Submission GuidelinesDressage Ireland Information Update Spring 2010
Membership and Horse Registration
Schedules and Shows
Cavan Dressage Festival to go ahead!
The Cavan Dressage Festival will go ahead at Cavan Equestrian Centre on the bank holiday weekend as planned. The only change to the original plans is that the Festival will be over 2 days (1st and 2nd May) and not 3 days. The schedule and entry forms are available at www.dressageireland.ie/shows/cavanfestival and the stabling form will be available very soon.
We have judges coming from New Zealand, Norway and England as well as some of our top Irish judges.
As the show is cut to 2 days there may be a need to restrict class numbers so it is important to get you entry in as early possible.
This show is a qualifier for the Dressage Masters Championships to be held at Hickstead, West Sussex on the 26th and 27th July 2010. The horse and rider combinations that have gained most points at Novice level and above will qualify for the Dressage Masters.
The Festival also includes an Under 25s team championship, sponsored by Children's Choice Publications.
Winter Finals 2010 Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th April 2010
The Winter Finals will take place at Marlton Stud, Wicklow by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Delahoyde. Full schedule and entry forms are available at www.dressageireland.ie/shows/nationalwinterfinals
Entries close Monday 29 March and qualifying results must have been obtained between 8th September 2009 and 28th March 2010.
National Championships 2010 - Date for your diary
The Dressage Ireland National Championships will be held at Cavan Equestrian Centre on 24th, 25th and 26th September 2010.
Winter Schedule 2009/2010
The Dressage Ireland Winter Schedule is available to download at: www.dressageireland.ie/downloads.
For a quick overview of all shows see the 'Dates at a Glance' page at: www.dressageireland.ie/shows/dates.htm
Membership and Horse Registration
Membership and Horse Registration
You can now enter join Dressage Ireland, renew membership and register horses on line at www.dressageireland.ie/services
As payment is to be made through PayPal, you will need a credit card to use the on-line facility.
Memberships and registrations can still be made via the traditional snail mail route.
Major Change to Rider Categories
To simplify our rider categories and also to make a more even split at Preliminary and Novice Level, there will be a major change for 2010.
Rider categories to be applied at Preliminary and Novice Levels, will be as follows:
- Category 1: any rider who has NEVER competed at Medium Level or above.
- Category 2: any rider who has EVER competed at Medium or above.
This will apply at all regional as well as national shows, and will come into force from 1 November 2009.
Riders must declare their category on every show entry form.
The Rule Book will be amended in due course.
Horse Passports and Registrations
When registering a new horse, a photocopy of the following pages of the passport must be sent to the office either with the registration form (for snail mail registration) or within 5 working days for on-line registration:
- Passport number and name page
- Veterinary outline drawing page
- Vaccination page
To re-register a horse, no photocopied passport pages need to be posted.
To register a new FOREIGN horse, this must be done via post with the registration form (available at www.dressageireland.ie/members/horsereg.htm), enclosing photocopies of the passport pages listed above, as well as:
- Previous competition record of the horse (if no record is supplied, then €30 must be included instead)
- Payment in form of cheque, postal order or bank draft
It is the rider/owner's responsibility to have all vaccinations up to date.
Spot checks will be carried out at regional shows, winter finals and national championships.
Reciprocal Membership Package
Dressage Ireland and Eventing Ireland are delighted to announce a reciprocal membership package for 2010 which will give members of both organisations discounted membership and registration packages. This follows the success of the similar scheme which Eventing Ireland and Showjumping Ireland launched last year which is again available for 2010.
Both bodies realised that many riders have subscriptions to other organisations, and in the current economic climate many riders are making difficult decisions about renewing all their memberships.
Eventing Ireland sees this as an exciting opportunity for its riders to improve their skills and sharing the benefits of training with the pure dressage discipline. It is also a great opportunity for Dressage Ireland members wishing to broaden their skills in the show jumping and cross country disciplines.
Eventing Ireland Chairman John Wright said; "Following the success of a similar arrangement with SJI in 2009 we are delighted to be offering a reciprocal membership package to Dressage Ireland members. This supports the policy of our HSI High-Performance Coaches in encouraging riders to experience the other disciplines at top level by training and competing as members of the other National disciplines."
Dressage Ireland Chairman Robert McCormick said, "We are delighted to have agreed a membership package with Eventing Ireland. Dressage is the basis for all equestrian sports we will do all we can to encourage members of Eventing Ireland to take up this membership package and improve their overall eventing results".
Horse Sport Ireland's Eventing High Performance Manager Ginny Elliot comments "That it was important that Eventing riders competed in as many dressage and show jumping competitions as possible. Anything that can facilitate this is a welcome development".
Full details can be obtained on the Joint Membership package by contacting Dressage Ireland www.dressageireland.ie or Eventing Ireland www.eventingireland.com
Vaccination Regulations
Dressage Ireland only requires vaccination boosters once per year, as opposed to the twice yearly boosters imposed by FEI.
