Combined training jumps back onto British Dressage calendar

British Dressage (BD) is delighted to be bringing the mix of white boards and coloured poles back into the competition calendar.  That’s right – combined training is back – bigger and better than ever before!  The dressage element will run at Prelim and Novice levels with short arena tests and the showjumping from 70cm to 1metre so there’s a wider appeal for competitors.  Competitions will start in November and run through to April 2017 with two finals, one in the north at Vale View in Leicestershire and southern competitors aiming for Wellington in Hampshire, both held on Bank Holiday weekend, 27 – 28 May 2017.

BD has worked in close collaboration with British Eventing, British Showjumping and British Riding Clubs to bring the series alive.  Any paid member of these organisations, plus the Pony Club, can take part.  There’s no requirement for the horse to be registered so it’s an inexpensive way to hone your dressage skill while working on your show jumping technique all with the chance of qualifying for a fabulous final.

Qualifiers are open to combinations of any level/grade in any discipline and there are four classes for riders to contest that will be run across all qualifier competitions:

For the purpose of qualification, the country has been divided into two areas, Northern and Southern, with the dividing line across the country level with Birmingham and Peterborough. Qualifying competitions, starting from 27 October 2016 and concluding on the 30 April 2017, will take place in both areas and to qualify for the finals combinations must finish in the top two of their class. Riders will be able to compete at qualifiers in either area, however they must compete at the final in the area that they qualified in and may only participate at one area final.

BD Sport Operations Manager Paul Graham commented; “We picked up that the equestrian community has been missing combined training since its demise in 2010 so felt that after a break, it was time to bring it back.  Changes were made to appeal to a more ‘grassroots’ market so that riders could benefit all round.  It’s been fantastic working with the other governing bodies to bring the planning to a reality and also to see that we can unite under a common competition.  We’ve started with a moderate calendar for this year but have plans for growth!  We’d love a sponsor to come on board to help us with those plans so if anyone’s interested, please get in touch!”

Schedules for each competition will be available on the BD website or each of the venues’ own websites.  Full information and rules are available in the BD rule book (Section 17) which is available online on the BD website www.britishdressage.co.uk or in the case of any further queries, please contact sandra.hill@britishdressage.co.uk.