Those were the days

30/06/2023 – The WRAN (Western Rider Association Netherlands) Dutch Championship (DC), open to all breed, kicked off today at Het Keelven in Someren (NLD). There was a time that riders weeks prior to this Championship started making plans en masse and at nearly every western riding stable it was buzzing around: “We are going to the DC”. It was the happening of the year en between 800 and 1.000 entries was no exception. There were even go rounds for classes with many entries and riders had to qualify for the finals on Saturday night, prior to a booming party.
Year 2023 very little of this is remaining. On this DC scheduled up to and including for next Sunday the counter of the number of entries stops at 223. There are no evening programs and on Sunday the last entry can leave the promises at 14:20 hours.
In the previous years one could attend a WRAN show nearly every 2 weeks, scheduled somewhere in the Netherlands. This year only 4 regular shows have been taking place until now and once the DC is concluded, there’s only 1 show left on the schedule. Kind of sad.

©2023 De Quarter Western Online

Photo: Troullioud Fotografie, NLD