World’s First International Amateur Division, CDI-Am, Scheduled for Florida’s Global Dressage Festival in January
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Sept. 30, 2014
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
The world’s first international dressage adult amateur competitions, designated CDI-Am, are being prepared for Florida’s 2015 Global Dressage Festival beginning in January with early indications the new division has generated interest throughout North America and Europe.
The CDI-Am (Concours de Dressage International-Amateur) newly created by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) will consist of competitions from Prix St. Georges and Intermediate 1 at Small Tour and Intermediate A and Intermediate B at Medium Tour with the Intermediate Musical Freestyle as the individual artistic performance.
The new international dressage amateur division–jumping CSI events for amateurs already exist–was approved by the FEI Dressage Committee following a lengthy campaign by American amateur rider John McGinty and staging of amateur classes at German competitions organized by Ullrich Kasselmann of Performance Sales International.
“I’m tremendously excited,” said John of New Hope, Pennsylvania. “We’ve all waited for a long time.
“People are going to see the value of moving up to the CDI level. It will be a new challenge, and I think amateurs want that. And there will be a different level of judging.
“This will be a doorway to better recognition.”
The U.S. Dressage Federation lists more than 16,000 adult amateur members while the FEI World Rankings show 62 combinations in the U.S.
Amateur classes will be offered in the United States at all seven Global Dressage Festival CDI competitions in Wellington, Florida beginning with the first CDI in the world for 2015, the World Cup event Jan. 7-11, according to Lloyd Landkamer, manager of the winter circuit.
The first event is, appropriately, sponsored by MTICA Farm, owned by Janne Rumbough an amateur Grand Prix rider who for decades has helped drive development of dressage in South Florida.
Requirements to compete in the CDI-Am classes are that:
* Riders must be 26 years old;
* Riders must have no ranking with the FEI Dressage World Ranking List at the date of Definite Entry, and
• No FEI Passport is required for horses competing in their home country, but must be registered with their national federation, be identifiable by diagram and have a valid vaccination certificate.
Horses entered in CDI-Am classes must follow the same procedures applied to an open CDIs–required to undergo a veterinary check and be stabled in restricted-access CDI stalls.
Dressage-news.com has asked the FEI to clarify whether and how combinations can be removed from the FEI World Ranking List to be able to compete as amateurs as well as other issues.
