Para equestrian

1. Please note that the FEI Para Equestrian Grade IV 20x60 Individual Championship Dressage test was updated on the FEI website 28 February 2011. Please use this updated version from now on.

2. From the 1st June the following rule change will take immediate effect;

153. e) Riders must compete in the Open section of the class if they have Represented Great Britain by competing in a CPEDI3* or above and/or competed in the KBIS National Championships in the past 2 years. Riders may compete H/C in the Restricted section with permission from the organiser.

There are plenty of opportunities for disabled riders to try dressage. Para equestrian dressage has been growing steadily for the last 25 years and ranges from grassroots to Olympic level, giving people with mild to severe disabilities the opportunity to train and to compete on equal terms. As a para dressage rider, you compete at a certain grade, based on your level of impairment, or against able-bodied riders if you choose.

Regional and national level training is available, along with bursaries to help those living in more remote areas. Further support for para dressage riders is on offer through British Dressage’s close links with the Riding for the Disabled Association and the Para Dressage Training Trust. The latter owns horses which are loaned to up-and-coming riders.

It is this level of commitment and support to our para equestrian dressage riders that has led to their unprecedented success - Great Britain has won team gold at every Olympic, World and European Championship since the sport began, as well as racking up impressive individual medal tallies.

Our para equestrian dressage team continues to go from strength to strength, having dominated at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, bringing home ten medals: four individual gold, five individual silver and team gold, making it Britain's most successful games ever. In 2009, they won another nine medals at the European Championships in Kristiansand, Norway. 

The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky was the first in history to host para dressage as an inclusive part of the event; GBR’s para-dressage team rose to the occasion to defend their unbeaten team record and once again lift the gold medal. The squad went on to claim a staggering 13 medals, seven of which were gold, three silver and three bronze making it their most successful championship event to date.

Could you be the next Lee Pearson, Sophie Christiansen or Anne Dunham? What’s stopping you from getting started?