7-Year-Old Horses to Be Added to World Young Dressage Horse Champs, Annual European Under-25 Champs Also Approved
10 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on 7-Year-Old Horses to Be Added to World Young Dressage Horse Champs, Annual European Under-25 Champs Also Approved
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, June 9, 2015–Seven-year-old horses will be added to the FEI World Breeding Dressage Championship for Young Horses as of 2016 when the event moves to the Netherlands from its long-time show at Verden, Germany.
The level of competition for the seven-year-old horses will be Small Tour (Prix St. Georges/Intermediate I), the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) announced Tuesday after the Bureau approved the addition. But the actual tests will be decided in cooperation with World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH).
The seven-year-old division will join the five- and six-year-old championships.
The program for young horses has expanded at non-championship levels for younger and older horses in recent years.
The new seven-year-old division touches the same level as the world famous Nürnberger Burg-Pokal for horses aged seven to nine years old that is the German championship at the Prix St. Georges Special level and in recent years has embraced competitors and qualifying competitions in other European nations.
An annual FEI European Under-25 Dressage Championships was also approved by the FEI beginning in 2016.
“It will be built up along the lines of the other FEI age group championships, and will include team and individual medals,” the FEI said but did not give a location or date for the debut of the increasingly popular division.
With the Under-25 competition, Europe now has continental championships at virtually every level of the sport–Ponies, through Junior and Young Riders as well as Seniors.
North America stages Junior & Young Rider Championships and the Pan American Games with mixed Small and Big Tour combinations but no Ponies and no Under-25 continental titles.
The 2017 North American Junior & Young Rider Championships were confirmed for Lexington, Kentucky for 2017 on dates to be confirmed.
A decision on allocating the FEI World Cup Dressage Final in 2018 was postponed.
The Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) informed the FEI it increased the quota for equestrian sport to 150 for the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru in 2019, but no breakdown of the different disciplines was given. The Pan Ams are staged once every four years and will be held in Toronto next month.
