Applications for the 2015 – 2016 intake of the UK Sport National Lottery funded Equestrian World Class Programme Dressage Equine Pathway are open from today.
The Equine Pathway Programmes for dressage, eventing and jumping seek to identify and support world class horses who have the perceived potential to develop into Championship level horses - those can compete for Great Britain on the world stage and help GBR win medals. Selection for the Pathway varies between disciplines and the criteria and format for each is constantly reviewed.
The selection process for the Dressage Equine Pathway, which follows three stages, is open and applications must be completed and returned by Thursday 24 September 2015. For athletes/horses invited to final selection, this year's dressage selection and assessment will take place on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 October 2015 at Addington Manor Equestrian Centre.
The Dressage Equine Pathway Programme allows the UK Sport National Lottery funded Equestrian World Class Programme to support and encourage access towards additional training sessions with a home coach, nominated by the owner/athlete. Horses accepted onto the pathway will also be benchmarked at selection through test riding by two international selectors - a judge and a rider; for those selected onto the pathway, progress will be measured against those benchmarks at bi-annual Assessment Days.
The UK Sport funded programme exists to improve results at an international level and increase the number of medals won by Great Britain on the world stage. Eligible horses will be selected on their perceived potential to compete at Championship level Grand Prix and horses may join or leave the Pathway during the year as their progression is reviewed.
For further details about the equine pathway visit the BEF website.