Those with young horses: Time to consider your strategy for 2021

Producers of young horses and ponies have much to look forward to in the coming months with a comprehensive schedule of young horse competitions scheduled for 2021. The young horse calendar, comprising the Shearwater Young Horse Championships for four, five and six-year-olds, the BD Seven-Year-Old Championship and BD Young Pony Championships, offers riders plenty of opportunity to present their promising youngsters.

An ideal shop window for breeders and producers alike, these classes are an invaluable opportunity to expose young horses and ponies to the competition environment as well as discover the international Grand Prix horses and FEI ponies of the future.

Read on for an outline of what you need to know about our young horse series, but please remember to read the Young Horse Championships section of the BD Members’ Handbook for the complete lowdown.

There are a number of qualifiers nationwide which qualify for the semi-finals, followed by the finals held at the LeMieux National Championships at Somerford Park in September. For ponies, their final is at the Hartpury Festival of Dressage in July.

Shearwater Young Horse Championships
Who is it for?
For horses aged four, five and six.

What type of BD membership do I need?
To compete in qualifiers, riders and horses must both be registered with BD with a minimum of Club membership. To compete in the semi-finals and championships, both horse and rider must hold Full membership.

How do I qualify?
Horses can qualify from the designated young horse classes which are held nationwide. Follow this link for dates. Horses enter the arena in groups of two; however, due to current COVID restrictions and as per Government guidance for indoor competition, horses may be required to enter individually. This is only applicable to qualifiers that are run before 17 May that would require an indoor arena. Competitors ride a commanded route plan designed to assess the quality of the horse’s paces, talent and training. Marks allocated are used to determine the placings, and the top two in each age group, scoring 7.0 or above, qualify for the semi-finals.

At the semi-finals combinations ride a dressage test as below:
Four-year-olds – BD National test for 4-year-olds 2018
Five-year-olds – BD National test for 5-year-olds 2018
Six-year-olds – BD National test for 6-year-olds 2018

The top three in each age group, scoring 7.0 or above, qualify for the championships at Somerford Park in September.

What happens at the Championships?
Finalists ride the BD National Test for their respective age group in the pre-judging phase. The top four in each age group are then invited back for final judging the next day. During the final judging – an absolute highlight of the national dressage year – horses enter in groups of four for assessment before being ridden by the rider judge.

British Dressage Seven-year-old Championship
What type of BD membership do I need?
The same as for the Shearwater classes.

How do I qualify?
Please note that at qualifiers combinations ride Advanced Medium 96 2011. This is the same test used at the semi-finals and championships (not AM92, which is printed in the BD Members’ Handbook). This is judged as a normal BD test with one judge and the top two with scores over 63% qualify for the semi-finals.

At semi-finals, the top three with 65% or above qualify for the championships at Somerford Park.

British Dressage Young Pony Championships
What type of BD membership do I need?
The same as for the Shearwater classes.

Who is it for?
Ponies not exceeding 148cm (149cm with shoes), with separate sections for four, five and six-year-olds. There is no upper age limit on riders, so adults, so long as they are of appropriate height and weight, may ride.

How do I qualify?
Ponies can qualify from the designated young pony classes which are held nationwide. Follow this link for dates. Ponies enter the arena in groups of two. Due to current COVID restrictions and as per Government guidance for indoor competition, ponies may be required to enter individually. This is only applicable to qualifiers that are run before 17 May that would require an indoor arena. Competitors ride a commanded route plan designed to assess the quality of the pony’s paces, talent and training. Marks allocated are used to determine the placings, and the top three in each age group, scoring 7.0 or above, qualify for the championships at the Hartpury Festival of Dressage in July.

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The name Shearwater Insurance has become synonymous with the British Young Horse Championships. For more than 20 years they’ve supported the series for four, five and six-year-old horses, which has proved a launch pad to the careers of many top horses. Two such horses are Valegro and Uthopia who of course made history as part of the gold medal-winning team at London 2012. More recently, winners such as Durable and Samba Dancer, who won the four- and six-year-old championships respectively in 2012, have reached the heights of Grand Prix.

We've watched some of the icons of the sport develop through the young horse classes and then go on to the global stage. Shearwater is very proud to be playing a part in that journey.

Reflecting on the Shearwater Young Horse Championships, Jeremy Lawton, Chief Executive of Shearwater Insurance, says; "Myself and Shearwater have had a long association with equestrian sports on the whole, and the continued relationship and sponsorship of British Dressage is very important to us. As a company we really value the connection this partnership gives us to the sport, and it is the connection across all levels of the sport that is so important to us.

"The Young Horse Championships has always been a favourite sponsorship of Shearwater's. Watching the young dressage stars grow and flourish is something very special to be a part of. We've watched some of the icons of the sport develop through the young horse classes and then go on to the global stage. Shearwater is very proud to be playing a part in that journey."

Photo © Adam Fanthorpe