Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

22 August 2019Horse& Hound 45

THEcountdowntoanOlympic

yearis alwaysexcitingand

challenginginequalmeasure,

butthisyearhasbeen

particularlybusyforBritish

Dressage(BD),asseveralofour

initiativescometofruition.

Westarted 2019 witha

membershipsurveytogiveus

someinsightintoourmembers’

viewsandsatisfactionlevels,as

wellasprovidevitalinformation

forourprojectsandhelpshape

ournextfive-yearstrategy.

Intotal,23%ofmembers

tookpart,andthedatareturned

hasbeeninvaluable.Insome

respectsit confirmedwhatwe

alreadyknew,butoverallit has

providedstrongindicationof

whateachofourstakeholder

groupsfeelsis mostimportant.

A workingpartyhad

alreadybeenreviewingour

championshipcalendar,but

thesurveyprovidedfurther

insight.Themessagewasclear:

tosimplify,streamlineand

establishgreaterconsistency,

aswellasofferregular

opportunitiesandchoicefor

riderstocompeteandprogress.

We’velistenedtoour

membersandtakentheir

commentsonboard:70%said

thecompetitionstructureis

currentlytoocomplex,60%

wanteda moreevenspreadof

thecalendarand51%wanted

morestraightforwardrules.

ThenewformatforourArea

Festivalseries(news,p5)aims

todeliverjustthat.A two-

seasonstructurewillmirrorthe

regionaloffering,withthesame

qualificationmechanism.This

willprovidegreaterconsistency.

Offeringtwochampionship

optionsforbronzeandsilver

ridersinsummerandwinter

willprovideopportunities

throughouttheyear.Plus,a new

musicelementinthesummer

seriesmeanswecanconsolidate

thenumberofchampionships,

bynotholdinga separate

SummerMusicFestival.

‘BESTINTHEWORLD’

ANOTHERprojectwe’vebeen

workingonthisyearhasbeen

developinga newapproachto

the training and assessment of

ourjudges,alsohighlightedas

a priorityinoursurvey.We’re

proudthatourjudgesaresome

ofthebestintheworld—and

it’sa keyreasonwhymany

riderschoosetoaffiliate.We’ve

madesignificantprogress,but

nowneedfurtherdevelopment.

Anewjudgingsystemwill

belaunchedin2020,witha

focusonlearningandtraining

forskillsandknowledge,rather

thanjustpassingexams.Itwill

bevocationalandpractical,but

alsoflexibletosuitindividual

learningstyles.Wewillbe

rollingoutthenewsystemfrom

spring 2020 —judgesinthe

current system will still be able

tocompleteexamsnextyear.

Agreatdealofhardwork

andtechnicalexpertisehas

goneintodevelopinga modern

andprofessionalsystem,and

weareveryencouragedby

howpositivelytheseproposals

havebeenembracedbyour

officials.Bettertrainingand

educationforourjudgeswill

improvestandards,qualityand

progressionallround,soit will

bea hugebenefit forthesport.

AtourAGMnextmonth

I’llbesharingourheadline

strategyforthenextOlympic

cycle.We’veachievedsomuch

overthepastfiveyears,butthis

willlaunchthenextchapterin

ourjourneytodelivera popular,

successfulandinclusivesport.

Asyoureadthis,I’llbein

RotterdamcheeringonTeam

GBRattheEuropeans.With

thedressageandparadressage

teamsalreadyqualifiedfor

Tokyo2020,it providesa

chanceforbothteams—with

newridersandyounghorses—

toreallymakea statementof

intent fornextyear.H&H

JasonBrautigamhasheldtherole

ofBritishDressage chief executive

since 2014.

‘Riders want a streamlined system’

Jason Brautigam on restructuring Area Festivals and new judge training

Olympicmedallist

LauraTomlinsonon

the Europeans

NEXT

WEEK

ONLY IN HORSE & HOUND

OPINION

A Paralympicmedallisttriumphed at

PSGwithherLondon 2012 ride.

SOUTH-WEST

Kings Sedgemoor EC, Somerset

NinaVenablesrodehimformeat

homethatI hadtheconfidenceto

gooutagain.

