New national titles up for grabs for the U21s

British Dressage is delighted to announce a new U21 National Championships, to be held as part of the Vale View High Profile Show in October,29 – 31 October. All Under 21 riders will be eligible enter the Championship Class and contest to be the U21 National Champion for their current FEI age group.

Competition format

Vale View will be hosting two FEI PYO classes, using the FEI official tests:

• Friday 30 October – FEI PYO COH / P / JR / YR, FEI Team test
• Saturday 31 October – FEI PYO COH / P / JR / YR, FEI Individual test

Combinations wishing to qualify for the Championship will be required to compete in both classes on consecutive days. Scores from both days will be combined and the rider/horse/pony combination with the highest overall percentage will be crowned the champion in their relevant age category.

These classes also offer the additional opportunity for all Under 21 combinations to gain valuable international qualification to compete in future CDI competitions.

Eligibility for U21 Championship Class

Combinations must be current full members and all horses / ponies must be fully registered to compete in the stated classes. If the class is oversubscribed, priority will be given to riders who have:

• Competed at an international championship in any age category in the past two years.
• Gained international qualification between 1 September 2019 and 17 October 2020.
• Achieved the highest percentage scores in the FEI Team Test during the same time period.

Rosettes, sashes and prizes will be offered for the top three combinations in each age category;

• Children on Horses
• Ponies
• Juniors
• Young Riders

Perpetual trophies have been kindly donated by the British Dressage Supporters Club for the overall Champions of each category, with the overall combined highest percentage across all age categories also awarded the Robert Hyslop Memorial Cup, which has been kindly donated by Vale View for the 2020 Championship. We are very grateful for the generous support and contributions from both BDSC and Vale View to support our Under 21 riders.

Jason Brautigam, BD Chief Executive, commented: “When we released our Coronavirus Operational Plan back in May, we sadly had to abandon our summer season, which included cancelling our plans to run exciting new classes for our under 21 riders at the BD National Championships.  Many of these members will be in the last year in Ponies, Juniors or Young Riders, so we still wanted to give them the chance to compete for honours and be crowned the national champion in their respective age group.  We are thrilled that we have been able to make this happen, in what has been a challenging year for everyone, and wish all of our aspiring youth riders the best of luck when they go down the centre line at Vale View next month.”