The countdown has begun to the start of the Team Quest season with just four weeks to go until the first competitions. Team Quest is British Dressage’s newest concept to encourage riders to have a try at dressage and prove that it can be fun! Teams are made up of three or four riders who compete in individual classes at intro, prelim and novice level, then the best three scores then count towards an overall percentage for the team and the highest score wins the day. Teams all have a name, captain and can ride in their own colours so it’s very different to any dressage ever seen before.
Since its launch in November, over 50,000 social media users have made a connection with Team Quest! British Dressage (BD) now has over 75 venues hosting some 275 competitions from 01 March until 21 September. Since the beginning of January teams have been registering and we have around 50 signed up so far across the three age categories of 16 and under, 25 and under and mixed. The first weekend of competition features Team Quest at Wellington Riding (Hampshire), the College of West Anglia (Cambridgeshire), Todburn (Northumberland) and Maelor Equestrian Centre (Flintshire). Schedules for the first month of competition are now live on the BD website alongside the affiliated show listings; all are titled ‘Team Quest @ venue name’.
BD Sport Operations Manager Paul Graham commented; “Team Quest has really caught the imagination of riders from all over the country. We’ve enjoyed some fantastically creative names coming in plus reading all about the team members. We have one team with a combined age of 221 years and our youngest team notch up just 45 years between them! Teams have been formed from riding clubs, yards, family members – we have a team of all ex-racehorses and even one where none of the riders know each other – they met on Facebook! The response has been truly amazing and we can’t wait for the first fixtures in March!”
Team Quest has been given an extra boost by the news that Britain’s best-selling monthly magazine Horse & Rider is on board as our media partner. Horse & Rider is planning some useful articles to help riders prepare to take part as well as supporting the final at Bury Farm in Buckinghamshire on 1 -2 November with some great prizes and goody bags for all who take part. BD is hoping to get a few more sponsors to sign up so the Championship is extra special.
Horse&Rider Editor, Alison Bridge, says: “We're really pleased to be working on this new initiative from BD. We've spoken to our readers and we believe Team Quest breaks down the barriers to competition and makes dressage accessible for everyone. We've got some fantastic articles planned to help them on their way and great advice for those already competing who want to boost their marks.”
There’s a dedicated page on the BD website under the Competitions section with complete details, registration information, rules and fixtures. Team Quest is designed to be social so we’re looking for as many followers as possible. Follow us on www.facebook.com/TeamQuestBD or @TeamQuestBD on Twitter – BD wants to hear from teams, see team pictures and read stories!
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Team Quest blasts off in four weeks
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