“HeloveshischangesandI

couldn’tstophimtodayafterthe

lineofthreesashewasenjoying

himselfsomuch.I’mverygrateful

totheLadyJosephTrustfor

lettinghimstaywithme.”

BryonyJonesheadedboth

elementarysilversonRosand

DennisPalmer’s18.2hhWalentino

sonWieDasNorthcliff.

“Heusedtobescaredof

arenas,sowewenttolotsofriding

clubrallies,”saidBryony,whois

trainedbyTomBucklandand

JustineSole.“He’sbeena bitofa

slow project, but he’s such a joy to

rideandsoadjustable.”

ZoeParamoreandher10-year-

oldLusitano,EsmeraldaII(by

Trinco),whomsheboughtasa

foal,wontheadvanced101.

“Shecanbespooky,but

it helpedthatshewasquite

tiredaswe’djustreturned

fromtheNationalSideSaddle

Championships,”saidZoe,who

is helpedbyMelanieSuter and

Ricardo Wallenstein.

ByANNABELKERBY

RESULTS

KINGSSEDGEMOOREC

6 Aug:prelim 15 silv.—1, Dotty(K

deMarte)60.4.prelim17Asilv.—1,

Florence(SCrane)70.5.nov 23 silv.—

1, KintisKingpin(AEdmonds)69.1;2,

PeasedownDiablo(SDowding)67.7;3,

Florence67.2.brnz.—1, FairDuchess(J

Phillips)67;2,RipplingRing(LMorris)

65.4;3,MikkersMagiskeEnhjorning

(KFaun)61.4.nov39Qsilv.—1, Kintis

Kingpin66.3.brnz.—1, FairDuchess

66.3;2,RipplingRing65.5;3,Quel

Ange(SClark)63.8.elem 40 silv.—1,

WieDasNorthcliff(BJones)65.1;2,

KnockenpowerRory(HPavey)65.

brnz.—1, KingsGinger(BBurbridge)

67.2;2,MysticSpirit(DSquires)67;3,

CappuccinoHimself(BGore)65.elem

55 silv.—1, WieDasNorthcliff66.7;2,

KnockenpowerRory65.9.brnz.—1,

KingsGinger67.9;2,MysticSpirit67.5;3,

CappuccinoHimself67.2.med 69 silv.—

1, Fulgencio(FHuman)69.2;2,Bankers

Draught(JChapman)65.1.brnz.—1,

DiscoChick(HMarsh)68.6;2,Versaille

III(MShearn)65.9.med 73 silv.—1,

Fulgencio67.3;2,Banker’sDraught67.

brnz.—1, DiscoChick67.3;2,Pascal

McCoy(SChant)64.7;3,Summer’s

Dazzler(JMale)62.5.advmed 85

gold.—1, ColdDiamond(CBaker)65.5.

brnz.—1, HolywellSambaDancer(JLo-

Vel)62.6;2,Summer’sDazzler60.2.adv

med 92 gold.—1, ColdDiamond64.adv

101.—1, EsmeraldaII (ZParamore)63.3;

2,CamillsWater(DSomerfield)61.1.PSG

gold.—1, Ceryl(SBell)69.2.silv.—1, LJT

Akilles(DCriddle)66.9;2,Rosewater

DannyBoy(HBailey)59.3.interI silv.—

1, Jefferson(CPayne)68.5.brnz.—1,

CueTip(SMathieson)63.6;2,Glansiedi

KiriNerys(RGriffith)60.3.interII silv.—

1, Wuno(HAvison)55.GPgold.—1,

Delgado(ARoss)67.1;2,StateSecret(S

Bell)61.8;3,Riverman(DRandle)55.

DebCriddleandthe19-year-
oldLJTAkilles,whowonan
individualsilverandteamgold
medalintheparadressageatthe
LondonOlympics,headedthe
PSGsilversection.
“ThetimecamewhenI no
longerhadthehorsepowertostay
ontheBritishsquad.I lostmy
motivation, as a lot of the fun had

goneoutofdressage,”saidDeb,

whoserightarmwasamputated

followinga motorbikeaccidentas

ateenager.

“LJTAkilleswastreated

forarthritisinhisshoulder 18

months ago. It was only after

‘Heloves

hischanges’

DEB CRIDDLE ON LJT AKILLES