REGION 5

By: Alex Tyson

With the exception of the Regional Championship, all of the regular B rated shows in region 5 have come to a close. We have had a wonderful, full, jammed packed season here in Region 5. With the buzz and excitement of everything still in the air, it is a good time to start planning for next year, at least in principle. Here are some things that will be different next showing season in 2022. These things have been talked about before, but it is fresh on my mind so I wanted to share with everyone.

Next year USAWE will be moving to a “Zone  Championship” model. What does this mean for members of R5?  Well, the first being that we will not have Regional Championships anymore, but instead we will have Zone Championships. The country will be broken into Eastern, Central, and Western zones. Region 5 is going to be in the “Central” zone. The Zone championships will be the big championship shows that many aspire to qualify for and compete at. In addition to the Zone Championships, the “National High-Point Champion” is going to be the title given to the winner of the national standings. Nothing really changes here, the current scores to points system currently in place is used to determine the champion, just the recognition of the title.  Lastly, all shows will be “recognized shows” instead of the A and B show distinction. Qualifications for putting on a rated show will be the same as the formerly known B show distinction.

I am really excited about this change as one of the main things I love about Working Equitation is the ability to get together with like minded people from all over. Meeting new people at the Zone Championships as well as being able to participate in a big top notch show is my idea of a lot of fun. This is also blended with the ability to receive national recognition by merit and scores, and not necessarily the ability to travel with the high point system.

I am excited to see these changes open up more showing and recognition opportunities for our members. I hope to see you all at the Regional Championship or perhaps next year’s Zone Championship!

Katie Drennen from Ohio and her horse, Mini Mountain DaVinci