However, riders wishing to compete internationally will need to be in order with their horse's vaccinations as per FEI rules. These can be checked with FEI or their website: www.fei.org
Grading and Points
Points System to Become Results System
Horses and Ponies are awarded points in registered classes in accordance with the scales set out on the grading and points page www.dressageireland.ie/members/gradingpoints.htm providing that the judge on the day is recognised by Dressage Ireland and qualified to judge at that level. Points are not awarded in restricted classes, i.e. Pony, Junior, Young Rider, Freestyle, Amateur or Riding Club.
The on-line results system on the grading and point page became fully operational at the start of 2010 and we advise every member to consult the website for a full explanation on how this will work for your horse's points. If in doubt, please contact the Secretary's Office.
It always remains the responsibility of each owner/rider to keep a record of their horse's points, and to ensure they enter the horse at the correct level of classes.
Training
HSI Silver Spurs 2010
Horse Sport Ireland, together with Dressage Ireland, are delighted to announce the launch of Silver Spurs 2010.
This scheme aims to identify and develop talented young riders and encourage their progress by awarding training bursaries, giving direction and advice and providing a pathway to help them achieve an international standard in their chosen discipline.
Following the same format as used in 2009, the Silver Spurs will consist of qualifiers run at a number of venues throughout the country, culminating in a Silver Spurs semi-finals and finals, to be run over two days. Qualifiers will take place on four consecutive days, starting on 30 March at Clonshire, Co. Limerick, followed by 31 March at Mullingar Equestrian Centre, Co. Westmeath, then 1 April at Laurel View Equestrian Centre, Co. Antrim and on 2 April at Spruce Lodge, Co. Wicklow. There will one final "catch up" day in late June/early July at Spruce Lodge (date to be confirmed).
At each qualifier the competitors will ride 2 dressage tests, which will be marked in the normal way, but without the score for the rider. A separate rider score sheet is used by the Master Judge and this rider score counts for 2/3 of the total marks. The best 10 riders from each category at the qualifiers will go through to the semi-final at Marlton Stud, Co. Wicklow on 13 August. Results of the under 12 category will be decided on that day, while the top three in the remaining three categories will go forward in a ride-off at the finals to be held at the Dressage Ireland show at Marlton Stud the following day. The top three riders in each section will receive a valuable prize package, including a generous training bursary sponsored by Horse Sport Ireland.
The full schedule and entry forms are available on www.dressageireland.ie/silverspurs or by contacting Martine Greenlee, Kingsland, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, (021 4888 179 or 086 2902318).
Spruce Lodge Under 25s Bursary
An added attraction at the Silver Spurs semi-finals day on 13 August will be the brand new Spruce Lodge Open Under 25 Competition.
Spruce Lodge is sponsoring bursaries of €500 each for the top three riders. The competition is open to riders under 25 years old on 1 January 2010, competing at Elementary level and above, or who have evented at 2 star level (horses) and above. Riders will ride two tests at their chosen level (tests will be pre-selected by the organisers). They will have one test judge and one rider judge, as in the Silver Spurs. The top 6 will go through to a 'trainability' assessment with the rider judge in the evening and the top three will be determined by assessing their style, effectiveness and depth of knowledge with respect to training a horse for dressage.
The full schedules and entry forms for the Spruce Lodge Under 25s competition will be available shortly on www.dressageireland.ie/silverspurs or by contacting Martine Greenlee, Kingsland, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, (021 4888 179 or 086 2902318).
Trainers List
The trainers list is now available at www.dressageireland.ie/training/trainerslist.php
While Dressage Ireland does not authorise, approve or recommend individual trainers, the list is provided as a service to members and non-members interested in improving their riding skills and aims to provide anyone seeking a trainer with some basic information and contact details to help them to choose the trainer most appropriate to their needs.
Trainers wishing to be included on the list should submit their curriculum vitae to the Dressage Ireland secretary, Gerd Liekens-Schurmans, Killedmond, Borris, Co. Carlow. The Trainer's C.V. form can be found on the downloads page: www.dressageireland.ie/downloads
Judges
Judges News
For all the latest news about training, up-grading and up-coming judges events, see www.dressageireland.ie/judges/judgestraining.htm
Northern Irish Judges Group
Quite simply we are an open group of dressage judges who meet approximately eight times a year with a view to improving ourselves through discussion, exercises, watching DVDs and reading articles.
Each and every judge is welcome to all meetings.
Subjects that we have covered in the past include:
- Lameness
- Freestyle to Music
- Positive V Negative Judging
- Judging of DVD Tests
- Collective Comments
- Problem Solving
- And many more subjects...
Trips to top shows in England are planned each year where judges can write/sit in or practice judge at the levels they require.
Please join us.
Contact Alison Mastin Moore on alisonmastin@yahoo.co.uk.
The first meeting in 2010 of the Northern Irish Judges Group took place on Monday, 22nd February.
News from the Regions
For all the latest news on Dressage Ireland activities in the regions, please visit:
www.easternregiondressage.com
www.leinsterdressage.com
www.midlandwesterndressage.com
www.northernirelanddressage.com
www.northmunsterdressage.com
www.southeastregiondressage.com
www.southmunsterdressage.org
Remember, if you no longer wish to receive the Dressage Ireland Information Up-date, you can unsubscribe here.
For any queries in relation to this Information Update or contributions to future up-dates, please e-mail .