DARLINGTON — Christine Fortin, DVM,  and  her American Quarter Horse, Rush Thru The Steps on their success at the 2024 Western Dressage World Championship Show, held Sept. 18-22 at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Okla. and hosted by hosted by the Western Dressage Association of America.

Fortin is from Darlington. Rush Thru The Steps is a 7-year-old, Palomino, American Quarter Horse mare. The pair earned a World Championship, a Reserve Division Championship, two top ten awards, and was awarded their Performance Register of Merit from the American Quarter Horse Association.

The 2023 Western Dressage World Championship Show drew exhibitors from 39 states — from Alaska to New Hampshire and all parts in between, as well as two Canadian provinces. More than 1,000 western dressage tests were ridden at the picturesque Lazy E, and more than 275 entries competed in rail classes.

Western Dressage is an inclusive discipline, welcoming all breeds of horses — 54 different breeds were represented at the World Show — and all skill levels, including the walk-trot Intro Level, therapeutic riding and the highest, Level 5.

The World Show is the pinnacle event for a discipline that melds the precision of classical dressage with the western traditions that grew in the American West, and with the Spanish vaqueros before that. It is WDAA’s mission to honor the horse and to value the partnership between horse and rider.

An ever-growing number of riders have found a home within the discipline of Western Dressage. WDAA is a recognized affiliate of the United States Equestrian Federation. For more information, visit https://

www.westerndressageassociation.org/.