Virginia
Horse Center to Host FEI North American Young Riders’ Championships along
with
First FEI North American Junior Championships for Dressage
Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), in conjunction
with the United States Dressage Federation (USDF), is pleased to announce that
the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia, will host the inaugural
FEI North American Junior Championships for Dressage in 2006, along with the traditional
FEI North American Young Riders’ Championships, August 1-6, 2006.
The 2006 FEI North American Young Riders’ Championships will continue
to honor its tradition as the premier competition for young riders, ages 16-21,
in the three equestrian disciplines of eventing, dressage, and show jumping. In
addition, the recently approved 2006 FEI North American Junior Championships for
Dressage will take place, allowing junior dressage competitors the same thrills
of competition in an FEI-team format as the young riders. This new event provides
a second competitive opportunity for juniors, in 2006, and follows the USEF Junior
Dressage Team Championship which will be held in Pebble Beach, California, July
6 – 9, 2006. (For more information on this event, sponsored by Collecting
Gaits Farm, the Dutta Corporation, and Performance Sales International visit www.usef.org.)
The two FEI dressage championships are comprised of dressage young
riders competing at the FEI Young Rider Level (equivalent to Prix St. Georges),
and juniors competing at the FEI Junior Level (equivalent to Fourth Level). Each
USDF region will be given an opportunity to field a team of up to four juniors
and a team of up to four young riders. Riders must qualify throughout a designated
qualifying period according to criteria jointly approved by USDF and USEF, in
order to be named to his/her respective regional teams. Only the top thirty-six
young riders and top thirty-six juniors in the country are invited to compete
for the United States in these FEI dressage championships. In addition
to dressage riders from the nine USDF regions, this event also includes riders
from United States Equestrian Federation zones (for show jumping), and United
States Eventing Association areas (for eventing), as well as riders from all provinces
of Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and Bermuda. Teams
and individuals are invited to compete via each country's national equestrian
federation. The broad range of competitors attending the championships produces
an atmosphere much like our High Performance riders experience on the international
scene. The United States Dressage Federation will field teams for
both of these dressage championships, and will make qualifying criteria and selection
procedures available in January 2006. For further information, please visit the
USDF website at www.usdf.org., or contact Sheila Forbes, USDF Director of Programs
at (859) 271-7879, or at sforbes@usdf.org . USEF press releases
can be found on our website, www.usef.org.
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