the picture of the perfect horse in her mind’s eye. Then she sets out to work with the horse she has in front of her, molding him to fit that picture.
Of course, the painting is never finished, because it changes and adapts as the horse develops. No horse is ever finished. The horseperson’s art lies in the ability to see the potential in a horse, and to foster the rider-horse partnership that will allow both to work toward that potential.
2.1 – Horsemanship is an art, Eitan explains. You choose a blank canvas, and start adding colors. If you have the artistic vision of a true horseperson, you look at a horse, see what he is comfortable with and what he is going to be, and you start painting. You add each layer, bit by bit and step by step, sometimes adjusting your inner vision to the new reality of your canvas. Slowly, very slowly, the picture that began as a dream in your mind begins to emerge on the canvas.
The better a horse gets, the more idealistic the picture you hold of him in your mind. You add to the original, change it when you realize that perhaps when you drew on the blank canvas you were thinking of some other horse, not the one you are getting to know better each day. The horse you are working with will change; he will change the rider, as well, and that perfect picture, that never-reached goal, will become more and more beautiful. But, never finished. Every time you ride, you create art; art is movement made from the partnership between horse and rider (fig. 2.2).
2.2 – “The art of riding can only be found between horse and rider.” (Eitan Beth-Halachmy) Every moment horse and rider spend together contributes to their partnership, and the benefits of a carefully forged relationship will be seen in everything they do, from the show ring to the trail. Here, Eitan and Cheyenne Gold enjoy the freedom and relaxation of the countryside.
Debbie is always quick to say, “Eitan is the artist. The rest of us make it possible for him to do his art, and to share it with as many people as possible.” Before Cowboy Dressage, before the felicitous meeting of Deb and Eitan and his union with Holiday Compadre, Eitan already had a mental picture of that perfect horse. He had come to the United States from Vienna, Austria, with visions of cowboys and the Old West, and he had sought to meld the Western tradition with his knowledge of classical dressage. When Compadre responded so well to his method and began winning ribbons and hearts, the art was clear for all to see. As people began to learn about and do Cowboy Dressage, they too became artists: everyday they paint their own pictures, and work with their horses toward achieving that goal.
Zeitgeist
Cowboy Dressage has remained true to the idea of rider and trainer as artist, but it has also evolved. Deb and Eitan’s willingness to move with the times has been part of the new discipline’s success. In the horse world—any horse world—it is easy to ignore the news. Horses do not care, and horsey friends tend to be beyond politics. Horse people are so happy to find others whose eyes don’t glaze over at the mention of gaits or tack, or the latest training methods, that they are willing to overlook all sorts of things that tend to polarize other people.
2.3 – This beautiful Friesian stallion is called Knight Invader or “Vader.” Every horseperson has a list of names she is waiting to bestow on the perfectly matched horse. Maybe that horse is a delicate chestnut mare, a rugged grey gelding, or a magnificent black stallion with long rippling mane. Near the top of my list is Zeitgeist, in German, literally “time spirit” or spirit of the age: the dominating social and cultural current of an epoch. If I ever get that horse, he will have to do Cowboy Dressage, a discipline that so ably captures the spirit of our time.
Sometimes they also ignore new ideas that bring people together, define the current social environment, and have the potential to contribute to their relationship with horses and other horse people. What makes Cowboy Dressage so appealing is Eitan’s attentiveness to what is going on in the world outside the arena. Cowboy Dressage is successful because it adapts to and fits within the paradigm outside the world of horses.
The philosopher Hegel believed that people could not escape the Zeitgeist, or the prevailing social and cultural
2.4 – “No man can surpass his own time, for the spirit of his time is also his own spirit.” (Hegel)
Talking with Eitan can be a strong reminder of where we stand in history. We know from academic research, for example, that corporal punishment does not work with children. That does not mean spankings never happen, and it does not mean that anyone has found an alternative that does work, but we do know that we ought to avoid physical punishment as means to ensuring good behavior. The same goes for a horse—it is not that