EQUESTRIAN SPORTS


2008 MARKEL/USEF YOUNG HORSE DRESSAGE PROGRAM

The Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program (for 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old horses) promotes the importance of selective breeding and correct training of horses in the United States, and encourages participation of breeders, riders, and trainers of young horses in dressage competition. The purposes of this program are to encourage the properly structured development of young dressage prospects through the training scale; to identify and recognize outstanding talent and the training of international-caliber horses; and to prepare these horses for future careers at the FEI level and participation on U.S. High Performance teams. "With the continued support of Markel Insurance and now the presenting sponsorship of Collecting Gaits Farms for our National Championships, 2007 was another outstanding year for this program with a record number of participants," explains Ms. Keeler.

The qualification period for the 2008 Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program and for the 2008 USEF National Developing Horse Dressage Championship (sponsored by the Dutta Corporation and Performance Sales International) begins for the 2008 season on January 1st, 2008. In a new qualification format for these programs, only designated "qualifying competitions" held during the qualification period of January 1 - August 15, 2008 may be used to obtain scores towards Selection Trials and National Championships.

USEF/USDF-Licensed Dressage Competitions which were previously announced as 2008 USEF/NAJYRC qualifiers have now also been invited to be official qualifying competitions for the Young Horse and Developing Horse Programs. "Offering the complete spectrum of USEF National Championship qualifying opportunities at these designated competitions should provide a very attractive incentive package for both exhibitors and officials," notes Jennifer Keeler, USEF National Director of Dressage. Also new for 2008, these programs will implement score tracking and ongoing ranking lists for each division. "Mirroring our High Performance divisions, USEF will now automatically track horses’ qualifying scores and maintain national ranking lists for the Young and Developing Horse divisions," says Ms. Keeler. "This eliminates the need for manual score submissions and streamlines the entire qualification process for competitors."


2008 Championship season begins January 1, 2008!!!

Markel Collecting Gait Farms