Very early on  OSWE agreed that the way to grow this new sport in Ontario was to focus on outreach, education and grass roots development. Our experience working with riding communities in various regions of Ontario has taught us that most riders are looking for local opportunities to learn and try Working Equitation. We believe that WE is a fun and inclusive sport and that this needs to be the focus for  growth. Our goal is to create abundant and affordable schooling opportunities for riders and horses to learn and practice this sport in Ontario. We decided that a schooling show organization that offers consistency in rules, yet flexibility for the new learners is the best environment for growth. 

Since our beginning in March of 2022 we have:

 

• developed educational content (manual) downloads

• created free member learning content areas on the website

• held a coaching session for Ontario coaches

• organized several clinics across Ontario and even held our first schooling show at Sprucehaven Farm in Ingersol, Ontario.

• made connections with 4 Ontario Pony Club chapters and organized education and clinics 

• taken part in international Working Equitation events to continue our own education and find out what programs / development is working in other countries

 

Two major growth-focused initiatives that our BOD agreed on this past year is the commitment to training Working Equitation officials for our region, and the purchase of international scoring system license of GIRA.io. Both these efforts will enable us to offer support for facilities in Ontario to learn the sport and to run shows.  Educating officials in Ontario will make it easier for facilities to find local Judges and  to run shows affordably.  This also enables larger venues to more than one official per show and enable more entries. 

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1) This May, 2023 OSWE has booked international World Association for Working Equitation (WAWE) Senior Judge, António Vicente, as well as USAWE Senior Judge, Doreen Atkinson for an Official's seminar, to teach Ontario officials the sport of Working Equitation. 

 

2) GIRA.io scoring system is an international scoring software created by Portuguese software designer, José Bacelar Lourenço. It easily handles the phases of Working Equitation entries, scoring and results, and reduces hours of scoring and data entry work to a few clicks. This will be a tremendous help for new facilities looking to train show management in Working Equitation.

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OSWE has created three new committees to assist forward movement on our plans:

• Competitions Committee

•  Event Committee

• Awards Committee

 

Each committee has seen growth in member involvement, who have each introduced special skills and professional expertise.

 Event Committee

•  is busy planning the May event which will be a community event, trade fair, charity fundraiser and Working Equitation Expo. This promises to attract a great deal of media and publicity which will help to grow interest in the Sport.

Competitions Committee

• is planning the 2023 schooling show series which will involve several facilities across Ontario. We will be offering show management Webinars and Zoom sessions to learn the GIRA.io system and to support each facility with running their first show

Awards Committee

• is busy creating the awards for the 2023 year end banquet, the special Cup Award for the Can/Am show at this year's inaugural May Event. 

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We are hoping to schedule our first AGM early 2023.