10 Ways Guaranteed to (Maybe) Win You a Trip to WEG 2018

Let’s say, you wanted to spend three nights and four days at the world’s most elite equestrian championship, this summer.

Naturally, you need tickets to get in and a car to get you there.

Given the 98% likelihood of bumping into superstar athletes, like Laura Graves and/or Eric Lamaze, you’ll want to be outfitted head to toe in stylish equestrian apparel at all times whilst you spectate, too.

What if we told you, you could have all these things — for FREE?!

Noel Asmar Equestrian wants to make your dreams come true! Every month until September, the #AsmarWEGchallenge gives you a new chance to enter their Grand Prize draw for two tickets, accommodations and transportation to the 2018 World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Tryon, NC. Plus, a $2,000 Asmar shopping spree!

If that alone wasn’t incentive enough, there are monthly prizes for $500 in Asmar apparel up for grabs, too.

This month, it’s a dressage themed challenge! You don’t need a horse to enter. You do need to bit of creativity, a camera and a dance move or two. Canadian Olympian Megan Lane explains:

Fun, right? To help get you started, we have 10 ideas (practically) guaranteed give you a little leg up on the competition.

1. Get your hobbyhorse on

We’ll start with the obvious. The hobbyhorse is a tried and true staple of the fake dressage test, limited only by the scope and imagination of its rider. Did you know in Finland, it’s a popular competitive sport that has its own celebrity “riders”? No joke! Embrace your inner Isabell Werth and pay homage to the hobbyhorse greats with an intense, dramatic and precisely executed dance worthy of the name dressage (ie, focus on your toe flicks and suspension).

2. Perform a Pas de Deux

What’s better than one person dancing with a inanimate object? TWO! Better yet, tear a page out of American Olympic medalist Steffen Peters’ book (he’s the middle left) and perform a stick horse quadrille! #goosebumps

3. Make your own mount

Nary a stick horse in sight? Go old school and ride a mop! (Bonus points if you “braid” the mane, add a tail and/or fashion the mop into a horse head.) Alternative options include a broom, hockey stick and/or actual stick. The world is your stick horse!

4. Freestyle (rap) your freestyle

Remember when Debbie MacDonald (USA) and Brentina brought down the house with “She’s a brickhouse” in their epic freestyle at the 2005 World Cup Finals in Las Vegas? Find music that shows off the uniqueness of you and put your signature moves to it. But do it acapella, (lest Facebook shuts you down for copyright infringement).

5. Bling it up!

Dressage riders are famous for bringing the bling. Exhibit A: This is the stock pin Charlotte Dujardin wore to the 2016 Olympics. Pay homage to the dressage diva within and accessories your helmet, spurs, boots, etc with an obscene amount of stickable rhinestones (available at Dollar Stores everywhere). Paint your face with glitter. WEAR A SEQUIN SHIRT. Be the bling as you show off your best dressage (and/or disco) inspired dance moves.

6. Bust out the Breyers

More comfortable working behind the scenes than in a starring role? Time to dust off your old Breyer Collection! Youtube is rife with Breyer Horse movies upon which to draw inspiration for your short dance film. You don’t even have to come up with a storyline — 2018 World Cup silver medalist Laura Graves (USA) has already written the script for you! (Complete with extended dance scene.)

7. Let the Lego Do the Talking

Make your own Lego movie! Starring a plastic block horse that dared to dream of dancing on the world stage. All you need is an iPhone, Live Photos of your Lego scene and this helpful tutorial.

8. DOG dressage!

Why this isn’t a thing yet defies explanation. Fred Hassen, a man well ahead of his time, put out this video in 2011 pondering a future with dog dressage. I think we can all agree, a) it’s a work of genius (look at that extension!) and b) you should recreate it with your own dancing pooch, cat, ferret, and/or goat, immediately.

9. Blair Witch this bich

If there’s one lesson to be learned from the #InternetClassic, The Faces of Figure Skating, it’s that the human face is an unfettered canvas of hilarity. Create your own a photo montage of dressage faces and make them dance with an app like Cinemask, MaskArt, or Picoo Camera! Or, pay tribute to the cinematic masterpiece that is the Blair Witch Project and shoot a dressage-inspired dance expressed entirely in extreme close up footage of your face. So many feels!

10. Embrace your inner Joanna Rohrback

No dressage-on-foot tribute is complete without a nod to the OG of horseless dressage, Joanna Rohrback. The mastermind behind Prancercise, she was the first to make pretend dressage a thing for adults. So, put the pep in your step, the prance in your pants, and aim for the most ridiculous interpretive dance moves you can think of! String pearls (and camel toe) optional.

There is literally no wrong way to enter the #AsmarWEGchallenge. But remember this, it’s a dressage contest this month — you want full marks for artistry. (Also, the scoring system in this contest rewards creativity over quality of execution. You heard it here first.)

Once you finish your masterpiece, post it to Facebook and/or Instagram with the hashtag #AsmarWEGchallenge. And wait for the results from Asmar’s esteemed panel of judges to roll in.

Full contest details are available on asmarequestrian.com.