Comments on: How Olympic Dressage Works

By: Brooke

Brooke — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 00:20:42 +0000

Do the horses have to be a certain breed? Because I notice that most, if not all, Olympic horses are Warm bloods now it kinda annoys me as Andalusians, Lippizaners, Paso Fino’s etc have been riding classical dressage for a much longer time then the warmblood’s have and are NEVER seen in Olympic Dressage. It just makes me want to push my new TB so hard to compete at Olympic level just to change that, or even with my Kiger Mustang!

By: Jackie

Jackie — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:18:01 +0000

Patricia,

I know I used to think that the athletes who could qualify for the Olympics had to be amateurs – and maybe that formerly was the case. It’s definitely not true for all events now – including equestrian. I know that all the US riders who competed in 2008 were professionals.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:22:47 +0000

Does one have to be amateur, or can they be a “professional” horseman? I was under the impression one needed to be amateur, but have ran up against the question again..

By: slc2

slc2 — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:56:58 +0000

PS, the policy on FEI membership is that one has to register oneself and one’s horse. See the website http://www.fei.org

By: slc2

slc2 — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:55:45 +0000

It’s a long journey to the Olympics! The Olympics are competed at the test level of Grand Prix (advanced) level. There are ten test levels, from ‘intro’ to ‘Grand Prix’.

There are three overall types of competition – ‘schooling shows’ put on for local riders by clubs, ‘recognized’ national shows (run under USEF rules), and ‘FEI’ (international) shows run under the international organization FEI (international equestrian federation). Almost all American dressage clubs put on schooling and quite a few put on ‘recognized’ (national or USEF) shows.

Riders usually ride in ‘recognized’ (national) shows for many years, moving up those test levels, and then competing for some time in the Grand Prix tests themselves, before they start to get scores that earn them the attention of the officials who select teams, and the attention of owners who have horses that could do well at the top levels. Finally, riders must compete and score well at some of the top shows in the world (FEI) in the Grand Prix tests, to get on our Olympic team. THEN! They may compete in several Olympics before scoring well enough to get a medal! It’s a long tough road!

By: Jackie

Jackie — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:30:56 +0000

Shelby,

I’m not sure what the policy is regarding membership in the FEI, but the organization that governs the US equestrian teams for international events is the USEF. I know joining the MDA wouldn’t be enough to qualify on an international level, but is probably necessary along with your USEF membership for shows that are sanctioned or run by both organizations. See if these links help you along:

USEF rules for dressage: http://www.usef.org/documents/ruleBook/2009/08-DR.pdf
FEI qualification procedure for 2008 Olympics: http://www.fei.org/Disciplines/Dressage/Documents/Dressage_OG_2008_ENG.pdf

The USEF rules has all kinds of details of how movements should be executed, legal equipment, dress code, etc as well as some qualification information.

Hope that helps at least a little bit!

By: Shelby

Shelby — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:23:25 +0000

How do you begin to gain points to qualify towards FEI or Olympic level? Would joining the Michigan Dressage Association (MDA) allow me to gain points, and eventually qualify for FEI or Olympic level? I’m really confused about the whole thing. What shows would put me on the right track? Would I need to join the FEI? Thanks!