Westman Dressage gets back in the saddle

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This article was published 15/09/2021 (1606 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Following a long hiatus owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Westman Dressage is returning to hosting in-person events this weekend, with an Equine Canada bronze competition and gold show at the Keystone Centre.

Board member Lori Versatel told the Sun that competitors, volunteers and event organizers alike are all thrilled to return to this format, since the last in-person competition organized by Westman Dressage happened in September 2019.

Since then, riders and their horses have had to make do with virtual competitions and clinics, which don’t provide the same atmosphere or level of excitement as performing in front of a live crowd.

“Everyone loves an audience,” Versatel said Tuesday.

“Some horses, when you get in the ring … they sense the anticipation of the crowd and the nerves of the rider and they do show a little bit extra.”

Plus, Versatel believes that getting the opportunity to interact with professional dressage judges face-to-face will do wonders for each rider’s personal development since virtual consultations can only go so far.

The sport of dressage requires a special level of precision and finesse; athletes are judged on their ability to get their horses to perform special, controlled movements.

“As riders, we train and train and train and train, but at some point we need to have somebody like our judges … assess where we’re at and make sure our training is continuing on the right track,” she said. “That’s why we wanted to go ahead with this show, why we were so committed to it.”

This weekend’s competition, named the Behlen Industries Fall Festival Dressage Show — after the event’s main sponsor — also marks the first time Westman Dressage will be hosting an Equestrian Canada gold show.

Versatel told the Sun Westman Dressage members have had their eye on hosting this kind of nationally recognized event for a while since it tends to attract a higher calibre of talent (despite fetching a larger price tag).

But now that they’ve had almost two years to prepare, Versatel is confident that their first-ever gold show will go smoothly and lead to much better things down the line.

“You have to do a gold show before you can be considered to be part of the Olympic process,” she said.

In terms of competitors, Versatel said 22 riders hailing from the Westman area and Winnipeg have registered to take part in this weekend’s festivities, which is admittedly a smaller show than average.

Versatel said this lower number of participants could be chalked up to a variety of factors, including the fact that all of their competitors, as well as judges, spectators and event volunteers, must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to take part in the event.

But even if this weekend’s festivities prove to be a modest affair, Versatel hopes it sets the stage for the spring and summer of 2022, when safe in-person competitions can become more of a regular occurrence in the region.

“And for some people, they just love the competition, they love the camaraderie,” she said. “We have such fabulous shows.”

While no official schedule has been released for the Behlen Industries Fall Festival Dressage Show as of Tuesday afternoon, Versatel said the competition will run Saturday and Sunday at the Keystone Centre’s Westoba Credit Union Agricultural Centre of Excellence.

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