An equestrian drill team is a group of horses and riders performing choreographed maneuvers to music. Teams typically perform at rodeos, horse fairs, parades, benefits, and drill team competitions. Drill teams are intended to entertain, show sportsmanship, horsemanship, teamwork and dedication. Competition drill at the national level is a controlled ride and has continuous forward motion. Some competition venues have set up special divisions of competition to provide for novice, rodeo, youth, gaited and special effects (as allowed at the venue) such as theme and drama. Theme drill provides a division that allows teams to showcase their uniforms, horse ability, music, and inclusions of trick riding or other variations.
Members must have a uniform appearance, including outfits, hats, tack, and flags (if used). Horses should be of the same type, e.g. stock type, gaited, or miniature, however matching horse colors or breeds are at the team's discretion. Teams can range in size from four horses (Quad team) to 20 plus horses.
At competitions, a drill team is judged on ability, including spacing and alignment, timing and coordination, originality, difficulty, and attractiveness of patterns, speed, horsemanship, uniformity, manners of the animals, music, and crowd appeal. Categories can include Novice, Youth, 4-H, Gaited, Theme, Rodeo, Quad, or Open.
The United States Equestrian Drill Association (USEDA) is the governing body for mounted drill and color guard competitions in the United States. The USEDA sanctions competitions throughout the United States. The United States Equestrian Drill Championship (USEDC) is held each June at the Texas Rose Horse Park near Lindale, Texas as part of Super Ride - an International Festival of the Equestrian Arts.
The USEDA was developed after the Washington Ladies Riding Club Association was officially established in 1980. Currently the WLRCA hosts yearly competitions, leads clinics and helps establishes rules and guidelines for other teams to learn by. Participants from WLRCA fly all over the United States, providing clinics, judging, or offering insight to this wonderous world of drill.
Equestrianism, commonly known as horse riding or horseback riding, includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the use of horses for practical working purposes, transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises, and competitive sport.
Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider.
The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade, is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day.
A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer for major, all-breed events or national and international championships in a given discipline or breed. Most shows consist of a series of different performances, called classes, wherein a group of horses with similar training or characteristics compete against one another for awards and, often, prize money.
Reining is a western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. All work is done at the lope, or the gallop. Originating from working cattle, reining is often described as a Western form of dressage riding, as it requires the horse to be responsive and in tune with its rider, whose aids should not be easily seen, and judges the horse on its ability to perform a set pattern of movements. The horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely. A horse that pins his ears, conveying a threat to his rider, refuses to go forward, runs sideways, bounces his rear, wrings his tail in irritation or displays an overall poor attitude is not being guided willingly, and is judged accordingly.
The Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) is a nonprofit organization composed of men and women of all riding levels and offers both individual and team competition. Members of the IHSA participate in horse shows. Students compete at eight levels, from beginner through advanced, with horses provided to them. The organisation was founded by Bob Cacchione in 1967 and currently has +10,000 members in 47 U.S. states and Canada. 400 colleges and universities participate in the program, where college and university team participation is represented through varsity athletics, academic departments and club sports.
Equitation is the art or practice of horse riding or horsemanship.
Equestrian vaulting, or simply vaulting, is most often described as gymnastics and dance on horseback, which can be practiced both competitively or non-competitively. Vaulting has a history as an equestrian act at circuses, but its origins stretch back at least two-thousand years. It is open to both men and women and is one of ten equestrian disciplines recognized by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. Therapeutic or interactive vaulting is also used as an activity for children and adults who may have balance, attention, gross motor skill or social deficits.
Hunt seat is a style of forward seat riding commonly found in North American horse shows. Along with dressage, it is one of the two classic forms of English riding. The hunt seat is based on the tradition of fox hunting. Hunt seat competition in North America includes both flat and over fences for show hunters, which judge the horse's movement and form, and equitation classes, which judge the rider's ability both on the flat and over fences. The term hunt seat may also refer to any form of forward seat riding, including the kind seen in show jumping and eventing.
Saddle seat is a style of horse riding within the category of English riding that is designed to show off the high action of certain horse breeds. The style developed into its modern form in the United States, and is also seen in Canada and South Africa. To a much lesser extent, it is ridden with American horse breeds in Europe and Australia.
Western riding is considered a style of horse riding which has evolved from the ranching and welfare traditions which were brought to the Americas by the Spanish Conquistadors, as well as both equipment and riding style which evolved to meet the working needs of the cowboy in the American West. At the time, American cowboys had to work long hours in the saddle and often over rough terrain, sometimes having to rope a cattle using a lariat, also known as a lasso. Because of the necessity to control the horse with one hand and use a lariat with the other, western horses were trained to neck rein, that is, to change direction with light pressure of a rein against the horse's neck. Horses were also trained to exercise a certain degree of independence in using their natural instincts to follow the movements of a cow, thus a riding style developed that emphasized a deep, secure seat, and training methods encouraged a horse to be responsive on very light rein contact.
The Pony Club Association of New South Wales is the controlling body for Pony Clubs in New South Wales (NSW) where young people can ride and learn all disciplines of equestrian sports. The Association co-ordinates, develops and promotes Pony Clubs in New South Wales and instruction for its members.
Ranch sorting is a western-style equestrian sport that evolved from the common ranch work of separating cattle into pens for branding, doctoring, or transport. Ranch Sorting is an event that pits a team of two riders on horseback against the clock. Teamwork is the key with both riders working in harmony to cut out the correct cattle and drive them to the pen while keeping the wrong numbered cattle back. There are several variations of ranch sorting with one, two or three riders on the team, but all require sorting the cattle from one pen to the other in the correct order.
Melanie Smith is an equestrian from the United States and Olympic champion.
Cowboy mounted shooting is a competitive equestrian sport involving the riding of a horse to negotiate a shooting pattern. Depending on sponsoring organizations, it can be based on the historical reenactment of historic shooting events held at Wild West shows in the late 19th century. Modern events use blank ammunition instead of live rounds, certified to break a target balloon within twenty feet (6 m).
Martha Josey is an American professional rodeo cowgirl who specializes in barrel racing. She has been in active rodeo competition since 1964. She won the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) barrel racing world championship in 1980. She has earned numerous other titles at competitions such as the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and events sanctioned by the National Barrel Horse Association (NBHA), and WPRA. She also competed in barrel racing as an exhibition event during the 1988 Calgary Olympics, and is the founder and co-owner of the Josey Ranch Barrel Racing Clinic.
Craig Cameron is an American horse trainer.
The Horse Cavalry Detachment, 1st Cavalry Division is a United States Army equestrian military unit. Posted at Fort Cavazos, Texas, it was activated in 1972 and is a subordinate unit of the 1st Cavalry Division.
The Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) is a nonprofit organization that gives youth in grades 4-12 the opportunity to compete in team and individual equestrian competition without the financial outlay of owning a horse. IEA offers competition across three disciplines: hunt seat, western, and dressage. Within each discipline, there are divisions for beginning through advanced riders. Riders compete on horses unfamiliar to them, and there are regulations for the placement of riders new to IEA to account for the unique format. IEA was founded in spring of 2002, and has since grown its membership to 14,500 members across 46 states. Teams can be formed through a school or riding stables.
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