Where are all the western riders ?

Ontario, is mostly dominated by English equestrian sports. This has always been true as far as I've known.
But that's no excuse for the total lack of western disciplines.
Ok, we have our reining association, and the rodeo association. But where are all the western pleasure groups ? Non pro circuits ? Why is it we the western community are so wide spread and un-connected ? Every other English discipline has it down. Any google search will show you that.
Even just to look for a western stable or slightly western something brings up slim pickings.

What gets me the most upset, our own federation does not seem to care (OEF) there's hardly anything listed.

For us western riders, coaches, stables and all around fans I think we need to do something. Get a little more organized. More interest in what we do and why we do it. More shows! More fun! More general, accessible knowledge for all about our wonderful sports.

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Permalink Reply by OEF on November 21, 2013 at 2:09pm

Carly, we’re disappointed to read that you feel the Ontario Equestrian Federation isn’t adequately supporting the Western riders in this province. While we acknowledge that there is still more work to be done to support and promote this discipline, we would like to remind our Western members of some of the things we are currently doing:

We offer the Learn to Ride program for Western riders who want to challenge themselves to reach new levels.
We administer the certification process for Western coaches and list Equine Canada certified Western coaches on our website (www.horse.on.ca).
We included Western content in our Guide for New Riders, which is a guide we distribute to horse enthusiasts of all ages to help them determine if riding is right for them and how to get started.
We endeavor to include Western images and content in WHOA! the official newsletter of the OEF. We regularly include articles from the Ontario Reining Horse Association, Ontario Cutting Horse Association and the Ontario Quarter Horse Association.
We offer the Western version of P’Tit Trot, an introductory program for children five years of age or older who love horses and want to learn about riding and caring for horses.
We promote numerous stables that offer Western coaching and training through our OEF Horse Facilities program.
The OEF Youth bursary is open to Western riders.
The OEF sent a Reining team to compete at the Canadian Interprovincial Equestrian Championships this fall.
We organize Western clinics. Among the many clinics we offered in 2013 was a Western Instructor of Beginning Mentoring clinic and a reining clinic.
We always include Western demonstrations during Toronto Horse Day, an event on the first Saturday of June each year that is designed to introduce riding to the public.

In addition to the programs we offer to Western riders and the promotion we give to this discipline, we also have staff members who are Western riders. Needless to say, this discipline most certainly is at the forefront of our minds here at the OEF.

If you have any suggestions for how we can improve our programs and services for Western riders, or if you have any photos depicting Western riders that you would like to submit for our use in upcoming publications, we would love to hear from you! You can e-mail Melissa Kosowan, our communications coordinator, at m.kosowan@horse.on.ca

Happy riding!

Melissa Monardo,

Marketing Manager

Ontario Equestrian Federation

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Permalink Reply by Carly on November 26, 2013 at 1:52pm

Thanks Melissa for your response.
    Don't get me wrong, all of those things are great ! but I don't think they are enough. A great deal of that if focused towards young children and that is fantastic, but if there are not enough places close by for these young kids to get to they can never fully get into their possible new found western interest.
Reining and Cutting I'm not worried about, they have always held their own but what about western pleasure? and just general western riding?
   the lists of coaches you provide is excellent in its self, but its so small. So spread out.
     The problem again comes from the western community it's self.

There are a lot of great trainers and coaches who are not registered and a lot of facilities you cant find unless you really do some digging or find out by word of mouth. I got tired of searching and physically went looking. I found a lot of great little places, some not exactly what I was looking for but places I wish got some sort of recognition so people know whats around.

I wish we had some sort or directory or maybe even a once yearly publication of all the places and their western specialties, more clinic options.