A British Dressage members meeting was held at Hartpury College on Thursday 13 April as part of the NAF Five Star Winter Dressage Championships. Around 35 members were present along with members of the BD Board – Tamsyn Cowie (Rules and Fixtures), Claire Moir (BYRDS), Paul Hayler (Training) and Jo Graham (Judges) and members of the senior management team, RDOs and a few regional chairs.
Jason Brautigam, BD CEO, welcomed everyone and opened the meeting with apologies from BD Chairman Penny Pollard, who was unable to attend due to a prior business commitment. He then opened the floor to questions and below are notes of proceedings:
Why isn’t there a live stream at the Nationals?
Jason explained that the Nationals is a spectator event and the show relies on the ticket sales to help fund the running costs (in addition to entry fees, sponsorship, tradestand, etc) and currently the show couldn’t sustain any drop in attendance levels. He said that a few commercial models were being looked into such as pay per view, sponsorship and delayed transmission.
New Music Championships - will there be a special qualification for those on islands?
Jason invited Paul Graham to give an overview of the Championships which he did in line with the documents sent to members.
Music Festival
Bronze and FEI Silver Championships
He also explained that the league tables would work on the best scores so that riders aren’t forced to chase points/over expose horses. This number hasn’t been confirmed yet but two – three may be around right but the Rules & Fixtures Committee would look at it in conjunction with the fixtures list and availability of freestyle competitions around the country.
Tamsyn Cowie said that her committee would look at island qualification based on fixtures available and report back to members.
A rider voiced concerns that Gold riders are struggling in having the likes of Charlotte Dujardin competing against them and they couldn’t win. There was a bit of discussion but generally it was felt that it’s a competition when you go to a show and there are a number of venues to choose from. A further section ‘platinum’ was not being considered.
She also said that she was holding her more experienced horse back for fear that success would unduly impact on what she could do with her young horse. Tamsyn said the system meant that riders would always have the ability to go back down the levels with subsequent horses and that success with them would determine which section you could compete at but the ‘door is never closed’.
A judge raised that they are feeling the pressure with all these new championships. Jo Graham said that the new examination system was helping to boost judge numbers and those upgrading which would go some way to supporting the demand. She explained that we’re less than half way through the year but already we’ve managed to examine twice as many candidates.
Another judge felt there was a lack of part 3 judge exams in the North/Scotland. Jo explained that there were currently seven judges in Scotland who needed to take their part three and they had been invited to attend a date further south. She said the committee would look into putting on dates where there was demand. Plus, they’re constantly evaluating the situation to ensure there are sufficient dates in suitable locations to meet demand.
Jason and Tamsyn closed the meeting by thanking Paul Graham for his vision, dedication and hard work towards improving dressage in Britain during his six years and wished him well in his future role with British Triathlon.