Cowboy Dressage. Jessica Black
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words that express the right meaning without any extra baggage. Words are part of what is making the tradition of Cowboy Dressage, and every single one counts.
THE LANGUAGE BARRIER
Part of Eitan’s respect for words comes from the huge obstacle that language presented in his road to success. Despite being able to communicate in four other languages (German, French, Arabic, and his native Hebrew), Eitan was terrified when he came to the United States in 1968 to study veterinary medicine at UC Davis. He hated being misunderstood, and dreaded the all-too-familiar “What?” that forced him to repeat himself to cashiers and salespeople. Laughing ruefully, Eitan recalls his Greyhound bus trip from New York to San Francisco: “I hot-dogged across the country,” because that was the one food every rundown bus stop sold, and the one word that he could speak without hearing the dreaded, “What?” repeated over and over.
When he caught the bus that would take him inland to Davis, he thought, “No more hotdogs!” But when he stood at the counter of the Dairy Queen in Davis and asked for a hamburger, the cashier could not understand him…so he ended up with another hot dog. He finally got a hamburger some days later by asking for a “cheeseburger with no cheese.” They could hear the “cheese” and figured out the rest.
Language has been a repeated obstacle in the road to success for Eitan—a huge obstacle, he recalls with a shudder. When Cowboy Dressage was in its infancy, he traveled all over with Holiday Compadre, performing in front of many diverse audiences. They both loved it. Compadre had the charisma and pride of a born performer, and Eitan enjoyed the opportunity to demonstrate his art to others. When it came to teaching, however, it was another story. Even after years in the States, Eitan worried about his accent, and Debbie had to browbeat him to speak.
When he gave his first clinic, Eitan was still struggling with shyness and language issues. He was scheduled to speak for 90 minutes before the renowned horseman, John Lyons. Eitan was worried that no one would come to see him, but people came early to get a seat to see Lyons. When Debbie checked to gauge the audience, the Coliseum was full to its 5000 seat capacity. When Eitan asked, “How many?” Deb answered, “Enough.” Then Eitan went in, saw the audience, and was terrified. His language ability, iffy at the best of times, dried up. He stuttered, mumbled, repeated himself, and, Deb says ruefully, did a horrible job. Eitan knew it and was embarrassed and ashamed, but when he rode Compadre out of the arena, he looked down at Deb and stated, “Tomorrow I’m going to be good.”
And he was. He reflected, considered, faced his inner-language demons, pulled deep inside himself, and somehow, found what it took to overcome the language barrier. The next day, he was fantastic, and it would only get better. It’s not that he never gets stuck. He still has to pause and search for a word, and maybe he cannot find that word every time. Often, he has to use a substitute, another word or expression that conveys the meaning even without the precise vocabulary he may have wanted. But, somewhere along the way, Eitan realized that body language and humor can be used just as well as (if not better than) technical language to teach people.
Over the years, he has created a vocabulary of words that can be used over and over, all about horses. This allows him to use language carefully, in ways that are less confusing than some of the more “correct” wordings that native English speakers use. It may even be that his accent helps Eitan when it comes to teaching. People have to pay more attention to him because of it, and they ask one another—and Eitan—for clarification more often than they would if they easily understood all he said. This extra focus improves their learning and retention, facilitating communication rather than hindering it. In the end, the enormous language barrier has turned into a bridge connecting him with others.
2.8 – Eitan enjoys giving clinics nowadays. You would never guess from his obvious pleasure in teaching today that he once suffered great shyness when forced to speak English in public. The language barrier was one of the many obstacles he had to overcome on the Cowboy Dressage journey.
Lifestyle
Riders and trainers as artists, Soft Feel, partnership with the horse, the Handshake, and the words Eitan, Debbie, and their colleagues at the forefront of Cowboy Dressage choose so carefully, are all just part of what has become a lifestyle. There may be few rules, but there is community, fashion, new habits, and a dedication to way of life that is fast becoming a tradition. When I pointed this out to Debbie, she replied, “Not quite, but we’re getting there. Tradition starts out as an idea, becomes an entity, then a norm that creates the tradition: people look to it as a standard.” Not rules written in a codebook, but social customs emphasizing a kind approach to training horses. A tradition doesn’t just happen, it evolves. Cowboy Dressage, born of the conscious melding of two traditions, classical dressage and the Western style, and taking the best of both, is still in its beginning. Every day it evolves as it responds to the needs of its practitioners.
Increasingly, Cowboy Dressage is about community. The first shows were organized as competitions, carefully gauged to avoid hurrying through the foundational levels, but still competitions. Over the past few years, however, the shows have tended to become gatherings, with the “competitors” themselves placing more emphasis on sharing knowledge and helping each other progress than on competing. The court is still a stage to show off your progress, and receive a score and comments on your strengths and weaknesses, but what people really want is support and a friendly, welcoming environment in which to learn.
2.9 – Indie helps drag a Christmas tree up to the barn: for Eitan, everything is a teaching moment, and it all helps build the relationship between horse and rider. Fostering the partnership between horses and riders has been the focal point of the Beth-Halachmy’s life for many years now, culminating in the creation of Cowboy Dressage. Its growing community has embraced a lifestyle that places the collaboration of horse and rider at the center of the new discipline’s philosophy.
This is a sign that it is working, Debbie and Eitan believe. It is a mark of success that community is just as important as competition, and they are striving to keep it that way. “We are a cup that is always half full, and we are always looking for ‘the try’ in both horse and rider,” Debbie explains. “We encourage judges to always look for a way to mark up, and to never critique in a way that will take ‘the try’ out of the horse or rider.”
Teaching the movements and the rules is only a small part of Cowboy Dressage. The real reason the Beth-Halachmys started on their journey was to inspire people with the same fire that had moved Eitan across two continents and an ocean. People are inspired by the beauty of the partnership between horse and rider, but also by the sense of camaraderie they are finding at Cowboy Dressage events (fig. 2.10).
2.10 – Eitan chats with students about their riding experience in a session of the Cowboy Dressage School of Horsemanship at Wolf Creek Ranch. Cowboy Dressage emphasizes communication and partnership. Its purpose is to help people progress toward their riding goals by providing method and structure, along with an emphasis on Soft Feel and kindness. “You cannot teach people or horses with punishment. We tell people what to do, not what not to do.” (Eitan Beth-Halachmy)
CHAPTER THREE
RIDER, EQUIPMENT AND HORSE
People who gravitate toward Cowboy Dressage will do so for many reasons.
Perhaps it starts because they admire what Eitan and colleagues have done with their horses. Riders may want to learn to train their horses in a similar fashion. They may like the court (see p. 115), with its emphasis on Western gaits and teaching. They may like the image, with its evolving fashions and appeal to