Be a champion in 2017
It’s easy to think that championship events are just for the pros, but you’d be mistaken. Opportunities exist for riders of all levels to get involved so we’ve picked out the ‘give ‘em a whirl’ events for 2017
The British Dressage (BD) Championships
Probably the most important events in the dressage calendar, the ones that everyone wants to ride at and where grassroot riders rub shoulders with the celebs. There are two championships to aim for – the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships, held in April, and the LeMieux National Dressage Championships, held in September. You can qualify at Preliminary through to Grand Prix level. The September event is where the National Champion is crowned – in 2016 it was Carl Hester (again!) Riders qualify by entering qualifying classes, run across the UK, and achieving the number of points required to go through to the regionals. At each regional, the venue will show the qualifying rules – it differs depending on class and number of entries. Next stop is the finals, if you qualify. ● www.britishdressage.co.uk
TeamQuest and MyQuest
These two dressage championships, sponsored by Kent & Masters, cater for those combinations at Intro, Preliminary and Novice level. As the name suggests, TeamQuest is for teams and MyQuest is a solo adventure. Although run under BD rules, these are relaxed as far as attire is concerned and competitors are encouraged to be creative, except for helmets, which must be worn. Each of the eight BD regions has its own Quest leader boards and points are allocated on competition results across the regions. Regional finals take place in October/ November with the final in November. ● www.britishdressage.co.uk
Tailored BD championships
BD has also recognised that it’s important to offer championship opportunities to as many riders as possible and has recently developed the associate championships. There are championships for Retraining of Racehorses, veteran horses, veteran riders, Gypsy cobs, Lusitano horses, native ponies, draught horses, Arabs and armed forces staff. ● www.britishdressage.co.uk
The Petplan Area Festivals
This is a popular grassroots level dressage championships and the final is held at the Winter National Championships at Hartpury Arena, Gloucestershire. Class levels run from Preliminary to Inter 11 and to qualify for the first round you need to receive two dressage scores of 62% and over (depending on the class). The top 10 combinations in each section (top five for PSG – Inter 11) qualify for the semi-finals and to make it through to the finals you must achieve at least 63% although not everyone will go through – it depends on the number of entries. ● www.britishdressage.co.uk