Two Fall West Coast Dressage Festival World Cup Events Dropped for One CDI3*, 2020 Schedule Being Worked Out
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Sept. 25, 2019
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Two World Cup qualifiers on the West Coast Dressage Festival are being dropped and replaced by a single CDI3* in California in November while plans are being worked out with the U.S. Equestrian Federation for a revised 2020 West Coast Dressage Festival to stage one CDI and two national competitions in spring.
The changes were first reported by Scott Hayes, a Canadian entrepreneur who founded the West Coast Dressage Festival circuit in 2018, and confirmed Wednesday by the USEF.
The World Cup events scheduled for the weeks of Nov. 14-17 and Nov. 21-24 at Temecula have been canceled and replaced by a CDI3* for the week of Nov. 21-24.
“Following discussions between the organizer and the USEF Regulation and Legal Departments,” a USEF spokesperson said in response to questions from dressage-news.com, “an agreement was reached regarding 2019 events at the West Coast Dressage Festival in Temecula, California.
“The organizer has agreed to cancel one of the two November events, but will host the open national and CDI3* from Nov. 21 – 24, which is pending approval based on a revised license.”
The schedule for 2020 “is currently being reviewed by USEF and will be posted in October,” the USEF spokesperson said.
Scott Hayes, who has staged master classes in North America by some of the dressage world’s top stars in addition to the West Coast circuit, said he is tentatively planning three competitions in 2020 in Temecula, midway between San Diego and Los Angeles.
The lineup could possibly include a CDI international event in March and a national competition in both April and May.
California had 96 dressage competitions in 2019, according to the USEF calendar, including four CDIs but not including the four Temecula events.
Likely the longest running dressage venue is at Burbank in Los Angeles, where shows are organized by Glenda McElroy, who also has frequently staged events at San Juan Capistrano. Glenda has been dressage manager of the World Cup Finals in Las Vegas and is again for 2020.
Among the initial goals of the WCDF was to offer an alternative to the highly successful Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida whose winter circuit of seven CDIs has prize money of about $600,000 (€550,000) and attracted several California competitors.
The Florida circuit of World Cup qualifiers, a Nations Cup, a CDI4* and a CDI5* typically attracts competitors from more than 20 nations.
In 2020, it will be central for both United States and Canadian combinations seeking to qualify for their nation’s teams for the Olympics in Tokyo in July. Japanese contenders for their home team are planning to be based in Wellington for the winter.
Several California riders have made known their intention to compete at Global in 2020.
