2022 Membership Pricing Review

With the sport now getting back on track and membership numbers rising back to pre-pandemic levels, the British Dressage Board and senior management team have reviewed the membership packages and pricing policy to ensure they offer our members value for money, whilst fees remain in line with rising operational and delivery costs. 

We have maintained membership and horse registration prices at the same level for three full calendar years, with no changes to the costs since January 2019.  Alongside this price freeze, our strong reserves position has enabled us to offer horse registration extensions to members throughout 2020 and early 2021 to support our members during the pandemic. 

However, with inflation currently running at over 4% and operating costs increasing significantly across the board this year, we do need to ensure that we produce a balanced budget.  The cost of providing insurance for members alone has increased by over 50% since 2018.  Therefore, in order to continue our recovery and secure our financial position following COVID, we will need to increase some of our membership prices, with effect from 1 January 2022.

We have also made some revisions to the categories on offer in order to simplify and streamline the options available to members. 

For younger riders there’s great news – members aged 16 and under will now receive a 20% discount on all membership types, whether Full or Club, to help them get started in dressage.  Provided we have a parent/guardian/carer contact in place, the discount will be automatically applied on joining or renewal, so there’s no need to take any further action.  

Other key changes across the categories are as follows: 

Full membership and horse registration 

• Renamed Full (Competing) membership for clarity. 
• Full membership prices will rise by £5.00 per year, or 50p per month, making the cost of membership £95 per annum, or £8.50 if you pay monthly. 
• Horse registration prices will remain the same at £80 annually, with no increase for 2022, so the total cost of membership plus one horse is £175 per annum, or £15.50 per month.
• Package includes full access to all BD competitions and championships, as well as insurance cover for third party liability and personal accident for all equestrian activities from KBIS. 

Premier Club membership 

• Repackaged as Full (Non-Competing) membership, primarily for BD owners, officials, organisers and supporters.  This follows feedback from members that Premier Club was a confusing label and did not effectively represent the group that this category is aimed at. 
• Prices will rise by £2.00 per year or 25p per month making the cost of membership £60 per annum or £5.25 monthly.  
• Package includes insurance cover for third party liability and personal accident for all equestrian activities from KBIS, as well as all other full member benefits. 

Club membership and horse registration 

• The membership price has been frozen once again at £35.
• The cost of registering a Club horse will increase by £5, from £10 to £15 per annum.  This price has remained unchanged since it was introduced in January 2017, so it represents the first increase in five years.
• Package includes access to compete in all Quest competitions and championships, as well as Associated, Prelim Bronze, Combined Training and Freestyle music qualifiers.   

Trial membership 

• This new introductory package will cost £50, covering a rider and horse for three months with Full (Competing) member benefits, to give those new to affiliated dressage the chance to taste what you can enjoy with BD. 
• Please note that this option is only available if you have not been a BD member for at least the previous two full calendar years.
• This package includes insurance cover while competing at BD shows only.

Associate membership

• Renamed as BD Community, this free membership option allows you to compete on a class ticket (available to purchase separately via the BD membership portal), as well as receive BD e-newsletters, to keep in touch with the latest information and updates on our sport. 

Winter membership, which runs from October to March each year, and Life membership options remain unchanged.  
 
Chief Executive Jason Brautigam commented; “We’ve worked hard to keep membership and horse registration fees static over the last three years, but with the changes to economic conditions in a post-Brexit and COVID world, it’s not possible to sustain this at current levels. Membership and horse registrations account for the majority of our income, so in order to continue providing high standards of service and make further investment in our sport, we’ve had to introduce some minimal price increases. 
 
At just over £1.80 a week for full annual membership, or under £1 a week for a Club membership and horse, we hope members feel their fees represent good value for money.  We will continue to work with our partners to develop the package of benefits and add further value where possible.  In the meantime, thank you once again for your continued support as we hopefully look forward to a full year of competitions and training activity in 2022.”