Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with the Northeast Regional Adult Amateur Dressage Championships (NRADC) show committee. My role was to design their Fall Finale Dressage Show program. This is the second year of the championships that are designed specifically to highlight the achievements of the adult amateur.

Program cover I designed for the Northeast Regional Adult Amateur Dressage Championships, October 2009

This show is unique in that it focuses on a segment of the dressage community which often must juggle work and family schedules, and have time and budgetary constraints on their training schedules. Ann Guptill, volunteer for the show, believes that the NRADC is important to recognize the adult amateurs. Guptill said, “I was excited to see last fall how this championship encouraged participation from the adult
amateurs who are the backbone of our sport. The freestyle element brought in a whole new group of riders who previously wondered how long they would have to wait to be able to ride in a venue like this. Creating the freestyles improved their riding and brought out great creativity that was fun to be a part of.”

Qualifying to compete is designed to be feasible for those on limited time and monetary budgets. Qualifying scores can be achieved either at schooling shows or USDF-recognized competitions. Two scores from any tests at each level are required from USDF-recognized judges. For training level the minimum score is 61%, first level 60%, second level 59%, and third level and above 58%.

I salute all the wonderful hardworking volunteers!