Club of the Moment: Central Western Dressage Group

Matthew Dowsley on Falstermeyer competing at the 2012 ThinLine Dressage with Altitude (Photo: Justin Stent - Stent Event Photography)

Django of Cacharel and Jeremy Janjic competing at the 2012 ThinLine Dressage with Altitude (Photo: Justin Stent - Stent Event Photography)

Megan Bryant and her mare Donnabella competing at the 2012 ThinLine Dressage with Altitude (Photo: Justin Stent - Stent Event Photography)

Guests enjoying the cocktail party at the 2012 ThinLine Dressage with Altitude (Photo: Justin Stent - Stent Event Photography)

Brooke Kaveney looking good in the hoola hoop competition!

The November 24 & 25 Official, Associate & CWDG Club Members only Event was a popular weekend

The Central Western Dressage Group (CWDG) is one of the oldest Dressage Clubs outside the Sydney Metropolitan area and is believed to have been established in 1965.

Keen local dressage riders from that period got together regularly to organise and attend clinics with renowned classical instructors, such as Franz Maringer, the Club grew and competitions were organised from 1969 onwards.

The CWDG is a not for profit organisation and has remained strong since those early days. In 2001 the club hosted the NSW Dressage Championships, in 2003 the NSW Young Rider Championships and from 2010 they have run a CDI (International Dressage Competition).

Membership is drawn from a wide area including Bathurst, Orange, Blayney, Cowra, the Blue Mountains and surrounding districts. The club provides events usually on a monthly basis and clinics for all levels of Dressage enthusiasts and encourages newcomers. You don’t have to be a rider we have many members who just love the sport and regularly volunteer at our events

We see all breeds at our events, although predominately Warmbloods, ponies are starting to make their presence felt.

The CWDG run a range of events from training days, to associate and Official Events, we also run clinics with visiting instructors once or twice a year.

In September 2009 a good idea became a reality with the club running its first FEI Indoor event. A date change in 2010 to February and the event became a CDI2*. In 2011 we ran our first CDI3* event, all this was made possible by the generosity of owners of the magnificent Bradgate Park Indoor facility, John and Bev Healey. Bradgate Park is situated on the outskirts of Orange NSW, renowned for its scenic beauty, food and wine. The event, Dressage with Altitude, has grown in popularity and is now widely known as “Australia’s only Boutique European style” International Dressage event. Each year the event attracts more and more of the best riders and their horses from across Australia, which makes it a seriously highly contested competition. Saturday night features the Freestyle to Music competitions. The theme for next year is “Celebrating Food, Wine and Art - The Sport of Dressage”.

The 2013 ThinLine Dressage with Altitude CDI3* event will run 14-17 February, with entries closing on 16 January. Visit our website for up to date information (link below). Horsezone was a sponsor of the 2012 ThinLine Dressage with Altitude and we're proud to be sponsoring again in 2013.

CWDG's success stories?

Over the years the club has seen many success stories, with members gaining recognition and success at State, National and International level.

Our most famous club member would have to be Bunty Thompson who competed for Australia in the Olympic Eventing teams in both 1956 and 1966. Bunty has been a keen supporter of the club for many, many years and still comes to watch at our events.

The club envisages continuing to run Dressage with Altitude for as long as the Bradgate facilities are available to us. We are working on securing more sand arenas at the Blayney showground and we hope to make this our home grounds for all other events throughout the year. In the past both Bathurst and Orange showgrounds were used for running events but with the demand for better riding surfaces we have decided to develop our own grounds in the Blayney Shire.

Our club does and has done a lot of fun things over the years, in fact last week at our final event of the year, a hoola hoop competition was run (something to fill in the time while waiting for prize giving). My, how those hips did rock n roll!

What do riders say about the CWDG?

One attendee at last week's event was very happy with how it went, saying, "This is what dressage is supposed to be about... I went to a competition hosted by CWDG over the weekend. The hottest comp I have been to in years, and also one of the nicest. We had horses at every level Prep to Adv, associate, Official and a couple of newcomer classes. The winner of every class except the Adv (which only had one horse, me, so I can sling off at this rider) would have been quite comfortable at the state or national champs and there were a lot of the others just having a go."

"A few of us camped on site, the organisers made sure they invited everyone to the pub for dinner and a free BBQ was held on Sunday for all to enjoy, along with a hoola hoop competition. We could all sit and chat with the judges, who were lovely, as well as other competitors. Every one on the committee had a name tag which was also great to break the ice and so newcomers knew who to chase in the first instance. All in all a great weekend even though it was obscenely hot."

Thank you so much for your time Cathie! We look forward to catching up with you at the ThinLine Dressage with Altitude next year.

Raise More $$ For Your Club

Are you looking to raise more funds for your Club? Be like the Central Western Dressage Group and take advantage of Horsezone’s offer of a fundraising opportunity - 10% of products listing fee for all listings placed by your members! Click here to find out more about how the Club Contribution Scheme works and to register your Club. When you register with Horsezone, to help raise more funds, you can also integrate our comprehensive sales listings into your Club's website. Integration encourages members to list stallions at stud, horses, floats or gear for sale with Horsezone and in turn donate 10% of their listing fees back to the Club. To make life easier for members, they can view suitable horses for sale on Horsezone simply by visiting their club's website. If you'd like to go ahead with integration, simply email jenny@horsezone.com.au with the search criteria for the breed/discipline of horses you would like to appear on your site. It’s super easy to set up – add it to your existing classifieds/for sale page or save the hassle of setting one up and use our comprehensive sales site! Integration is currently used by many clubs Australia-wide.

Quick Links

• Visit the CWDG website for more information on the Club and the 2013 ThinLine Dressage with Altitude
• View results from the 24-25 November Official, Associate & CWDG Club Members only event
• See photos from the Official, Associate & CWDG Club Members only event
• See photos from the 2012 ThinLine Dressage with Altitude event

Story: Jo Johnson/Horsezone