Before they announced virtual shows I was ready to hang up my Liberty dream for the year to pursue NATRC leisure division and the only Liberty qualifying show in Nebraska for Cowboy Dressage was the same weekend as a competitive trail ride in Nebraska. There was a lot of Leisure Rides on the schedule in Nebraska, so I was leaning towards making that my focus for the year for a few reasons, but including that since Zeke is gaited it is pretty much impossible for him to move to the next level of Liberty after Neck Rope.
The Liberty division truly is a division of its own. This means that open, amateur, and junior all compete together. So, due to the virtual nature of the shows, I am competing against Cowboy Dressage professionals worldwide. Again, it's a good thing I'm not in it to win! Even though it was implied once that I wanted to do Liberty just for the ribbons, well, joke is on them since I won't be in the ribbons against amazing professionals and dedicated students! It's very inspiring seeing all the professionals and experienced people in Cowboy Dressage showing. These are experiences and connections I would never have had the opportunity to have otherwise. I can learn from them and see how close I can get to catching them even though I don't feel like we are in the same league.
I've had to really control my inner urge to feel inferior by comparison. Some of my fellow competitors have nice courts with nice markers you can see from anywhere. I have some traffic cones, rail razers, cavaletti, and some small, tin, Hobby Lobby letters (if you zoom in REAL close you might notice that my "F" is actually another "E" because they ran out of "F"s). |
We had to follow attire and tack guidelines too. I didn't get out my fanciest stuff though, but found a long sleeve shirt, neck ware, and hat I would be comfortable in. I was glad for my blue hat that has a drawstring when we shot on a windy day! I also enjoyed using a bolo tie rather than a wild rag when one night we shot was very hot and humid.
However, my real motivation for being involved in Cowboy Dressage is a few different reasons. Being able to show virtually has really helped me pursue these.
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We discovered that an app Alex was using to record the videos wouldn't save any longer video, so our Walk 1 video was him using my phone as a "back-up" which we obviously needed! After deleting like 5 videos in the app, he was told he HAD to use the regular camera function. There is nothing more disappointing than having a good test and then realizing the video is GONE.
We entered Liberty Neck Rope Walk 1 and Liberty Neck Rope Walk 2. We got a 69.44% in our first test and a 77.38% in our second test. The competition for the liberty division was much more experienced (and mostly professionals), so I was not disappointed at all in how we did! One of them (who won a lot more in other non-sanctioned classes) even sent us a private message about how nice our test and partnership was! That meant a lot to me! It was great to watch people who have done this a lot more than I have. The learning, comradery, and support is a huge part of a Cowboy Dressage Gathering and I was glad to see it even virtually!
The second show I entered was the first one hosted by Cowboy Dressage World. This is the main organization that runs Cowboy Dressage. At first I didn't believe I could enter because the liberty neck rope walk tests weren't offered on the class list and liberty was the only division that didn't have a "test of choice" option. However, I emailed the show secretary and she was amazing and added a liberty test of choice!
Since this was their first show, things changed. This included the class list (after my request) and the videography guidelines. At first they weren't allowing you to zoom or track at all. That's why we always had the FULL court in view for the MM Connections show (since they are subject to Cowboy Dressage World Rules). For this show we improved the videography even though it meant more work for Alex. Good thing I memorized my tests because it would have been impossible for him to call and video! You can ALWAYS have a caller and a buddy horse in Cowboy Dressage--even in the virtual shows!
Their chosen method was to have competitors added to WhatsApp groups and upload videos to the group message. I remembered to download WhatsApp just in time! I've had it for work in my previous job to talk to Singapore, but apparently didn't download it onto my new phone. Then I was added to the group! I did let the show management know that by default WhatsApp downloads all photos/videos to your phone that other people send. Hopefully other people turned that feature off! WhatsApp has a size limit of 64 MB, so Alex had to do some tech magic to make our 300 & 350 MB videos MUCH smaller. However, that meant the quality was greatly degraded. The YouTube videos are full quality and the secretary had me send those to her as well. It was also disappointing that the videos of other classes weren't available to be viewed. Although there is a Facebook group that allows you to post videos after they have been judged, but does not allow scores to be posted (although this doesn't appear to be followed).
I had two entries into the "Liberty Test of Choice" class: Liberty Neck Rope Walk 1 and Liberty Neck Rope Walk 2. The only other entry I saw was from a professional in the hardest liberty test. Since I entered twice only one would count competitively. That's okay because I was only interested in getting above a 72%.
Both of my entries got a 73.333%! There was only one other person in the Liberty test of choice, so I didn't have many other videos available to watch. The scores posting on Fox Village worked really well. Although navigating to the show in the first place on Fox Village is tricky (I used control + "F") and the Cowboy Dressage World website doesn't include links to Fox Village. They also emailed out digital certificates and posted overall winners on the Facebook page. There is a Facebook group where you can post videos after they are judged, but it doesn't appear to be that popular to post videos for others to view.
For more information on showing in Cowboy Dressage World hosted virtual shows click here.
To learn more about the Cowboy Dressage Liberty Division read my blog post by clicking here.